Rhinofy-Rhino Bucket
I went to lunch with Jeff Gold.
Starting out at Rhino Records, Jeff graduated to assisting Gil Friesen at A&M to replacing Jeff Ayeroff as head of creative services to ultimately replacing Jeff again at Warner Brothers.
He had a Moon Man in his office, and an inkjet printer long before they became the standard, and after going to lunch at a place down the street we returned to the ski lodge, where Jeff opened the closet for my picking.
That used to be the highlight of the label visit. When their wares were ripe for the taking. You snatched the new stuff, you loaded up on catalog, you frequently got sneers for taking too much, but you did anyway, because you wanted to own it, you were like a kid in a candy store.
Jeff really didn’t believe I was going to listen to all these albums. I remember I got "The Immaculate Collection" and a Prince CD, but my most treasured album from that long ago visit is Rhino Bucket.
Huh?
Jeff was shocked when I told him so. The act was not a priority, nothing was happening, but I played that album for months, it’s embedded in my DNA. If you were ever a fan of AC/DC, especially the Bon Scott era, you’re gonna love Rhino Bucket.
Now let me warn you. If you’re prickly, if you believe you can’t joke about women’s rights, maybe you should tune out right here. Hell, I’m convinced the name of the act is a euphemism for a part of a female’s anatomy, oh hell, her vagina. Never seen this online, then again, this is something you might lie about. And so many of the lyrics are misogynist. But there’s an incredible sense of humor. And that SOUND!
Drop the needle and you’ll be shocked. You’ll be in that bar, tanked to the limit, reveling in the music. You’ll be driving in your car, fist pumping through the sunroof…Â If you love hard rock, you’ll love this.
1. "One Night Stand"
Didn’t light your fire baby
Didn’t tell you lies
Didn’t say I wanted you
But you never said goodbye
Are you catching this? She screwed him and disappeared!
Didn’t see your point of view
Don’t see much point in you
Don’t like the games you play
All I want to do is get away
He’s not kicking YOU to the curb, HE’S been kicked, HE’S been discarded, HIS head is spinning…
One more, one night stand
One more, one night stand!
He’s DISAPPOINTED!
Then two and a half minutes in, the track quiets down, he’s almost singing sotto voce…
Didn’t light your fire
Didn’t tell you to stay
Didn’t say I wanted you
STAY THE FUCK AWAY!
Now that’s fucking HILARIOUS!
Then he starts SCREAMING!
Don’t need sympathy
Don’t need charity
Don’t want more
One night stands!
Then, as the song fades out, he does a 180:
JUST GIVE ME ONE MORE
ONE NIGHT STAND!
ONE MORE, ONE NIGHT STAND
ONE MORE, ONE NIGHT STAND
ONE MORE, ONE NIGHT STAND
You’ll push the button to hear it again, you’ll be laughing, you’ll be crying, this is the essence of rock and roll.
2. "Beg For Your Love"
This takes off like a shot, with no time to recover from "One Night Stand"… You ride it like a bucking bronco. Your brain empties, you’re doing your best to hang on.
Sure, he’s got her begging for his love.
But what I love is when he sings:
You don’t know anything ’bout love
You don’t know ANYTHING AT ALL!
I’m cracking up just writing that. Because we don’t know shit. Either sex.
The guitar screams, there’s a hooky chorus.
And just like "One Night Stand", the track breaks down just past the two and a half minute mark…and builds back up again. This is the music AC/DC wishes it could still make.
3. "Train Ride"
After a big flourish, chomping chords, this gets intimate. Well, as intimate as hard rock gets.
Between the guitar and the pounding drum you’re in heaven.
And then everybody comes in for the rave-up chorus.
Once again, he’s on the losing end of romance…
I think I’m falling out of favor
As you’re waving goodbye
All he wants to do is gain entrance back into her station!
4. "Going Down Tonight"
This starts so quiet, so slow, and then the guitar crunches, the drum slams and you just can’t believe how great this album is, four killers in a row!
This could fit in perfectly on the second side of "Back In Black". Dark, not made for radio, but just for you. Drinking beer with your buddies, psyching yourself up when you’re alone.
And stay in for the solo around 2:30, it gets your neurons firing, your head’s about to explode.
5. "Even The Sun Goes Down"
This is closer to southern rock, closer to the English rock of 1970, Humble Pie. It swings.
As for the second side, the final five…
Be sure to check out "Shot Down". It’s as good as any of the above, it’s got a swagger, and the drum sound makes you feel all warm inside, you can’t stop nodding your head.
I love the lick of "Inside/Outside".
The only throwaway, the only loser on the album, is the closer, "Ride The Rhino". It’s the kind of music AC/DC makes today. It’s got the sound, not the magic, it’s listenable, but you don’t need to hear it again.
But what comes before…Â Whew!
Rhino Bucket went on to make another record for Reprise, but it wasn’t the same. Because of the sound.
It’s all about the first album, it’s all about the production team of Daniel Rey and Brendan O’Brien. It’s hard to separate where the genius of one ends and the other begins. Rey had edgy, hard rock roots. And O’Brien ultimately went there too. But this was before O’Brien was famous, before he worked with the classic rockers. The murky sound here is so right for Rhino Bucket, yet wrong for Bruce Springsteen.
Then again, O’Brien ultimately worked with AC/DC.
But "Black Ice" is no match for the first Rhino Bucket album. Rhino Bucket’s debut is SENSATIONAL! If they’d just stuck with Rey and O’Brien they could be legendary today.
