I've been
a Hatchet fan since I was in Jr. High School in 1979. (Man I'm old!) In anycase,
Molly Hatchet are southern rock mixed with a bit of 70's heavy metal. The thing
I like best about Hatchet is that they jam! OK, perharps they don't exactly
fit in with the rest of my cd collection, but who cares! I like 'em and that's
all that matters! Guitarist Dave Hlubeck went on to form the Southern
Rock All Stars in 2000 with ex-Blackfoot
drummer Jakson Spires.
Molly Hatchet-Molly Hatchet (Epic) 1978
1. "Bounty Hunter"
(2:58)
2. "Gator Country" (6:17)
3. "Big Apple" (3:01)
4. "Creeper" (3:18)
5. "Price You Pay" (3:04)
6. "Dreams I'll Never See" (7:06)
7. "I'll Be Running" (3:00)
8. "Cheatin' Woman" (4:36)
9. "Trust Your Old Friend" (3:55)
Molly Hatchet's first album is an inspired southern rock classic. It doesn't have the crunch of the albums that followed this one, but the songwriting is so darn good, it doesn't matter. What I liked best about Southern rock was that it jammed and Hatchet's debut did just that. Of course Hatchet has always been under the shadows of Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers, but I think they stand on their own. "Dreams I'll Never See" is a superior cover of the Allman Bros. song. Hatchet's version smokes the original! The front cover, as would become a constant for the next few records, was painted by Frank Frazetta.
Molly Hatchet-Live at the Agora Ballroom Atlanta, Georgia April 20, 1979
(Phoenix Gems)
1. "Bounty Hunter"
(3:28)
2. "Let the Good Times Roll" (4:07)
3. "Gator Country" (6:43)
4. "The Creeper" (3:57)
5. "T for Texas" (9:24)
6. "Big Apple" (3:08
7. "Dreams (I'll Never See)" (7:42)
8. "Trust Your Old Friend" (4:07)
9. "Harp Jam" (12:17)
10. "One Man's Pleasure" (3:22)
11. "Crossroads" (5:01)
12. "Boogie No More" (7:49)
I flipped when I found this little gem. Live Hatchet from 1979, this had to be good, and good it was. The production is a little thin in places, but not exactly low quality bootleg crap either. At times some of the guitar solos are hard to hear and at others Danny Joe Brown's vocals are hard to hear, but overall everything is pretty listenable. There are three unreleased songs on this disc, a Jimmie Rodgers cover ("T for Texas"), which Lynyrd Skynyrd also covered, a Robert Johnson cover ("Crossraods") and an original jam titled "Harp Jam." "Crossroads" is the same song made famous by Eric Clapton. "Harp Jam" is a harmonica, guitar jam in which Danny Joe Brown introduces each of the other five Hatchet members allowing for solos by each. A nice live disc that I bet disappears almost as fast as it was released.
Molly Hatchet-Flirtin' w/ Disaster (Epic) 1979
1. "Whiskey Man"
(3:38)
2. "It's All Over Now" (3:40)
3. "One Man's Pleasure" (3:24)
4. "Jukin' City" (3:46)
5. "Boogie No More" (6:08)
6. "Flirtin' With Disaster" (4:58)
7. "Good Rockin'" (3:17)
8. "Gunsmoke" (3:11)
9. "Long Time" (3:19)
10. "Let The Good Times Roll" (2:56)
Taking the best aspects of Southern bands like Skynyrd and Blackfoot and mixing it with a heavy metal production, Molly Hatchet's second album "Flirtin' With Disaster" is a classic. Guitar driven jams like "Boogie No More" became Hatchet's trademark sound. Of course the title track is a classic rock radio staple. At least half of the songs off this album made it onto their "Greatest Hits" album as well. The album cover was awesome and is once again by Frank Frazetta. "It's All Over Now" is a cover, but of whom I do not know.
After the tour for this album, vocalist Danny Joe Brown departed and recorded a solo album (Danny Joe Brown Band) with future Hatchet guitarist Bobby Ingram. For years I searched for this cd, ever contacting Sony Records who informed me that the album was never released on cd. Apparently it was because I will soon have a copy in my hot little hands.
