The name of the band was Mouse, and their sole album, quite rare and therefore terribly expensive in original form, was Lady Killer, released in 1973 by EMI’s prog-rock imprint Sovereign. The members were vocalist-keyboardist Alan “Al” Clare, bassist Jeff Watts, drummer Al Rushton, and most famously, the insanely prolific guitarist Ray Russell. The band’s sound is diverse but not schizophrenic, and there’s discipline in their execution. Guerssen Records own subsidiary Sommor gave the album its first vinyl reissue in 2013, and now the same label has brought out a fresh edition, available right now.
Not to slight the other cats in Mouse, but Ray Russell is Lady Killer’s main point of interest. The album, which sports sleeve art by Glenn Pierce that suggests a pop art appropriation of a late 1950s cigarette company billboard (or the femme fatale on the front cover of a paperback crime novel from the same era), is a well-rounded and largely likeable band effort, but it’s also not a mind melter.
The Ray Russell core collection includes two by his quartet, Turn Circle and Dragon Hill (1968-’69, CBS) and the three that follow, Rites & Rituals (’71, CBS), June 11, 1971: Live at the ICA (’71, RCA Victor), and Secret Asylum (’73, Black Lion). Other records make the cut, but Russell’s own records are only a portion of what makes him such an interesting musician.
For starters, he was an era-spanning session ace, adding value to works by names ranging from Dionne Warwick to Van Morrison to Julio Iglesias to Tina Turner to Scott Walker to Heaven 17. His early career found him in the bands of Georgie Fame, Graham Bond, and most importantly John Barry, replacing guitarist Vic Flick to establish the final incarnation of the John Barry Seven.
Russell subsequently played on James Bond film soundtracks from Thunderball to Octopussy. In addition to substantial non-Bond soundtrack work, he was an indefatigable sound library music contributor from the ’70s through the ’90s. Of particular note are deeper collaborations with Bill Fay (Bill Fay and Time of the Last Persecution, ’70-’71, Deram) and Henry Kaiser (The Celestial Squid, 2015, Cuneiform). Russell also played with Gil Evans’ European touring band in the ’80s and cut an Evans tribute CD (Goodbye Svengali, ’06, Cuneiform).
Russell recorded extensively with drummer Al Rushton, who plays on Turn Circle, Dragon Hill, Rites & Rituals, June 11, 1971: Live at the ICA, and Secret Asylum. Russell and Rushton both played with singer Alex Harvey on the two albums by Rock Workshop (Rock Workshop and The Very Last Time, ’70-’71, CBS) and on the sole eponymous album by The Running Man (’72, RCA Victor), Russell’s band from before the formation of Mouse.
This extensive guitarist-drummer relationship is likely part of the reason Lady Killer maintains coherence across a spectrum of styles: there’s keyboard driven swaggering pop-rock (with prominent psych soloing from Russell) in opener “Going Out Tonight,” appealing soft rock strumming in “You Don’t Know,” prog-kissed wiggle throb pomp rock (a real showcase for bassist Jeff Watts) in “Electric Lady,” a solid cover of Medicine Head’s “All the Fallen Teen-Angels” complete with swirling canned strings and gal backing singers, and a Black Sabbath-like hard rock turn with big drum motions in “Asher Besher.”
That completes side one. The flip doesn’t hold together quite as well, but it does offer three of the four songs that made it onto Mouse’s two singles: “We Can Make It” b/w the vaguely Cream-like “It’s Happening to Me and You” and the strutting groove thumper (with keyboard strains reminiscent of Argent) “Just Came Back,” which serves up the B-side to “All the Fallen Teen Angels” and closes side two of Lady Killer with a false fade out. That Mouse managed two singles should underline the band’s general restrained comportment amid variety tinged with ambitiousness.
“East of the Sun,” the record’s biggest (symphonic) prog turn, and the style jumping in “Sunday” (shades of solo McCartney) complete the program. If not the first record a Ray Russell newbie should buy, there’s still plenty to offer from the guitarist, and the songs, while not amazing, hold up surprisingly well. With a fortunate break or two, Mouse might’ve stuck around for a few more albums.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
B+
