Sunday, November 7, 2010

Artist: Hellfield, Album: Night Music, Song: Sister Blue

"See it in your face.  Love has disappeared without a trace." Hellfield were a band from Toronto that released their debut in 1978.  The leader of the band was Mitchell Field (aka Mitch Hellfield).  Mitchell was a drummer by trade who had played with John Lee Hooker prior to forming his band.  They were signed to CBS records.  Mitchell assumed the vocal duties and handled a lot of the drumming during recording.  I find I really get into bands that have a drummer leading the way.  You can almost guarantee that there is going to be a great back beat to the music.  The song, Sister Blue, off their second and final release, Night Music, is no exception.  It's got a great groove going on and I find Mitch's vocals to be reminiscent of Rod Stewart a bit.  If you enjoy early Black Crowes, you should identify with this song.  Hellfield would call it quits in 1982 after two full length releases.  As the story goes, CBS records were undergoing some changes following the release of Night Music in 1979 and their contract was never renewed.  The band was also tinkering with their sound around the same time on the local bar scene.  Heavy Metal was at it's peak and rock was becoming harder and heavier.  I read somewhere that Mitch released a solo album in 2000 but I can't seem to find a link to it anywhere.  So unfortunately, the man and his music remains a bit of a mystery to date.  The band was an important contributor to the rock scene in Canada during the late seventies.  They toured with Triumph, Little River Band and the Cars.  The album, Night Music, is not widely available.  At the time of this blog, there were copies on Ebay and Music Stack trading between $2 and $70.  You can hear the song, Sister Blue, on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC70Klisqlc).  As always, you can hear this song as well as others that I blog about on Live 365 (http://www.live365.com/stations/raisedoncndnradio).  Thanks for reading and enjoy!