One of the most puzzling moves in the history of
Southern rock occurred when vocalist
Danny Joe Brown left
Molly Hatchet after the huge success of 1979's
Flirtin' with Disaster, one of the genre's definitive albums. He released one solo album on
Epic, 1981's
Danny Joe Brown and the Danny Joe Brown Band. It only scraped the bottom of the charts, and he wisely rejoined
Molly Hatchet by 1982. This album is of interest to
Southern rock fans because it should come as no surprise that it sounds like
Molly Hatchet. Like
Molly Hatchet,
Brown's band also featured a three-guitar attack, courtesy of
Bobby Ingram,
Steve Wheeler, and
Kenny McVay. A couple of extra musical touches support
Brown's throaty growl: slide guitar riffing by
Ingram and
Wheeler, keyboard accents by
John Galvin and harmony vocals that certainly must have been encouraged by producer/engineer
Glyn Johns, a legend who'd worked with
the Rolling Stones,
the Who,
the Eagles and
Eric Clapton. The best tracks are
"Sundance," "Nobody Walks on Me," "The Alamo," "Run for Your Life," and, in particular,
"Edge of Sundown," a mythical guitar-driven epic springing directly from the loins of
Lynyrd Skynyrd's
"Free Bird" and
the Outlaws'
"Green Grass & High Tides." But that's not a bad thing.
"Edge of Sundown" also plays an important role in
Molly Hatchet's convoluted history.
Ingram and
Galvin would go on to join and lead
Molly Hatchet itself (keeping the band alive long after
Brown retired due to poor health) and an acoustic version of
"Edge of Sundown" is featured on the underrated 2001 album
Kingdom of XII.
Danny Joe Brown and the Danny Joe Brown Band doesn't contain any earthshaking surprises, but it will reliably please
Southern rock fans. ~ Bret Adams
![Zebra [Remastered]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/5055300377463_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "Zebra [Remastered]")
![Greatest Hits [2011]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0859401005189_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "Greatest Hits [2011]")