Molly Hatchet-Beatin' The Odds (Epic) 1980
1. "Beatin' the Odds"
(3:17)
2. "Double Talkin'" (3:15)
3. "The Rambler" (4:50)
4. "Sailor" (3:50)
5. "Dead & Gone" (4:22)
6. "Few and Far Between" (3:39)
7. "Penthouse Pauper" (3:18)
8. "Get Her Back" (3:03)
9. "Poison Pen" (3:04)
Molly Hatchet's third album featured new singer Jimmy Farrar, who is a competent southern rock singer, but his voice changed the Hatchet sound quite a bit. Farrar's voice just didn't have the depth and the conviction that Danny Joe Brown's voice had. "Beatin' the Odds" was still a heavy southern rock and roll experience and contains such classics as the title track, "Penthouse Pauper" and "Double Talker" a low down and dirty heavy rocker. Once again the cover was painted by Frank Frazetta.
Molly Hatchet-Take No Prisoners (Epic) 1981
1. "Bloody Reunion" (4:00)
2. "Respect Me in the Morning" (3:22)
3. "Long Tall Sally" (2:54)
4. "Loss of Control" (3:32)
5. "All Mine" (4:01)
6. "Lady Luck" (3:29)
7. "Power Play" (3:44)
8. "Don't Mess Around" (3:00)
9. "Don't Leave Me Lonely" (3:58)
10. "Dead Giveaway" (3:25)
I was lucky enought to see Hatchet on this tour. They put on two spectacular shows at Six Flags Great Adventure in NJ. In anycase, this would be the last disc for Jimmy Farrar and one of the founding members, song writers and bassist Banner Thomas. The band is still on track here, creating a fine Southern rock platter with the temperature turned up a bit from their last disc. "Bloody Reunion" is a great song to start off the set, and if I remember correctly, this was also the song they started their live set with as well. "Respect Me in the Morning" and "Lady Luck" are both Hatchet classics as well. "Long Tall Sally" is a Little Richard cover, I believe. This particular disc sells consistently on eBay for over $20, due to the fact that it was released in limited numbers and is now out of print.
Molly Hatchet-No Guts, No Glory (Sony) 1983
1. "What Does It Matter?"
(3:32)
2. "Ain't Even Close" (4:35)
3. "Sweet Dixie" (3:55)
4. "Fall of the Peacemakers" (8:04)
5. "What's It Gonna Take?" (3:59)
6. "Kinda Like Love" (4:10 )
7. "Under the Gun" (3:53)
8. "On the Prowl" (4:05)
11. "Both Sides" -instrumental (5:09)
Danny Joe Brown returns for Hatchet's fifth studio album. (Danny Joe Brown released one solo record during the time he was gone called the Danny Joe Brown Band (Epic) that is one of the rarest cds in the world.) Bassist Banner Thomas left during the recording of this album and was replaced by former Blackfoot bassist Riff West. The reunited band churned out their melodic epic number called "Fall of the Peacemakers," which is the best song on the disc, and one of my favorite Molly Hatchet songs. The rest of the cd is good but I just really love "Fall of the Peacemakers." I saw Hatchet on this tour twice at Six Flags in NJ.
Here's a bit of useless information I took off Charlie Hagrett's homepage:
-Summer 1983, Kansas City, Kansas: Blackfoot are touring with Molly Hatchet when, with no warning, Hatchet's singer Danny Joe Brown, and guitarists Steve Holland and Duane Roland, fly home one night after a show, right in the middle of the tour. Only lead guitarist Dave Hlubek, drummer B.B. Borden and bassist Riff West show up in Kansas City the next day. That night, after a real quick "rehearsal" in the backstage dressing room, Rick Medlocke and Charlie Hagrett sit in with Molly Hatchet for their set. Medlocke took Danny Joe Brown's place as frontman, and Hagrett played rhythm guitar behind Hlubek's lead, with rhythm section B.B. and Riff. It wasn't pretty, but we pulled it off. The rest of Hatchet re-joined the tour the next day.
