Taddy Porter

Personnel: Andy Brewer (vocals, guitar); Joe Selby (guitar).
Audio Mixer: Skidd Mills.
Recording information: 747 Studios, Memphis, TN; Skiddco Studios; The Sound Kitchen, Franklin, TN.
Photographer: Bill Horn .
The 12 songs on the self-titled debut album by the Oklahoma rock quartet Taddy Porter are all original compositions written by the bandmembers -- singer/guitarist Andy Brewer, lead guitarist Joe Selby, bassist Kevin Jones, and drummer Doug Jones -- sometimes with another person. But "original" can be a relative term, as the foursome sound very similar to Free and Bad Company. It would not be surprising to discover that before the foursome started writing these songs, they were the best Free/Bad Company tribute band in the Southwest. With his husky low tenor, Brewer is a vocal dead ringer for Paul Rodgers, while Selby's collection of guitar riffs derives directly from those of Paul Kossoff and Mick Ralphs; the rhythm section just pounds along in support of the singer and guitarist. This sort of gutbucket bluesy hard rock sound has been filling halls since the late '60s, and after Rodgers' early groups forged the mold, others have benefited. Employing basically the same style, the Cult sold a lot of records in the '80s, and so did the Black Crowes in the `90s. There's no reason why Taddy Porter couldn't do the same thing in the 2010s, even if they are a particularly unoriginal knockoff, as song titles like "Mean Bitch" and "Fire in the Streets" suggest. Bet they do great versions of "All Right Now" and "Can't Get Enough of Your Love," though. ~ William Ruhlmann