Delaney Bramlett - Mobius Strip

Delaney Bramlett - Mobius Strip - 1973

Mobius Strip was recorded and released in 1973, during Delaney Bramlett's separation from Bonnie in the wake of their imminent divorce. Amazingly, this doesn't immediately show in the music. In fact, it's more joyous in places than its predecessor, Some Things Coming. That said, one has to wonder if Bramlett was losing it here, given that its opener is titled "Are You a Beatle or a Rolling Stone." By rights it should be dreadful; but it's not. Bramlett's cornball humor aside, the song's tale of life on the road depicts the '70s in all of its decadent glory. It's also a savagely funky R&B-drenched rocker. The band on this set is a bit larger but it's also leaner. Bramlett handles a lot of the backing vocals and percussion himself, offering his true worth as a singer. He plays guitar a lot more, too, each track is shot through his nasty Telecaster and Stratocaster fills and solos. He's got Jim Gordon and Jerry Jumonville on saxes (the latter plays bagpipes à la Rufus Harley on one cut), and George Bohannon handles the charts for the horns on a few tracks: Bramlett does the rest, and uses the same core organ session from Some Things Coming, essentially his road band of bassist Robert G. Wilson, organist Timothy Hedding, and drummer Ron Grayson. The tunes where there are other backing vocals feature Venetta Fields and Chris Thomas King and some group called "the Hired Choir," as well as a "mini-choir" comprising the children of Bramlett, and King (for Fleetwood Mac fanatics, this marks the very first recorded performance of Bekka Bramlett). READ MORE HERE

01  Are You a Beatle or a Rolling Stone
02  What Am I Doin' (In a Place Like This)
03 A Young Girl (In Her Garden)
04 Big Ol' Piece of Blues
05 Circles
06 When a Man Is in Need of a Woman
07 I'm a M-A-N
08 B.B.'s Blues
09 A Little Bit of You in Me
10 California Rain

Delaney Bramlett - Guitar, Percussion, Vocals
John Ussery - Guitar, Guitar (Electric)
Ron Grayson - Drums
Timothy Hedding - Organ
Jim Hobson - Piano
Robert Wilson - Bass
Larry Savioe - Trombone
Darryl Leonard - Trumpet, Horn Arrangements
Jim Gordon - Sax (Baritone)
Jerry Jumonville - Sax (Tenor)

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