Final Vinyl

AMG Review of Final Vinyl

Lindsay Planer
All Music Guide

Issued in 1979, Final Vinyl gathers ten tracks from Hot Tuna's first eight LPs. While the tune stack is packed with enthusiast favorites, there are notable omissions and even a few questionable inclusions -- most particularly "Day to Day out the Window Blues" from the Phosphorescent Rat (1973) album. That small caveat aside, this single-disc release is an apt revisitation of the first eight-year run of what initially began as a Jefferson Airplane side project by Jorma Kaukonen (lead guitar) and Jack Casady (bass). The band's first long-player consisted of acoustic raditional blues covers such as "Hesitation Blues" as well as hard-drivin' reworkings of similar material from the likes of Rev. Gary Davis ("Candy Man"). That was, of course, in addition to contributions from Kaukonen and occasionally Casady -- as exemplified on "Funky #7." Hot Tuna also offered exceptional acoustic as well as electric musicianship. The duo expanded their horizons from their self-titled debut to include "Papa" John Creech (violin), Sammy Piazza (drums), and Will Scarlett (mouth harp) on their second long-player, First Pull up, Then Pull Down (1971). Although both albums are somewhat meagerly represented by one track apiece, the inclusions reveal the instrumental prowess inherent in each. Although Burgers (1972) and Phosphorescent Rat (1973) are both denoted by a pair of tunes, the selections seem a bit random and incidental. This can likewise be said of the remainder -- especially Double Dose (1978), from which "I Wish You Would" is taken. Practically any of the other material would have been more appropriate -- such as the understated reading of "Genesis." Granted the tune was not a Tuna track -- as it originated on Kaukonen's solo debut Quah. Inclined parties are best served by the two-CD Best of Hot Tuna (1998), which contains a much broader and more accurate collection from the same era.