Prog Rock Saturday: Ramshackled

Alan White - "Ramshackled" (1976) - Atlantic Records

Hello Friends,

Summer is winding down kids and we're down to our last couple of Prog Rock Saturdays for the year and tonight we're listening to an album called Ramshackled by Alan White.

Oh boy, where do we start with this one?

So Alan White was a drummer for The Alan Price Set, Joe Cocker, John Lennon's Plastic Ono band, George Harrison and starting in 1972, for the Prog Rock supergroup, Yes.    

In 1976, White released his first (and only) solo album entitled Ramshackled and since its Prog Rock Saturday here on Vinyl in the Valley, we've decided to give it a spin!

Our first impression of this record is how un-proggy it really is.  We were expecting overlong songs full of complex drum solos and weird time signatures and what we found instead was a very MOR, mid-Seventies rock album with a little prog and some jazz fusion thrown in for good measure!

The funky opener, "Ooh Baby (Goin' To Pieces)" sounds more like something from Van Morrison or Santana (or, better yet, Van Morrison singing in Santana) than anything Yes has ever done!  "One Way Rag" is next and was occasionally performed by Yes live on their 1976 tour.

"Avakak" (aka "Twelve Ways to Drink Meths") is a jazz-inspired, very Zappa-sounding instrumental which is also the album's proggiest track!

Side One concludes with bandmates Jon Anderson & Steve Howe helping out on a song with lyrics based on a poem by William Blake.  "Spring-Song of Innocence" sounds like Yes-lite.  Uninspired and kind of boring.

Side Two doesn't fare much better.  "Giddy" is a very Middle of the Road rock song while "Silly Woman" is a pretty terrible (and very white) attempt at reggae.  "Marching Into A Bottle" is a Renaissance Faire sounding instrumental which I believe does not even contain any drums!

"Everybody" sounds like the band is channelling Dr. John.  What the fuck is going on here?

Luckily, the record is slightly redeemed by the closing track, "Darkness Pts 1 - 3".  Like I said, slightly.

Overall, this is not a great record. Alan White was one of the most important drummers in the prog rock genre and Ramshackled is certainly not going to be his legacy!  

RATING: 2.5 Alley Cats Scratching in the Trashcan out 5