Earl Slick
Zig Zag (2003)

Review by: Michael Walls
Date: 1/5/04

It was 1985, the setting was rural New Hampshire, and I was a high school junior about to go to my first rock concert. No, it wasn’t Aerosmith at Boston Garden and it wasn’t the Grateful Dead at Great Woods – it was Phantom, Rocker and Slick at the Capital Theatre in Concord, NH.

The Capital Theatre was a run-down old concert hall in the center of Concord, which usually featured low-key folk artists and community art house acts. But for some reason, the old bats running the place must have mistaken Phantom, Rocker and Slick as a folk trio, rather then the raucous, rockabilly/glam rock band they really were.

My friends and I, of course, only knew Slim Jim Phantom and Lee Rocker as recently ex-Stray Cats, and were drawn to "Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress" being played on the radio. We had no idea it was a cover tune.

So the boys and I crammed into my 1979 AMC Spirit and made the 20 mile drive to Concord, the big city, to see a rock concert.

Beyond "Long Cool Woman…" and "Men Without Shame" the only things I remember about that concert where the number of tattoos and an unbelievable guitar player named Slick.

Fast forward nearly 20 years and Zig Zag by Earl Slick arrives at my door.

I never really followed Slick’s career, even though by the time I heard of him he’d already had a full career. His resume reads like that of a financial wiz who consults fortune 500 companies to success. A hired gun, strumming for the likes of David Bowie and John Lennon.

His latest solo effort, Zig Zag doesn’t sound like a solo record – it sounds like a compilation record, with a uniform theme, a consistent sound throughout. That sound is Earl Slick’s guitar. Not to say that everything sounds the same, because it doesn’t. It’s just that like all great guitarists, there’s a particular signature style that you can identify as that guitarist’s sound. With Slick, that style may be mistaken for David Bowie’s style. As Bowie’s axman for many years, Slick was responsible for that early spacey, psychedelic sound of Bowie’s music in the mid 70s.

I say "compilation" record, because along with a handful of Slick instrumentals, there are several guest vocalists on this album. As you listen to the first couple of tracks, you sense a familiarity with the music, and almost as if you wished it, David Bowie’s voice floats into the third track "Isn’t it Evening" giving you confirmation of where you’ve heard this sound before.

Robert Smith of The Cure lends his voice to "Believe" and either Slick adjusted his style or thought of Smith afterwards, as this song conforms to Smith’s low-fi techno trademark sound. Martha Davis of The Motels makes an appearance on "St. Mark’s Place," while Space Hog’s Royston Langdon sings the title track "Zig Zag."

But my vote for favorite track goes to "Psycho Twang" featuring the voice of Joe Elliot of Def Leppard. Maybe it brings me back to my youth, but this song just rocks and dances along the edges of glamour rock, with it’s pounding drums, scorching guitars, and addictively repetitive chorus. A runner-up vote goes to the song "Crunched" featuring the voice of someone called Summer Rose, who isn’t mentioned in press materials. Ms. Rose lends a rough and tough presence to this catchy rock tune, sometimes sounding a bit like Sheryl Crow, sometimes sounding like Axl Rose.

Earl Slick could have easily hung it up twenty years ago, and would have more to show for it then those who started twenty years ago. But the man couldn’t stand still. So while this "hired gun" waits for his next consulting gig – we’ll just enjoy his latest effort. Who knows? Maybe self-employment could be Slick’s permanent gig.