Pacific Gas & Electric was an electric blues band formed in Los Angeles in 1967. The band was partially comprised of former members of other blues rock bands from the time like The James Gang, Bluesberry Jam, and Canned Heat. The title track on this, their sophomore album, reached as high as #14 on the Billboard Hot 100. The remaining band in 1973 finally parted ways after a final album in 1973, which largely comprised of session musicians. The band was forced to change its name to PG&E in 1971 due to pressure from the utilities company of the same name. The lives of the band members weren’t necessarily great after the band parted ways, with one member homeless since the 1980s, and another dying fairly early at the age of 48 in 1990. This seems like it ought to be an interesting listen, so with that said I’m going to jump on into the music.
“Are You Ready?” starts out with some super tasty, nearly surf-inflected garage blues guitar chords with a gospel-like sermon and chorus vocals filling up the soundscape. Oh wow, this has some super tasty sounds to it. I really dig the sort of near funk wah sounding distorted electric guitar that nearly gallops over the soundscape while the drums propel the tune forward, with the vocals giving a nearly holy feel with all the gospel-like sounds to it. Oh wow, this guitar solo is super tasty and groovy, with a ton of great bluesy notes. Oh wow, this solo keeps on giving more and more. The call and response really adds even more gospel feel to this tune. Really sweet and groovy tune to introduce this album.
Holy smokes, “Hawg for You” starts out with something the becomes nearly dissonant before the guitars resolve to some absolutely delicious heavy sounding blues rock. Oh wow, the falsetto vocals in between some grittier, more guttural verses has a really excellent sound to it. Oh wow, I really dig the guitar work from the rhythm and lead guitars, and the bass guitar really pushes the tune along the tracks laid down by the drums really well. Holy smokes, the lead guitar is getting some really awesome and tasty blues licks in. The rhythm guitar really outlines a really tasty framework for the tune to work off of too, which accentuates the lead guitar really nicely – really sweet. Super sweet tune.
“Staggolee” is a classic blues standard, which receives a really tasty interpretation from the band with some early acoustic guitar, some really snappy and sturdy drums, and some super sweet and swishy harmonica (or possibly it’s a guitar with a ton of tasty effects to it). Holy smokes, this tune is absolutely dripping with tasty bluesy flavor. The vocals have a really relaxed, raspy feel, which really adds to the storytelling aspect of the tune really well. Oh wow, there’s some super tasty and subtle bass that’s got some super fat tone. Super sweet version of the standard.
“The Blackberry” starts out with some super tasty bluesy playing that nearly drips into the soundscape in a somewhat vaguely psychedelic manner, while the vocals have more of a storytelling, rambling conversational feel than a singing type of sound at first, though this changes relatively quickly into the track. Holy smokes, the bass hits some fat, tasty notes that accentuate those sweet falsetto vocals. Oh wow, the lead guitar comes into the center of the soundscape and gets some tasty blues licks into its mini jam. Holy smokes, there’s a super tasty bluesy jam that the band gets grooving into for a moment, with the lead guitar going into the song really nicely. I really dig the rhythm guitar work in this – there are some really tasty effects and chords that keep the song sounding extremely dynamic as it goes along. Really tasty bluesy jam tune.
“Love, Love, Love, Love, Love” starts out with some super tasty electric blues guitar that reminds me a ton of Jimi Hendrix right away. This tune feels vaguely like a psychedelic rock tune, and definitely has a ton of great bluesy jamming in it. Holy smokes, this is sweet. Oh wow, there are some really sweet sound effects that are added into the soundscape as well as it meanders until it comes to a crescendo during the chorus. Oh wow, the playing from the lead electric guitar is absolutely howling into the soundscape. Even the bass and drums remind me a lot of The Jimi Hendrix Experience. I really dig how the distortion from the rhythm guitar seemingly permeates throughout the soundscape too. Great track.
“Mother, Why Do You Cry?” starts out extremely delicately compared to the rest of the songs on the album with some really pleasant, earthy acoustic guitar, and some really warm and bright high notes from an electric guitar. Oh wow, there’s a pedal steel guitar that brings a super intriguing country sort of sound to this one – this is sweet. The electric guitar nearly sounds like it gently rains into the soundscape at times as delicate notes are plucked and strummed into the track, while the pedal steel keeps the tune meandering about with some super tasty country sounds. The acoustic guitar has a great percussiveness when combined with the tasty, almost muddied bass in this tune, which both sync up super well with the flavorful country beat from the drums that keeps the song traveling forward. The rasp of the vocals have a really tasty country soul type of feel to them in this track, which seems to deepen as the playing from the rest of the band continues to build on and play with those tasty country flavors. Great tune.
“Elvira” starts out super hot with super fast-paced electric blues rock and roll playing from all of the instruments in the band – the bass pulsating the track forward along with the quick and tasty beat from those rock and roll drums, with the electric guitar sounding like some super tasty blues rock and roll playing that reminds me of Chuck Berry. Even the vocals have a sort of urgency to them – really sweet. Great quick blues rock jam.
“Screamin'” starts out with some sort of strange effects to the guitars that set the tone for this tune in a somewhat pseudo-psychedelic manner. Then, the instrumentation becomes grounded to some extent, at which point it sort of becomes a bit of a galloping garage rock-inflected blues rock track. Oh wow, I really dig the reverb effect on the lead guitar for that solo part, which sounds like multiple different guitars going back and forth for a moment – really sweet. I really dig the rhythm guitar in this one, which sort of frames out where the lead guitar might be going next. The bass has a really fat, muddy tone too, which serves the bluesiness of the track really well. Oh wow, I really dig the crashing of the drums near the end of the tune, seemingly bringing everything together as the vocals give a final howl-like line into the soundscape, which seems to blend into the rest of the instrumentation, which in turn all fades into the bass – super sweet. Great track and great way to end the album.
This album has a tone of super tasty flavors, and seems to incorporate both blues influences of old and those of more modern influences from the time period, at times having a sort of vague psychedelic feeling, which sort of peaks during “Love, Love, Love, Love, Love”, which sounds like an homage of sorts to The Jimi Hendrix Experience. There were even some hints of garage rock peppered throughout, as well as a super tasty country folk sort of tune. This album was pretty dynamic the whole time, and seemed to turn down unexpected musical pathways that kept me on the edge of my seat. If you enjoy dynamic blues rock and/or the possibility of influences from genres related to psychedelia, country, and garage rock, all in the form of blues rock, you might want to give this one a try. If you do decide to give this one a listen, I sincerely do hope that you enjoy the listening experience at least as much as I did.
-A