from the LP Hold Your Fire, Vertigo Records, 1971Unfairly tagged as progressive rockers (in my opinion anyways), most probably due to the reputation of the record label they recorded for, British crew Patto have always come across more like a blues-rock band that got lost while traveling around one day, probably got too high and just wandered off to jam under a big tree somewhere, and thus decided to live life apart from commercial expectations, instead tweaking the blues template to their liking & focusing firmly on the groove. This song, and much of their material, benefited greatly from lead singer Mike Patto’s gravelly & deep-throated delivery, but it’s indisputably the guitar work of whiz-kid Ollie Halsall that makes all 3 Patto records a must have for any fan of heavy rock---the dude smokes; his solo at the end of this song fucking kills it man! Patto included drug references in a large segment of their material (hell, their third album was called Roll ‘Em, Smoke ‘Em, Put Another Line Out), and this track is no exception to that pattern, telling the tale of an exhausted & disillusioned wastoid who’s tried every kinda way to get with the times, “…I’ve smoked a ton of marijuana, I sat crossed legged till my legs went numb; I made peace signs at the farmers when they called me a no good bum…I spent three weeks making necklaces from oriental beads, they were stolen by my guru while I was high on (morning) glory seeds…see I’d taken to wearing sandals and I’d given up watching TV; I was rolling up grass in the American flag and I was sick from snorting "C"…I blew my mind out on a trip one night and I ran all the way back to town, but the minute I saw the lights in their faces I freaked and turned right around… I’ve been beaten down and busted, and I’ve wound up on my own, and there’s nothing left that buzzes me so I’m returning home…” These cats were avowed druggies, so managing to take the piss out of themselves in this manner comes across as both sincere & humble, two traits music of this era wasn’t known for. Plus, you gotta love the whacked out cartoon creatures that adorned the front & back (pictured above) covers of the LP!
