Cartoone's sole, self-titled album is more known as a footnote in the late-'60s career of
Jimmy Page than it is for its own merits.
Page contributed guitar to the record as a session man -- though his work is neither too prominent nor too similar to what he was getting ready to do in
Led Zeppelin -- and
Cartoone opened for
Led Zeppelin at some shows in the U.S. in early 1969, probably because of the
Page association and a shared label (Atlantic Records). Not to stretch the
Page/
Led Zeppelin connection past its breaking point, but those whose interest in this album is piqued by that connection should know that this Scottish band's music is highly dissimilar. Far from being hard rock, it's slightly fey pop/rock with strong debts to the lighter side of the late-'60s
Beatles and, more apparently, the late-'60s
Bee Gees. Singer/bassist/guitarist Derek Creigan has a far less delicate delivery than the
Gibb brothers, but certainly the melancholy melodies, ornate arrangements, and trembling vocal timbres of songs like "Withering Wood," "Girl of Yesterday," "I Can't Walk Back," and especially "Mr. Poor Man" can't help but bring early
Bee Gees to mind. Yet
Cartoone seemed to be suffering from some indecision as to how to define themselves, with some other tracks indicating some harder-rocking ambitions (especially the opening and most
Beatlesque track, "Knick Knock Man"). Other cuts load on so much orchestration that they seem to aim to the right of
the Bee Gees, as stabs at the more bombastic and ballad-oriented slice of the late-'60s British pop market. The common shortcoming, as is so often the case in records reflecting numerous trends of the period, is in the material, which just isn't as distinguished as that of
the Bee Gees, let alone
the Beatles. ~ Richie Unterberger