Country Life

"...This album is everything that is good about Roxy Music...Don't let the racy sleeve make you think this album is trying to sell itself on that. It rocks all the way through...So if you like slightly quirky old-fashioned style rock and having a great time, do yourself a favour and buy yourself this great album..." Amazon reviewer A discriminating music fan
 

Roxy Music: Country Life

Although my mother never actually mentioned anything about Country Life's record sleeve overtly, she always used to turn it around when the two brazen hussies above stared back at her from the front my pile of recently played records in our sitting room back in 1974/5. 

Well, why not, I suppose, the cover is a little shocking and was actually banned in the USA (& some other markets), where Country Life was eventually released with the same cover shot minus the girls, i.e. just the trees. Hmmm. That particular artistic &/or marketing decision to not create an American record sleeve no doubt held Roxy Music back incredibly and Country Life just scraped Top 40 in the USA, a shame, because it deserved so much more.

Now, in the nerdish world of old guys debating old pop music, Roxy's fans are frequently divided about which was the band's best album. Me? I don't go there. Instead, I refer to Country Life as Roxy Music's great group album:

• guitarist Phil Manzanera stomped all over the disc with what I consider to be one of the greatest ever extended performances by a non-virtuoso guitarist
• meanwhile, sax/oboe player Andy Mackay wasn't that far behind Manzanera with some cool, memorable solos 
• Ferry shone through a mostly excellent collection of songs with strong lyrics and delightfully idiosyncratic vocals, while
• drummer Paul Thompson thumped along, sometimes with sensitivity, sometimes with the subtlety of a charging rhino 

Yes, Country Life, was a triumph but unfortunately, Roxy's fourth album didn't have a natural single and the song eventually chosen, All I Want was, arguably, the weakest track! Thus it's little remembered, played or even mentioned, which is a real shame, because it's titanic! 

The album begins with some low-key piano, then some ominous, counterpointing Manzanera guitar appears, Thompson blusters in, pounding away and Ferry dramatically wails:

"...Oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh..."

Now, that may not look great on the page but Country Life's opening is genuinely arresting, more like an exotic piece of theatre than rock'n'roll. It's simply stunning, just as powerful as Robert Plant on Led Zepplin's Immigrant Song but this is no tale of viking pillaging, this is predatory Bryan Ferry, sophisticated ladies man, out on the town, tomcatting...  

"...The sky is dark
The wind is cold
The night is young
Before it's old and grey
We will k-n-o-w
The thrill of it all..."

...but then Ferry manoeuvres surprisingly. The Thrill Of It All actually isn't about a cheap bit of skirt, it's about the thrill of pinning down Creativity, his muse...  

"...Every word I use
Each crumpled page
Strange ideas
Mature with age
Like leaves
When autumn falls
T-u-r-n gold
When they hit the ground..."

With Manzanera and new boy Eddie Jobson on edgy electric violin driving the song deeper and deeper into the claustrophobic abyss of never satisfaction, one is left with no doubt that, in Ferry's mind, at least, Creativity is the greatest possible thrill, far more profound than any woman...

"...I can't see
I can't speak
I couldn't take more than another week
Without you - oh no
So I will drink my fill
Till the thrill is you..."

The song fittingly climaxes with Ferry's cataclysmic wail, once more, of...

"...Oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh...
Still, I won't forget
The thrill of it all..."

     The Thrill Of It All

...and you're left exhausted! 

Country Life T-shirt

With the drama of The Thrill Of It All still resounding in your ears, Country Life then offers Three And Nine, a mysterious, disarmingly low-key song, once more, strangely, about Creativity.  

FYI, the lyric 3 and 9 refers to three shillings and nine pence, presumably the (late Fifties or early Sixties) price of admission to the cinema in the UK and the song provides some clever wordplay masquerading as lusty times in the back row of a cinema... 

"...You might remember
How it used to be
3 and 9 could show you
Any fantasy
Parti-coloured pictures
Now and then 3D
No cheap nostalgia
Conjured up by me..."

However, celluloid memories may be one thing but Ferry makes it clear that he's moved from the cinema to the power of pop music...

"...B-feature back rows
Filed away
No point pretending
Change is here to stay
3 and 9 to 45
Decimal romance
If you've warmed to centigrade
You stand a sporting chance..."

       Three And Nine

• with 3 & 9 (the cinema) giving way to 45s (the rotation speed of hit single records)
• "decimal romance" referring to the need for change (Britain had only recently changed to a decimal pound sterling in 1971) &
• "if you've warmed to centigrade"...puns that Progressive thinkers were then of the feeling that Britain should align itself with Europefor standardisation of measurements. The Europeans used centigrade or celsius for temperature while the British were still clinging to the old standard of Fahrenheit

I'll be the first to admit that Three And Nine is no rock'n'roll song. It may even be fey but it's certainly unusual and serves Country Life well by bringing you down after The Thrill Of It All. 

Next up is the problematic single, All I Want Is You, a lovely album track with some crunching Manzanera guitars and some distinctly juvenile and playful boy loves girl words. It's fun but never had enough punch to be a Top 10 hit.    

"...Don't want to learn about etiquette
From glossy magazines
Why should I try to talk correct
Like they do in another scenes

Say no more about imagery
You're starting to confuse
Just make an offer of more romance
Of course I can't refuse

All I want is you
Oo oo I'm all cracked up on you..."

                 All I Want

Roxy Music: All I Want Is You

I've never been able to understand why but Country Life seems to magically move up a couple of gears after All I Want Is You...

Out Of The Blue, phases in slowly and suddenly the band is firing on all cylinders, making the song more a piece of powerful mood music than just a pop song, while Ferry woos a sad, existential beauty... 

