I can't remember who it was but there was one DJ in the mid 1970s who would occasionally play "Steal That Gold" on his radio show. I really liked the song, but knew nothing about Bronco, nor heard anything else by them, nor ever saw anything in my local record shops. Several years later whilst browsing through the bargin bins I happened to come across this, and I paid something like 50 pence for the LP.
Unfortunately, at the time I thought "Steal That Gold" was the only memorable track so the album only got played a few times, and usually just to play the one song. I was still none the wiser on the band though, although I could see that Clifford T. Ward, who had a couple of minor hits, co-wrote three of the songs on the LP.
"Steal That Gold" is an uptempo Country Rock song with an urgent finger picked acoustic guitar riff, and a great guitar solo. There's also a little bit of harmonica to give a vision of a stream train and a sing-a-long chorus. It's over eight minutes long and would be ideal as part of the sound track for a 70s Western adventure movie caper. It's also the one example on Smoking Mixture where the length of the song seems appropriate. At the time of playing it had just 853 hits on YouTube, and that is easily the most of any of the tracks on the LP !
A look at the song titles let's you know that Bronco desparetly want to sound like Americans. "Tennessee Saturday Night" and "BlueBerry Pie" might be described as unlistenable Southern Boogie."Southbound State Express" sounds like early period The Eagles though lyrically the inspiration is "Midnight Train To Georgia". It is one of the better moments on Smoking Mixture.
"Tell Me Why" sounds a bit like Carole King's "You Make Me Feel" crossed with Neil Young at his most over indulgent and goes on for nearly seven minutes. With some serious editing it may have been a reasonable three minute song. It's not to be confused with the Neil Young song of the same name.
"Attraction" is one of songs co-written by Clifford T. Ward and is a tender acoustic love song but spoilt by the backing strings. It's over five minutes in length and another example of where discipline and editing may have made a better piece of music.
"Turkey In The Straw" is derivative country music, even down to the banjo playing and "Zonker" has some honky-tonk piano and a nice guitar solo but it's an average song, although there is a hint of Guns N' Roses "Paradise City" to the melody.
"Strange Awakening" has some nice brass which might have come from Curtis Mayfield but the lengthy guitar solo comes from one of the many unforgetable bands that Bob Harris would have drooled over during The Old Grey Whistle Test in the early 70s. Again, its over 7 minutes long when three would have been more than sufficient.
In summary this is not a very good album. It has one tremendous song, a couple of ordinary moments but I found most of it to be unlistenable or instantly forgettable. Over 35 years after its release it sounds as if Bronco were playing for themselves not for the audience, unless that is what people wanted to hear in the early 1970s. Judging by the lack of sales and public acclaim, they probably didn't !
Track Listing :
1. Steal That Gold
2. Tennessee Saturday Night
3. Tell Me Why
4. Attraction
6. Turkey In The Straw
7. Zonker
8. Blueberry Pie
9.Strange Awakening
Released 1973
UK Chart Position : -
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