WIGWAM: "Tombstone Valentine"

Original released on LP Love LRLP 19

(FINLAND, November 1970)

"Tombstone Valentine", the title track which opens this 1970 album, is probably the most 'classic' Wigwam song until 1975. I like it, of course. The following "In Gratitude" is more representative musically while speaking about the early (1969–74) Wigwam; funnily, the song is literally a tribute to Steve Winwood (who, at the time, had regrouped Traffic after the demise of Blind Faith). I like it as well. "Frederick & Bill" is quite heavy, featuring the guitar virtuosity of Jukka Tolonen who never was a member of the band; "Autograph", co-written by the producer Kim Fowley, is a surprising folk/country tinged number that is quite catchy; "1936 Lost in the Snow", by the then-latest member Pekka Pohjola, is quite good and groovy; "Let the World Ramble On" is basically good; "For America" is a little too straight-forward jazz to suit an album like this. Most of the rest is OK, at least. "Tombstone Valentine" is a fine album, though in a way, I see why it isn't as highly appreciated as all other Wigwam albums from 1969 to 1976. I don't think that Kim Fowley guided the band too far away from what they actually were, like some do; I think the music is mostly good, honestly. But still there is an influence of an outsider, and it is nowhere as obvious as in the case of "Dance of the Anthropoids." I mean, it was not a Wigwam recording at all. None of the band members had anything to do with the song, and the maker of the song had nothing to do with Wigwam. So WTF? Otherwise, a very good album. (in RateYourMusic)