"... You seemed so sad
I could see
Through your twisted smile
So unsure
Always confused

Pale blue eyes
Gazing down
From your ivory tower
Through the haze
All broken and bruised

Then out of the blue Love came rushing in..."

   Out Of The Blue

And finally, side 1 closes with the very European-like hootenanny of If It Takes All Night, with words totally at odds to the good-time feel, made almost funky by Mackay's jaunty sax solo. 

"...Oh here it comes again
That old ennui
I hope it won't stay long
Well it's every man to his own thing
And every singer to his song..."

"... Ah...more champagne!
To lose this pain
Would be very nice
So I'll help myself to one more drink
And I'll find myself
If it takes all night..."

     If It Takes All Night

That Euro-vibe continues on side 2 for the next three songs, each very different mini-classics. Firstly, the astonishing Bittersweet, co-written with Mackay. Picture a maudlin Ferry in some anonymous nightclub tinkling on a piano, crying into his martini...

"...Well this is such
A sad affair
I've opened up my heart
Oh, so many times
But now it's closed..."

Then, out of nowhere, the music swings into Nazi goosestepping thunder...

"...But when the show's in full swing
Every once in a while
High stepping chorus lines
Mean I'm forgetting
Mein lullaby - liebchen..."

Yes, even though he's emotionally exhausted, Ferry's Euro-hero understands that the show called L'Amour must go on...and to say that the listener is by this time in a state of shock would be an understatement.

Ferry returns to his bittersweet reminiscences, continuing even more strangely with a German-sung goose-stepping verse...

"...Nein--das ist nicht das ende der Welt             " ...No, this is not the end of the world
Gestrandet an Leben und Kunst                           Stranded between Life and Art
Und das spiel geht weiter                                   And while the world keeps turning
Wie man weiss,                                                As one knows
Noch viele schönste...wiedersehn..."                    You'll will love again...goodbye..."

                                                           Bittersweet

Where do you go from there? Well, continuing Roxy's previous album Stranded's religious commentary, Ferry decides to take you on a medieval trip into his brief dalliance with Christianity. Harpsichord and massed Ferry choir pronounce...

"...Nailed upon a wooden frame
Twisted yet unbroken
Open mounted a silent choir
Understood, unspoken..."

           Triptych

...and however ludicrous then (and in hindsight, now), Ferry earnestly makes his faith completely believable.

However, not to get too caught up in otherworldly cravings, Country Life crunches back down to earth with the deliciously scathing Casanova...

"...You - the hero
So many times
You've loved
And didn't linger
Now my finger
Points at you
Another loser..."

   Casanova   

...but is Casanova, as rumored, about ex-Roxy member Brian Eno or Ferry's own self portrait? Who cares? Casanova is vicious, it rocks!

However good the previous three tracks are, they really serve to set up the final two, both showing distinct American influences, this time. A Really Good Time starts with chintzy strings and a smoky sax, finding Ferry looking into a mirror, more than a little dissatisfied with what he sees...

"...You never bothered
About anyone else
You're well educated
With no common sense
But Love - that's one thing
You really need to get by..."

  
He's got the analysis, he knows the score...but can't get out of his self-made trap. However, he does know a girl who has, so perhaps there's hope for him...

"...She's got no money
Well, maybe a dime
But she knows what she's worth
And that's reason why
She's gonna make it
She's got what it takes
You'll appreciate that
She's probably late
But I know
And you know
We all know
She'll have a really good time..."

        A Really Good Time

...and as Andy Mackay's sax wails the outro, Roxy Music, the band, rock straight back in with perhaps their best ever love song, Prairie Rose, an ode to Texas and Bryan Ferry's new love, Texan model, Jerry Hall.

From my point of view, Prairie Rose is also probably Roxy's only really sexy song, a true rock'n'roll dance anthem and like many great dance songs, the lyrics are secondary to the feel, so I don't want to quote them. Mind you, there is one great gag, Ferry's supposedly throway... 

"Oh what a state to be in..."

Magnificent!   

 

Roxy Music: Country Life

"...(Country Life) may be the greatest "wall of sound" recording ever! The introduction of the first song, The Thrill of It All, is one of the most exciting beginnings to an album I have ever heard -the ostinato piano figure yielding to the pummelling onslaught of the rest of the band and Ferry's desperate mating call - ah, Heaven!! It's like the aural equivalent of glass bricks, heavy AND shimmering at the same time - a thing of raw, hard beauty. The rest of the album is similarly stunning - it should be a touchstone for any student of rock music or rock production. The songs are uniformly excellent...quirky at times but always compact and interesting and the lyrics are simply brilliant, Ferry at his best -a balancing act of wit...depth, art and entertainment, that...has never been topped, in my opinion. The whole album is rocking, challenging, scrumptious FUN. ..." Amazon reviewer Paul Minot

"...This may very well be the pinnacle of a classic band's career. Though I have always held a soft spot for Avalon, this one's edgy and beautiful, rocking and soothing. It combines Bryan Ferry's alluring voice with the players in top form. One picks up instantly on the romance and dreams of the time and the uncanny realization that Roxy did in fact fill a gap in the world of music so perfectly and uniquely...This is a great album in every sense, for all your senses..." Amazon reviewer Author Brian Wallace

Country Life is over 30 years old, now, but it contains more teasing thrills per minute than almost any post-Beatles album I can think of. It's clever, witty and very, very sophisticated. You must have it. 

Roxy Music biography

For more info, see:

• wikipedia Country Life
• NME interview with Bryan Ferry promoting Country Life (second half only)