The CBB - as I affectionately call them - stood proudly next to their so-called betters in the British blues-rock movement during the late 1960's and early 1970's and cut a string of records which went relatively unnoticed, but were as groundbreaking as any act in the genre. Led by singer and multi-instrumentalist Colin Cooper, these guys cut a mean, dirty, working-class swath on their gradual way to success in America. The ironic thing was, once they achieved that success, they were unable to sustain it, and what followed them - pub rock and punk rock - the very movements which should have credited them, tossed them by the wayside as relics of a bygone era. The debut album was released under the moniker "The Climax Chicago Blues Band" in early 1969. This was a subject which would cause issues with the band Chicago (at the time, known as the Chicago Transit Authority) and would cause the group to eventually change their name, but for now, simply causes confusion from a collector standpoint. Content-wise, the album is a bit pedestrian, but what separates them from a lot of other blues-rock acts is the willingness to pen and perform their own compositions. But the only real hint of adventure comes on the very last track, "And Lonely", a sad piano ballad which foreshadows the adventure and pathos of what would soon be encountered on future albums.

After three subpar albums the boys from Brownsville finally hit their stride on School Punks, which - if nothing else - was a fairly direct, succinct album with one general purpose – to nostalgically rock. Its' main point was to charm the listener with awkward stories of misadventures from their high school days. Apparently, the bookend tracks became minor chart hits, and to these ears, deservedly so. “Kings of the Party” is in the same ball park as their major hit “Smokin’ in the Boys Room”, but looser and more fun if you can believe it, for here the name of the game is the band celebrating their newfound fame. “I’m the Leader of the Gang” is a cover of a Gary Glitter song, and Brownsville is able to take the hooligan/soccer-style chants and give it more of a Midwestern high school football twist. Furthermore, the interplay between comedy and pop music on songs like “Mama Don’t Allow No Parkin” and “Fast Phyllis” is fascinating. When the band gets cover-heavy towards the end of the album the whole package starts to lose its’ luster for me a bit. I have images of the original artwork and I have to say; the overall theme is a good fit. The cover photo painting of the band is pretty scary, though, in that I actually remember guys looking like this back when I was in high school. But overall, this is the first real consistent start-to-finish Brownsville platter that holds real entertainment value.

Lost among what seemed like a sea of proto-punk releases from the Detroit area in the early 70's was this little-known debut platter from Brownsville Station. It's similar to the MC5's Back in the USA in that it revisits 50's rock 'n' roll through a 70's heavy rock lens, but Brownsville's approach was to use a mix of school-age innocence and easy humor. The drawback here is the material just is not that interesting, with two exceptions - jaunty yet destructive versions of "Roadrunner" and "Rumble". If you are a fan of heavy rock from this era it's worth a spin or two.

Pretty much the same lineup, but the result is a total 180 from the previous album. Now Bronstein and Frank take their reputation as street freaks seriously, cut out the silly humor, and go full-bore radical with a serious mean streak. Tracks like "Power", "Tricky Noses" (which ends abruptly on a gunshot), and "She's Just Naturally Bad" ooze bad attitude, worse omens, and the music has more impact, too, despite its stripped-back nature. The centerpiece is "Mongoose", a tribal-infused piece of political metaphor and future sounds, be it intentional or otherwise. Sometimes it misses - "Piece Now" just riffs along on the same passage and is by far the most tedious track on the record. But by and large, a moderate improvement from the debut, and one of those "proto" albums that deserves more notice that it has received.

The band was in search of a radio hit, with tracks like “Cheer”, “Train”, and “Chattanooga” making prominent piano and gospel-like female background vocals a big selling point. A low point comes on the title track, where the band tries to out-do Mountain’s “Mississippi Queen”, but the bigger issue here is the unfettered workouts of the debut, like the “Riverboat” and “Toallaby” twin bill, are just not to be found on Levee Blues. Overall, I can see why these guys did not make the big time, if we judge it by this album alone. It’s not like they strayed a long ways from their roots, but the key renegade thread of the debut album is sorely missing. Still, there is enough to hold interest, especially if you liked the debut record – or if you like contrasting the two together (like I do).