Culture – Leisure | Status Quo, the Masters of the Rhythm

In the mid-1970s, Status Quo watered the radio waves with its gleaming boogie. " Down Down »,« Carolina »,« Break The Rules And roll my chicken. The London group, which was founded in 1962, achieved a first success with Pictures of Matchstick Men In 1968 (put back in the saddle in 2004 by an automobile advertisement). This so-called psychedelic period ceases definitively with the album " Piledriver (1972) which lays the foundation for the "sound" Status Quo. Even the cover of Doors, " Roadhouse Blues ", Which immediately becomes their bravura title in concert, meets all the criteria of boogie-rock as it is defined by Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt and Alan Lancaster, the hair tangled in the strings of guitars in front of their wall. Marshall amps, all supported by John Coghlan's metronomic strike.

Francis Rossi, the survivor

We are in a prepunk period and in the AC / DC front. The simplicity of the Quo seduces because it relies more on raw energy than on the instrumental demonstration. This rock also owes a lot to Chuck Berry, whom Rossi & Co borrows " Bye Bye Johnny To make it a frantic hymn of efficiency. The " Live The seething experience of 1976 is a testament to the golden era in which Status Quo is one of the most formidable stage groups of the moment.

Other tubes follow, such as " Whatever You Want "(1979) or the most pop" In The Army Now (1986), but the magic formula of the 70's gradually evaporates, with the exception of some interesting bursts like " Quid Pro Quo »And« Aquostic Where Rossi and Parfitt dusted off their classics in acoustics.

Since the death of Rick Parfitt in 2016, Francis Rossi has been the only member to have passed through all the years of Status Quo, which returns in 2019 with his 33e album. Surprise: " backbone »Revives the basic boogie-rock of the period« On The Level ". We go back four decades with " Cut Me Some Slack " or " I Wanna Run Away With You »,« Liberty Jane »And« backbone Shine brightly, we think we hear an overjoyed JJ Cale on " Waiting For A Woman ". And Get Out Of My Head "Snores like an old-fashioned 6-cylinder engine. Everything is impeccable, accurate as a clock. Believe it or not, but Rossi and his band of new mercenaries have not aged.

"I speak too much": it is under this title that Francis Rossi published last March his autobiography, not yet translated into French. His recording is this duet album with Hannah Rickard who participated in the album " Aquostic ". Sure " We talk too much Rossi & Rickard mix vocals, guitars and violins in the service of a friendly country rock that we would have liked more daring. But note that the good old boogie tempo often prevails over traditional folk. The imprint of Quo!