Bolan's Zip Gun
| Bolan’s Zip Gun | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by T. Rex | ||||
| Released | 16 February 1975 | |||
| Recorded | 1974 at MRI Studios, Hollywood, United States | |||
| Genre | Glam rock | |||
| Length | 33:42 | |||
| Label | T.REX (UK), Ariola (Germany) | |||
| Producer | Marc Bolan | |||
| T. Rex chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Bolan’s Zip Gun | ||||
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Bolan’s Zip Gun is the tenth studio album and a UK-only release by English glam rock act T. Rex, released on 16 February 1975 by record label EMI.
Eight of the eleven songs on the album, along with three tracks from previous album Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow (rejected by T.Rex's previous US label Warner Brothers) had already been released in the US as the Light of Love album on Casablanca Records. For this retitled UK edition, the three Zinc Alloy tracks were replaced by recent single Zip Gun Boogie and two new tracks.
Background and production
Marc Bolan’s new partner Gloria Jones and other recent American friends, such as Gloria’s brother Richard and backing singer Pat Hall, had helped influence Bolan's music, and he was experimenting with soul inflections.
The album was recorded at MRI Studios in Hollywood, United States. The album was produced by Marc Bolan, having dispensed with the services of previous producer Tony Visconti.
Music and lyrics
Although the sound of the album was very stark and the lyrics very simple and direct, Bolan had tried to go beyond the rock format of the previous T. Rex sound and reflect his recent immersion in the US soul scene.
Several of the songs had a very futuristic tone, especially "Space Boss", "Think Zinc", and "Golden Belt", Bolan being a great fan of science fiction. The band on this album also featured a twin-drum sound on some tracks, notably "Solid Baby", provided by Davy Lutton and Paul Fenton.
Release
Bolan’s Zip Gun was released on 16 February 1975 on the T. Rex label (distributed by EMI). It did not chart in the United Kingdom.
Two singles were released from the album: "Light of Love", which reached No. 22 in the UK Singles Chart, and "Zip Gun Boogie".
Bolan’s Zip Gun was first issued on CD in 1986, on SMS Records for the Japanese market and on the Marc On Wax label in Europe, both coming with T. Rex’s 1975 singles, B-sides as well as a remix of Think Zinc as bonus tracks. Later issues on Relativity, Marc On Wax and Teldec left out the bonus material. In 1994, Edsel Records‘s released Bolan’s Zip Gun with a different set of bonus tracks as part of their extensive T. Rex reissue campaign. A companion release, entitled Precious Star (The Alternate Zip Gun), was released in 1995 which contained alternative versions, studio rough mixes, a live version and demos of the main album and bonus tracks. A combined album digipak was released in 2002.
Lots of other CD reissues exist, as T. Rex‘s catalogue gets remastered over and over again.
Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    |
| Pitchfork | 5.9/10[2] |
| PopMatters | 4/10[3] |
Bolan's Zip Gun was generally poorly received by critics.
Stephen M. Deusner of Pitchfork wrote, "A purposeful return to the looser sound of Electric Warrior, Gun fires blanks. For all its directness, the album is mostly perfunctory, working some of the same sounds and ideas, but the results lack movement and liveliness; Bolan's mojo definitely wasn't working. Worse, he really doesn't sound invested in these songs."[2] Whitney Strub of PopMatters wrote "Bolan's Zip Gun contains enough good moments to preclude classification as a disaster, but just barely."[3]
Track listing
All tracks written by Marc Bolan, except as noted.
| Side A | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "Light of Love" | 3:16 |
| 2. | "Solid Baby" | 2:37 |
| 3. | "Precious Star" | 2:53 |
| 4. | "Token of My Love" | 3:40 |
| 5. | "Space Boss" | 2:49 |
| 6. | "Think Zinc" | 3:25 |
| Side B | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "Till Dawn" | 3:02 |
| 2. | "Girl in the Thunderbolt Suit" | 2:20 |
| 3. | "I Really Love You Babe" | 3:33 |
| 4. | "Golden Belt" | 2:41 |
| 5. | "Zip Gun Boogie" | 3:26 |
| 1994 CD reissue bonus tracks | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
| 12. | "Do You Wanna Dance?" | Bobby Freeman | 2:13 |
| 13. | "Dock of the Bay" (sung by Gloria Jones) | Steve Cropper, Otis Redding | 2:20 |
| Precious Star (The Alternate Zip Gun) | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "Light of Love" | 2:22 |
| 2. | "Solid Baby" | 2:29 |
| 3. | "Precious Star" | 2:45 |
| 4. | "Token of My Love" | 3:40 |
| 5. | "Space Boss" | 3:17 |
| 6. | "Think Zinc" | 3:23 |
| 7. | "Till Dawn" | 4:54 |
| 8. | "Girl in the Thunderbolt Suit" | 2:42 |
| 9. | "I Really Love You Babe (Precision Debating)" | 3:06 |
| 10. | "Golden Belt" | 3:28 |
| 11. | "Zip Gun Boogie (Live)" | 9:11 |
| 12. | "Do You Wanna Dance?" | 2:15 |
| 13. | "Dock of the Bay" | 2:22 |
| 14. | "Solid Baby" | 6:06 |
| 15. | "Till Dawn (Marc's Guide)" | 4:44 |
| 16. | "Till Dawn" | 4:29 |
| 17. | "Till Dawn" | 4:03 |
| 18. | "Girl in the Thunderbolt Suit (Blue Jean Bop)" | 2:39 |
| 19. | "Dishing Fish Wop (Golden Belt)" | 3:17 |
Personnel
- Marc Bolan – vocals, guitar, DMS (Dartmouth Music Synthesizer)
- Mickey Finn – percussion
- Dino Dines – keyboards
- Gloria Jones – backing vocals, clavinet
- Steve Currie – bass guitar
- Harry Nilsson – backing vocals
- Davy Lutton – drums
- Paul Fenton – additional drums on "Solid Baby"
- Bill Legend – drums on "Till Dawn"
References
- ↑ Thompson, Dave. "Bolan's Zip Gun – T. Rex | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
- 1 2 Deusner, Stephen M. (5 February 2006). "T. Rex: Tanx / Zip Gun / Futuristic Dragon / Work in Progress | Album Reviews | Pitchfork". Pitchfork. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
- 1 2 Strub, Whitney (23 January 2006). "T. Rex: Tanx / Bolan's Zip Gun / Futuristic Dragon / Work in Progress | PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
External links
- Bolan's Zip Gun at Discogs (list of releases)