Round Amen Corner The Complete DERAM Recordings (1968)

"Featuring their hits "Bend Me, Shape Me" and "Gin House Blues," Amen Corner's debut album (the group's sole album for DERAM) was the work of a band who didn't either really fit into any of the trends of the late '60s. They offered an accomplished mix of blue-eyed soul-rock and British pop. Built around the distinctive high vocals of Andy Fairweather Low, they also had (unlike most British bands) a horn section, as well as a distinguished instrumentalist in organist Blue Weaver. They ripped through straight-ahead blue-eyed soul like "Our Love (Is In The Pocket)" with flair, and "Something You Got" was almost like a U.K. equivalent to Stax deep soul ballads. It offered barely any original material, a shame as a couple of Fairweather Low-penned B-sides showed the kind of psychedelic pop-influenced writing more akin to a band like late-'60s Small Faces. Fortunately, this CD added those B-sides, "Nema" and "I Know," as bonus tracks, along with two other cuts from 1967-1968 singles." (Richie Unterberger, Allmusic)