ALLEN TOWNSEND & RICK BETTS - Give them ears to hear [USA xian rock 1978]

Drummer Allen Townsend had been in a rock and roll band doing the nightclub scene and participating in alcohol, drugs and women when he turned to “the Rock that doesn’t roll” (hmmmm, sounds like someone slipped him a Larry Norman album). A year later he and his buddy Rick Betts had accumulated an album’s worth of material, which together with bassist and lead guitarist Jr. Wilson they proceeded to set down on vinyl. Their style is good old rural and Southern-edged meat-and-potatoes hard rock. Townsend plays acoustic guitar, electric guitar, drums and percussion while Betts provides keyboards and percussion. Both take turns at lead vocals. Wilson’s guitar really cooks, ripping away on the highly charged ‘God’s Might’ (with twin leads!) and ‘Adam’s Crutch’, putting muscle on the sinuous ‘Another Brick In The Wall’-ish rhythm of ‘Trust In Jesus’, gettin’ funky on ‘Feeling Good’, and jamming along with organ on the slow-burnin’ blues rocker ‘Show Him’. Nice clean sound with just enough homemade vibes. Recorded in Milford, Delaware. (The Archivist, 4th edition by Ken Scott).

Allen & Rick