Mick Ronson's debut album, Slaughter On 10th Avenue, does not portray David Bowie's ex-guitarist as an artist who is ready to stand on his own. Some of the songs seem offered half in jest; others are aimless or undernourished. By co-writing only two songs, Ronson tells us little more about himself than we knew from his work as a backing musician. Much of Slaughter offers little more than space-filling, as if Ronson and his cohorts knew that he had all the earmarks of stardom and the one impediment to its attainment was the formality of getting an album out.
'Love Me Tender' is a strange choice to begin a solo outing, but Ronson carries it off with great aplomb. It is a triumph of guitar playing and arrangement - but lacking in personal expression. He manages, as Hendrix did with 'The Star-Spangled Banner,' to turn the ludicrous into the majestic. Ronson introduces his surprisingly lusty baritone on this cut. Unfortunately, he uses it afterward as an effect: Ever the auxiliary musician, he does not know how to guide a song with his voice. 'Pleasure Man' is all effects, roaming the landscape in search of an idea. Bowie's lyrics to 'Music Is Lethal' are too dramatic and literary for this essentially earthy musician. Two delightful tracks, 'Growing Up and I'm Fine' and 'Hey Ma Get Papa' (which sounds like Gilbert and Sullivan), are also authored by Bowie, suggesting that Ronson is still at his best when he depends on his former employer.
Richard Rogers's ballet music, 'Slaughter on 10th Avenue', is the album's centerpiece. Because it is an orchestrated track with no vocals, Ronson is back on his own turf. Had he let this beautiful piece run a full side, he could have eliminated the filler and in the bargain and given Barry White a run for his money. Instead, we have an album which is sometimes good, sometimes bad and generally pointless.
1. Love Me Tender
2. Growing Up and I'm Fine
3. Only After Dark
4. Music Is Lethal
5. I'm the One
6. Pleasure Man/Hey Ma Get Papa
7. Slaughter on Tenth Avenue
8. Solo on 10th Avenue (Live)
9. Leave My Heart Alone (Live)
10. Love Me Tender (Live)
11. Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (Live)
Line up:
Mick Ronson - guitar, piano, vocals, arrangement, conductor
Trevor Bolder - bass, trumpet, trombone
Aynsley Dunbar - drums, percussion
Mike Garson - piano, electric piano, organ
David Hentschel - arp on "Hey Ma Get Papa"
Margaret Ronson - backing vocals
Dennis MacKay - backing vocals
Sidney Sax - strings
http://rapidshare.com/files/259252863/1974_-_Slaughter_On_10th_Avenue_bbq.rar
Mick Ronson - Play Don't Worry (1975)
The second Ronson album, Play Don't Worry, recently released, is far better than last year's debut Slaughter on Tenth Avenue. The first album was excellent in parts, but Ronson seemed unsure of himself. The result was the inclusion of weak material and poor mixing of the vocals. Play, on the other hand, is a more assured and independent effort. Ronson had a hand in writing only four of the album's songs, but he is credited with all guitar and most vocal work and he tries his hand at bass, synthesizer, keyboards and drums. He handles all the material as wholeheartedly as if it were his own, In contrast to Slaughter, the production and mixing on the new album is almost faultless. Only on one occasion, a rendition of 'The Girl Can't Help It,' are the vocals lost in the mix. The printing of Ronson's pleasantly unsophisticated lyrics emphasizes their awkwardness, but they sound much better than they read.
Track list:
1. Billy Porter
2. Angel No. 9
3. This Is for You
4. White Light/White Heat
5. Play Don't Worry
6. Hazy Days
7. Girl Can't Help It
8. Empty Bed (Io Me Ne Andrei)
9. Woman
10. Seven Days
11. Stone Love
12. I'd Rather Be Me
13. Life on Mars
14. Pain in the City
15. Dogs (French Girl)
16. Seven Days (Alternate Take]
17. 28 Days Jam
18. Woman (Alternate Take)
Line up:
Mick Ronson - guitar, bass, drums, harmonica, piano, clavinet, synthesizer, vocals
Jeff Daly - sax, flutes
Neil Kernon - Arp synthesizer
Paul Francis - drums
Mike Garson - piano
Trevor Bolder - bass, horn
Richie Dharma - drums
Aynsley Dunbar - drums
Tony Newman - drums
John Mealing - piano
Ian Hunter - backing vocals on "Girl Can't Help It"
Vicky Silva - backing vocals
Beverly Baxter - backing vocals
Miquel Brown - backing vocals
http://rapidshare.com/files/259294092/1975_-__Play_Don_t_Worry_pt.1_bbq.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/259325451/1975_-_Play_Don_t_Worry_pt.2_bbq.rar
"Life is A Lot Like Music... It's Best When You Improvise"
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