Hesitation blues (Hot Tuna) (LP 738 - 740)

Hot Tuna  Hot Tuna (CD and vinyl, RCA Records, 1970) ***

Hot Tuna  First Pull Up, Then Pull Down (CD and vinyl, RCA Records, 1971) ****

Hot Tuna  Burgers (CD and vinyl, RCA/Grunt Records, 1972) *****

Genre: Grunt Records; pop/rock from San Francisco

Places I remember: Marbecks Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Keep Your Lights Trimmed and Burning (appears on both first 2  albums)

Gear costume: John's Other (FPUTPD); Highway Song (Burgers) has David Crosby on harmony vocals; Keep On Truckin' and Water Song (Burgers)

Active compensatory factors: The yin and the yang of Hot Tuna are on display in these first two live albums. The debut is acoustic folk/blues material. Their second outing (First Pull Up etc) is an electric blues album.

Both are good but FPUTPD is a blistering live set with Papa John Creech on board and duking it out with Jorma and Jack to magnificent effect! Side note- the CD sets are good to have for the extended tracks not originally on the first two vinyl albums.

Papa John's fiddle really jells with the Hot Tuna blues style and he and Jorma mesh brilliantly. Jack Casady's fluid, melodic bass is a standout, always. The man is cool personified!

The combo was intact for the third featured album here - Burgers - their first studio album and their first for Grunt Records. A five star classic album all the way.

The sound on Burgers is another development over the live albums with the band captured at an early peak with this lineup.

Where do they all belong? A lot more Tuna to be served up.