Molly Hatchet-The Deed is Done (Epic) 1984
1. "Satisfied Man" (4:57)
2. "Backstabber" (4:12)
3. "She Does She Does" (6:06)
4. "Intro Piece" (1:15)
5. "Stone in Your Heart" (4:14)
6. "Man on the Run" (4:09(
7. "Good Smoke and Whiskey" (3:33)
8. "Heartbreak Radio" (3:27)
9. "I Ain't Got You" (2:30)
10. "Straight Shooter" (3:46)
11. "Song for the Children" (2:31)
Jacksonville's Southern hard rockers release an album full of 80's pop rock crap. This is one of those albums that proves how little record executives know about the fans. As I have read several times, Hatchet were forced into writing this pop junk by the bigwigs at Sony/Epic, using several co-writers that are not a part of the band. The addition of keyboards and horns to the mix makes things even worse, especially on songs like "Satisfied Man," which given a better, heavier production and less 80's studio sheen could have been a decent song. The inclusion of triggers or a drum machine adds to the production problems. Some of the material on this disc was written for the band with little or no involvement by them except for the actual recording of the songs. "I Ain't Got You" is a Yardbirds cover that has also been covered by Aerosmith. This song could have smoked, given the rockin' rendition that Aerosmith did, but unfortunately just falls flat. There are a few decent songs on this disc, ("Heartbreak Radio") but there is an awful lot of crap to wade through to get to it. The killer album cover art disguises one of the worst Hatchet albums to ever be released. Not long after the tour for this disc, the original member started dropping like flies, disappointed with the band's new direction.
Molly Hatchet-Double Trouble Live! (Epic) 1985
1. "Whiskey Man"
(3:48)
2. "Bounty Hunter" (3:00)
3. "Gator Country" (7:16)
4. "Flirtin' with Disaster" (5:30)
5. "Stone in Your Heart" (4:13)
6. "Satisfied Man" (4:43)
7. "Bloody Reunion" (4:04)
8. "Boogie No More" (7:36)
9. "Free Bird" (11:19)
10. "Dreams I'll Never See" (7:03)
11. "Edge of Sundown" (4:24)
12. "Fall of the Peacemakers" (7:12)
13. "Beatin' the Odds" (3:41)
I use to own the double album set which is the reason for the name DOUBLE Trouble. Unfortunately the cd version is a single disc and is missing two songs off the original vinyl version. Thankfully it was two of the crappy pop songs that Hatchet did in the 80's, so they are not really missed. "Flirtin' With Disaster" and "Beatin' the Odds" are simply fantastic and sound even better in this live format. The cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird" sticks pretty close to the original. Danny Joe Brown dedicates the song to the deceased Skynyrd guys. "Edge of Sundown" is a track of Danny Joe Brown's solo album. (Man is that one hard to find! Does anybody know if it was ever released on cd?)
Molly Hatchet-Lightning Strikes Twice (SPV) 1989
I special ordered this import after reading a review of "Devil's Canyon" that said it was "their greatest album since 'Lightning Strikes Twice.'" Well, since I was very impressed with "Devil's Canyon" I decided to go for broke and order this German import. Uh, this disc sucks! There are a few songs that are ok, like the southern rock tune "Find Somebody New" and the experimental "Heart of My Soul" but overall this is a pop rock atrocity. They even do a cover of Kiss/Paul Stanley's "Hide Your Heart." Not even the powerhouse vocals of Danny Joe Brown could save this one. Lucky for me it was only $10.99 instead of the over $20 range most imports sell for.
By this time Duane Roland is the only original guitarist and instead of adding another guitarist to keep their trademark three guitar assault in tact, Hatchet opted to add keyboardist John Galvin who remains with the band to this day.
Molly Hatchet-Greatest Hits (Epic) 1990
1. "Shake the House
Down" (4:12)
2. "Ragtop Deluxe" (3:18)
3. "Whiskey Man" (3:38)
4. "Bounty Hunter" (2:57)
5. "Gator Country" (6:17)
6. "Flirtin' with Disaster" (4:56)
7. "Bloody Reunion" (3:59)
8. "Boogie No More" (6:05)
9. "Dreams I'll Never See" (7:06)
10. "Beatin' the Odds" (4:16)
11. "Edge of Sundown" (4:16)
12. "Fall of the Peacemakers" (8:03)
New axeman, and long time friend of the band, Bobby Ingram replaces Hulbek, who was one of the founders of the band, as well as one of their main songwriters. Bobby Ingram is a longtime friend of Danny Joe Brown and was the guitarist and co-writter of much of his solo album. In anycase, this greatest hits package features two brand new cuts with the new guitarist that are actually quite good and sit well with all the Hatchet standards. I sort of wish they would have included the studio version of the Jimmy Farrar-era songs. Oh, and why the heck isn't "Lady Luck" on this disc? Was there some secret conspiracy about including anything that Jimmy sang on? It might have also been cool if they had added the two missing cuts from the cd version of "Double Trouble Live."
