Black Diamond

With the opening chords of "Body Talk" on Black Diamond, this pop/rock collection of Tony "T.S." McPhee tunes is a decidedly different affair from the Groundhogs of the 1960s. Sure, "Fantasy Partner" has an updated blues feel, but the longtime rhythm section of bassist Pete Cruickshank and drummer Ken Pustelnik are replaced here by Martin Kent and Mick Cook, respectively, with Rick Adams added on guitar to complement McPhee's interesting playing. The foursome surround a white pyramid on the back while McPhee stares out from the cover alone, looking like Carlos Santana in the throes of musical ecstasy. It's not to say that the music on Black Diamond isn't the Groundhogs. The original trio did do an admirable job of interpreting the blues. This edition of the band is sort of like Bob Welch taking over Fleetwood Mac. The final track on side one, "Country Blues," is actually a well-defined rocker with explosive guitars. The music is still immersed in the underground, these four gents unable to come up with a "Tell Mama" like their contemporaries, Savoy Brown. But they do hit you, literally hitting you with an elegant instrumental called "Pastoral Future" that sounds very much like, well, Welch's Fleetwood Mac when he was dabbling with the Bermuda Triangle. Coming after the darker sounds of "Friendzy" it is a total about-face, as is the semiacoustic title track. This isn't the "Black Diamond" that Paul Stanley delivered from the self-titled 1974 Kiss debut. Two years after that hard rock classic emerged, McPhee gives the world this intriguing semiepic. The band is clearly dipping into some of the Kiss bag on portions of the album, rock with a singsongy edge that is a far cry from 1969's hardcore R&B Blues Obituary. Riffs galore permeate this LP, McPhee displaying tons of creativity, and there's no complaint with the music, which is first-rate. Perhaps if they found a dynamic lead singer this innovative version of the group may have reached the level of success Santana found in the early '70s. The gruff vocal from Tony McPhee was still a bit beyond the reach of commercial radio at the time. In "Live Right" he sounds like Mark Knopfler singing about Jesus, a solid track for FM radio but one that failed to catch on despite its flashes of inspiration.