There was a lot of talent involved in the making of
Cochise's debut album. Guitarist
Mick Grabham went on to play in
Procol Harum; bassist
Rick Wills would later join
Foreigner; B.J. Cole would be an in-demand pedal steel player on many sessions over the next few decades; drummer
Willie Wilson would play with
Pink Floyd;
Dick Taylor, who'd just left
the Pretty Things, produced; and
Storm Thorgerson of Hipgnosis (famous for working on
Pink Floyd LP covers) designed a striking and, for the period, daring cover of a woman's unadorned breasts. The credits on a résumé don't always guarantee an outstanding album, however, and
Cochise is one of those '60s-turning-into-'70s records that treads an uneasy line between eclectic diversity and a lack of direction. It's so-so period 1970 British rock, distinguished just slightly by a more country-ish flavor than the norm, courtesy of
Cole's pedal steel. It's not country-rock, however, and some of the songs in fact owe little or nothing to the form. Numbers like "Painted Lady" and "Moment and the End" are tense, meandering hard rock tunes; the latter cut, in fact (as well as sections of some others, like "Velvet Mountain") sounds kind of like late-'60s/early-'70s
Guess Who LP filler. There's a wistful rural feel to parts of the material that suggests some promise, but that mood's shattered by an unnecessary, pedestrian heavy rock cover of
Simon & Garfunkel's "59th Street Bridge Song."