Molly Hatchet-Devil's Canyon (Mayhem) 1996
1. "Down from the
Mountain" (4:38)
2. "Rolling Thunder" (4:03)
3. "Devil's Canyon" (6:18)
4. "Heartless Land" (6:24)
5. "Never Say Never" (3:46)
6. "Tatanka" (5:01)
7. "Come Hell or High Water" (3:40)
8. "Look in Your Eyes" (6:08)
9. "Eat Your Heart Out" (3:36)
10. "Journey" (7:20 )
11. "Dreams I'll Never See" -acoustic version (7:25)
The sticker on the front said this was the bands first studio recording in over 12 years? What? "Lightning Strikes Twice" was released in 1989, I think. This album was released in 1996. Do the math; it doesn't add up. Maybe what they meant was this was their first GOOD album in 12 years. Now that I could agree with. Strange thing about this album is that there is not even one original member performing on the album, although Banner Thomas has a song writing credit on "Rolling Thunder" and Danny Joe Brown is still listed as a member. According to the liner notes, Danny Joe Brown had to be hospitalized during the pre-production of this album and he hand picked out Phil McCormick to take his place. Well, once thing is for sure, he picked a good vocalist with similar qualites to his own voice. "Devil's Canyon" is a return to the Hatchet I love with a heavy production and those long southern rock and boogie jams. Longtime guitarist Bobby Ingram wrote a majority of the material, he did a fine job as this is a great disc. My favorite song is "The Journey" which sounds like it would have fit in fine on "Flirtin' With Disaster," with the exception of the superior production on this album. The acoustic cover of "Dreams I'll Never See" is a nice bonus.
Molly Hatchet-Silent Reign of Heroes (CMC International) 1998
1. "Mississippi Moon
Dog" (3:47)
2. "World of Trouble" (5:33)
3. "Silent Reign of Heroes" (8:35)
4. "Miss Saturday Night" (4:04)
5. "Blue Thunder" (4:04)
6. 'Just Remember (You're the Only One)" (4:32)
7. "Junk Yard Dawg (3:35)"
8. "Dead and Gone (Redneck Song)" (3:13 )
9. "Saddle Tramp" (7:15)
12. "Fall of the Peacemakers" -acoustic version (6:55)
Bobby Ingram and Phil McCormick keep the Hatchet tradition alive, even though they nor any of the other band members were part of the original band. No matter really as the music still rocks in the southern rock tradition that is Molly Hatchet.
Molly Hatchet-Kingdom of XII (CMC International) 2001
1. "Heart Of The U.S.A." (4:01)
2. "Cornbread Mafia" (3:27)
3. "One Last Ride" (7:46)
4. "Why Won't You Take Me Home" (3:21)
5. "Turn My Back On Yesterday" (5:04)
6. "Gypsy Trail" (3:47)
7. "White Lightning" (3:50)
8. "Tumbling Dice" (3:13)
9. "Angel In Dixie" (4:08)
10. "Kickstart To Freedom" (4:36)
11. "Dreams Of Life" (7:12)
12. "Edge Of Sundown" -acoustic (7:10)
Molly Hatchet is an all American, southern rock 'n roll band, so why the heck was this thing released almost 5 months earlier in Europe than in the good 'ol U.S. of A.? I went to a cd show in April and was REAL tempted to buy one of these European copies for $25. I managed to restrain myself and wait until the June 5th release. So was it worth the wait? I can honestly say YES! No doubt, Bobby Ingram still can write a heavy boogie rock 'n roll song with plenty of hook. Best of all, he mixes things up quite a bit, giving us some nice slow ballads as well as the more full throttle numbers. Several of these tracks ("One Last Ride," "Dreams Of Life") have those extended jams that make this style for me. Also, in similar pattern to the last two albums, the band finishes off with an acoustic cover of one of their own songs. This particular number was actually co-written by Ingram with Danny Joe Brown, for Brown's solo disc, Danny Joe Brown & the Danny Joe Brown Band. In the week I have had this disc, not a day has gone by that it hasn't been in my cd player. Overall, another outstanding release from Florida's champions of southern rock.
RELATED BANDS:
Southern Rock Allstars
Dixie Jam Band (coming
soon)
Danny
Joe Brown Band
Blackfoot
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