(Classic Rock) Wild Butter - Wild Butter - 1970 (2010), FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

"While there's absolutely nothing original or mind altering to be found on 1970's "Wild Butter", this short-lived Akron, Ohio based quartet's debut is well worth tracking down. Singer/keyboardist Jerry Buckner had apparently already been signed by United Artists and was under direction to quickly come up with a band. He wasted no time recruiting singer/drummer Rick Garen, bassist Steve Price, and lead guitarist Jon Senne. All had been playing in local bands, including The Collection. Within a month the band were in the studio. Produced by Eric Stevens the resulting album was surprisingly accomplished given the four members hadn't played together very long. That may also explain why the collection occasionally sounded like it was recorded by a couple of different bands and then stitched together. As an example, the atypical lead off track 'Roxanne' sounded like an outtake from Kansas or some other pseudo-progressive collective, while their cover of The Moody Blues sound like ... The Moody Blues. With Bucker, Price and Senne all contributing material the set was also kind of interesting from the perspective of hearing the band attempt to find a balance between commerciality (the ballads 'From One Who Sang the Song' and a painful cover of The Bee Gees' 'New York Mining Disaster (1941)') and a more hip 'n happenin' sound. Too bad management didn't let them opt for the second path since they would have had a killer collection. Still, the good news included the fact Garen had a nice voice that was quite capable of handling the band's diverse repertoire. Similarly, judging by material such as the fuzz guitars on 'Oh Martha' and a killer cover of Neil Young's 'I've Been Waiting For You' Senne was an above par guitarist. Personal favorites included the raging rocker 'Terribly Blind', the psych-ish 'Oh Martha' and the country-rocker ''And We Loved It. All hyperbole aside, one or two more rockers and this one be a major collectable. Released as a single 'Roxanne' b/w 'Terribly Blind' (United Artists catalog number UAS50688) generated considerable regional airplay, but the band wasn't able to break nationally and subsequently called it quits."
badcatrecords

"Wild Butter was started in 1970 by drummer/lead singer Rick Garen and keyboard player Jerry Buckner. Garen had previously been in the Collection and recorded a demo called “Little Man”. Former Rogues member Jerry was impressed and got Eric Stevens, WIXY program director and manager of Damnation of Adam Blessing, interested as well. Stevens took it to New York and after a week or two Buckner got a call saying the band had a LP recording deal with United Artists, only there was no band, yet, although UA didn’t know that. “Put a band together” was the request and Rick and Jerry talked to their Akron peers and found Jon Senne’ (guitar) and Steve Price (bass) willing to get on board,Wild Butter played a month or so before recording the LP at Cleveland Recording. “Little Man” was not done, but a whole LP was, including excellent songwriting contributions from everyone. Considering the short time the band had to work up the songs, the high level of writing, musicianship, and vocals are amazing, and the LP is certainly a lost treasure of 1970 contemporary unpretentious melodic rock. The recordings included some guitar parts from Mark Price (Steve’s high school aged brother and future Tin Huey member), Jim Quinn and Bob Kalamasz (both from Damnation). The Senne’ penned “Roxanna (Thank You for Getting Me High) was chosen as a 45 track backed with “Terribly Blind”. The cover photos were taken in an Akron industrial area at Stevens’ suggestion. A few shots were taken before some hardhats objected to the ‘longhairs’ and chased them out! (Prairie Prince Minsky)"
redtelephone66

Rating 3.23 from 29 ratings according to RYM

Jerry Buckner - keyboards, autoharp, backing vocals
Rick Garen - lead vocals, drums
Steve Price - bass, backing vocals
Jon Senne - lead guitar, backing vocals
Special guest:
Mark Price - guitar solo on 2