We’re an American Band

Iconic can be an overused word but there’s something about the smash hit title track of this album, which kicks off the whole deal, that might well describe its milieu absolutely perfectly: a clipped cowbell intro from Don Brewer, who adds his own good time vocals, a lyric about road life and partying it down, it’s early 1970s guys boogieing it up to the full. The rest of We’re An American Band can’t equal that — a couple of ponderous wannabe anthems don’t help — but Todd Rundgren’s clean but not overfussed production made it their best sounding album yet.