Although Adrian Gurvitz is a widely recognised name in the annals of rock, many of his actual recordings outside of the Baker Gurvitz Army have been sadly neglected by non-hardcore fans. This is something of a travesty when work such as this, the 1971 debut by the power trio, also including his brother Paul on bass (they are credited as “Curtis”, rather than Gurvitz) and Spooky Tooth’s Mike Kellie, is both credible and accessible to modern audiences.
Three Man Army picked up where previous band The Gun had left off, featuring a mix of incisive, soulful hard rock (Butter Queen) and more thoughtful, acoustic songs, such as the title track. In particular, some of the funkier tracks, such as Nice One, have a dirty groove that is completely of its time, but fits perfectly with today’s somewhat selective “retro” view of the early 70s. Heavy rock-wise, Three Man Army have more in common with US (or US-influenced) bands of the period than with the Zeppelin/Sabbath/Purple end of the spectrum, and they never sounded better – or more fresh – than they do here.
