Trimmed and Burning

AMG Review of Trimmed and Burning

Lindsay Planer
All Music Guide

Prior to the (mostly) complete catalog overhaul of Hot Tuna's late-'60s and '70s output on CD, the U.K.-based Edsel imprint served up this excellent 16-track anthology. One general observation is that although the Jefferson Airplane offshoot wasn't scoring "hits" per se, the tune stack of Trimmed and Burning seems to concentrate on deeper LP sides, as opposed to selections that might be considered somewhat more anticipated. One of the major omissions -- if not the major omission -- is the absence of material from the combo's debut, the live "unplugged" Hot Tuna (1969). Instead, the proceedings commence with the edgy update of the Rev. Gary Davis folk-blues staple "Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning" and Jorma Kaukonen's (guitar/vocals) "Been So Long" -- both derived from the amped-up concert collection First Pull Up, Then Pull Down (1971). The rest of the contents are lifted from the band's studio releases, the notable exceptions being two acoustic instrumentals -- Kaukonen's pre-Jefferson Airplane composition "Embryonic Journey" and the bluesy "Killing Time in the Crystal City" -- from Hot Tuna's posthumous "classic" era concert outing Double Dose (1978). Otherwise, there are primarily adeptly chosen representatives from 1972's Burgers ("Water Song" and "Sunny Day Strut"), 1973's The Phosphorescent Rat ("Soliloquy for 2," "Corners Without Exits," and "In the Kingdom"), 1975's America's Choice ("Hit Single #1," "Sleep Song," as well as "Serpent of Dreams"), 1975's Yellow Fever ("Bar Room Crystal Ball"), and 1976's Hoppkorv ("I Can't Be Satisfied," "Watch the North Wind Rise," and "Song from the Stainless Cymbal").