THE JOHNNY VAN ZANT BAND – No More Dirty Deals [Rock Candy remastered] HQ *Exclusive*
Many of you have been asking for missing Rock Candy reissues to complete collections, and here’s as requested THE JOHNNY VAN ZANT BAND debut album “No More Dirty Deals” fully remastered from the master tapes and for the first time on CD.
Johnny Van Zant is of course member of the Southern rock’s “royal family” as the younger brother of rock legends Ronnie Van Zant from Lynyrd Skynyrd and Donnie Van Zant from 38 Special. Having watched his older brothers enjoy great success in the 70s, he formed his own band The Austin Nickels in 1977.
They got signed to Polydor Records and changed their name to the Johnny Van Zant Band. They eam up with legendary producer and original Skynyrd A&R man Al Kooper to cut this blistering debut album “No More Dirty Deals”.
Yeah, this is Southern rock, but AOR flavored and with a melodic rock sheen.
Drawing from his southern roots and Skynyrd’s fiery guitar driven legacy the music is a hot burrito of fuel injected riffing (aided and abetted by twin lead guitarists Robbie Gay and Eric Lundgren) and the kind of down home back porch rocking that brings to mind the best work of Skynyrd, .38 Special, and Molly Hatchet.
But as said, there’s some kind of pulsating melodic rocking feel all over the LP with AORish melodies that makes you think more in FM radio than blues.
‘Never Too Late’, ‘Stand Your Ground’, ‘Hard Luck Story’ and the title track are all killer rockers with the vibe of band hungry for success, raw and direct yet very polished in sound thanks to the expert production & mix.
Then look out for ‘Standing In The Darkness’ a poignant and touching tribute originally written as a poem for late brother Ronnie, surely one of the finest closing tracks on any rock album.
Highly Recommended
01 – No More Dirty Deals
02 – Coming Home
03 – 634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)
04 – Put My Trust In You
05 – Only The Strong Survive
06 – Hard Luck Story
07 – Stand Your Ground
08 – Never Too Late
09 – Keep On Rollin’
10 – Standing In The Darkness
Johnny Van Zant – vocals
Robbie Gay – guitar
Erik Lundgren – guitar
Danny Clausman – bass guitar
Robbie Morris – drums
Al Kooper – keyboards
Jerry Whitman, Julia Waters, Myrna Matthews – background vocals
BUY
www.amazon.de/-/en/Johnny-Van-Zant-Band/dp/B000FPYNP8
