Home - Pause For A Hoarse Horse 1971

The influence of American late-'60s and early-'70s West Coast country-rock on the early-'70s British rock scene was mild on the whole, but its quite pronounced impact on a few U.K. bands has been overlooked. There were Brinsley Schwarz and Matthews' Southern Comfort, and, in a much more obscure instance, Home's rather awkwardly titled debut LP Pause for a Hoarse Horse. Home were good, competent players, capable of good-natured country-rock with some sparkling guitar, sometimes speckled with a hint of Paul McCartney-esque pop or (especially on "Family") Crosby, Stills & Nash harmonies. But while there was nothing seriously flawed or irritating about the album, there was nothing special about the material, largely written by lead singer Mick Stubbs. They would have been eminently suitable as an opening act for the likes of the Flying Burrito Brothers, or, for that matter, Brinsley Schwarz and Matthews' Southern Comfort. But they didn't have songs on the order of any of those bands, or an approach that was nearly as distinctive. The result was an album that was both inoffensive and inessential, occasionally straying from country-rock into average straightforward harder rock. AMG.

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