Going Up, Going Down is a double-disc set on the Castle label focusing on
Chicken Shack singer and guitarist
Stan Webb. The first disc captures the early days of his British electric blues band when the lineup included future
Fleetwood Mac keyboardist
Christine Perfect (pre-
McVie). Their earliest repertoire, made up of electric blues cover versions, is reflected through both studio recordings and various live gigs, with fundamentally decent takes of "Everyday I Have the Blues," "Tell Me," "San Ho Zay," "I'm Tore Down," "I'd Rather Go Blind," and "He Knows the Rules." The second disc is a bit more interesting as the band progresses into a harder and louder guitar-driven unit, utilizing
Webb's original songs, which have more in common with
Paul Rodgers and
Free than the previous incarnations did with classic electric blues. Unfortunately, the two live tracks are the weakest on the second disc; "Back Door Man" gets bogged down with pseudo-
Hendrix wah-wah pedal hysterics, and the second reading of "Tell Me" is perfunctory. At 36 tracks, Going Up, Going Down may be too much for the novice, but the collector will certainly find this of interest. ~ Al Campbell