PATTO
''HOLD YOU FIRE''
1971
40:50
1/Hold Your Fire
Ollie Halsall / Patto/8:07
2/You, You Point Your Finger
Ollie Halsall / Patto/4:36
3/How's Your Father
Ollie Halsall/4:44
4/See You at the Dance Tonight
Ollie Halsall/5:00
5/Give It All Away
Ollie Halsall / Patto/4:12
6/Air-Raid Shelter
Ollie Halsall/7:07
7/Tell Me Where You've Been
Ollie Halsall / Patto/3:51
8/Magic Door
Ollie Halsall / Patto/4:23
Clive Griffiths /Bass, Organ, Vocals
Ollie Halsall /Guitar, Keyboards, Organ, Piano, Vibraphone, Vocals
John Halsey /Drums, Percussion
Mike Patto /Vocals
REVIEW
by Dave Thompson Ignore the fact that the opening title track sounds almost exactly like the intro to Neil Young's "Ohio" and Patto's second album kicks into gear from the moment needle strikes vinyl. A driving fiesta of good-time bluesy-rock, Hold Your Fire retains just enough of its predecessor's jazz fusion sensibilities to ensure that you're never sure what will happen next, but similarly imbibes sufficient oxygen from elsewhere on the early-'70s British rock underground to line up alongside any other primal gem of the age. Certainly producer Muff Winwood seems considerably more at ease than he did his last time around, hauling Ollie Halsall's tuneful soloing high up in the mix and framing the album's best tracks -- the melancholy "You, You Point Your Finger" among them -- within some breathtakingly lovely arrangements. Another highlight, the funky Faces-like "See You at the Dance Tonight," almost single-handedly blueprints the best of the still-unborn pub rock boom, while Halsall's playful "Air Raid Shelter" would not have been out of place on Hold Your Fire, which further proves that not all of Patto's early instincts have been suppressed. Neither do the surprises stop with the music. Hold Your Fire was released in positively the most un-Roger Dean-like sleeve design to which Dean ever put his name. There again, vast spacescapes filled with floating islands and flying elephants were never really Patto's forte -- not when the alternative offers barefoot cops, scantily clad damsels, and hippies bearing colorful mushrooms.
BIOGRAPHY
by Steven McDonald
Three albums and out, Patto (named after vocalist Mike Patto) were highly regarded on the British rock scene in the '70s. The key point of the band was probably the superb guitar work of the eminently flexible Ollie Halsall, a performer whose session work was highly prized, even though the guitarist seemed hesitant to step into the spotlight. Patto performed a stately mix of jazz-rock with a little bit of blues. Following the breakup of the band, Halsall moved on to play with Tempest while Patto joined Spooky Tooth for Mirror. Patto and Halsall came back together in Boxer in 1975, though Halsall remained for only a single album, with Patto remaining the sole founding member by the following album. Patto died in 1979 of throat cancer.
''HOLD YOU FIRE''
1971
40:50
1/Hold Your Fire
Ollie Halsall / Patto/8:07
2/You, You Point Your Finger
Ollie Halsall / Patto/4:36
3/How's Your Father
Ollie Halsall/4:44
4/See You at the Dance Tonight
Ollie Halsall/5:00
5/Give It All Away
Ollie Halsall / Patto/4:12
6/Air-Raid Shelter
Ollie Halsall/7:07
7/Tell Me Where You've Been
Ollie Halsall / Patto/3:51
8/Magic Door
Ollie Halsall / Patto/4:23
Clive Griffiths /Bass, Organ, Vocals
Ollie Halsall /Guitar, Keyboards, Organ, Piano, Vibraphone, Vocals
John Halsey /Drums, Percussion
Mike Patto /Vocals
REVIEW
by Dave Thompson Ignore the fact that the opening title track sounds almost exactly like the intro to Neil Young's "Ohio" and Patto's second album kicks into gear from the moment needle strikes vinyl. A driving fiesta of good-time bluesy-rock, Hold Your Fire retains just enough of its predecessor's jazz fusion sensibilities to ensure that you're never sure what will happen next, but similarly imbibes sufficient oxygen from elsewhere on the early-'70s British rock underground to line up alongside any other primal gem of the age. Certainly producer Muff Winwood seems considerably more at ease than he did his last time around, hauling Ollie Halsall's tuneful soloing high up in the mix and framing the album's best tracks -- the melancholy "You, You Point Your Finger" among them -- within some breathtakingly lovely arrangements. Another highlight, the funky Faces-like "See You at the Dance Tonight," almost single-handedly blueprints the best of the still-unborn pub rock boom, while Halsall's playful "Air Raid Shelter" would not have been out of place on Hold Your Fire, which further proves that not all of Patto's early instincts have been suppressed. Neither do the surprises stop with the music. Hold Your Fire was released in positively the most un-Roger Dean-like sleeve design to which Dean ever put his name. There again, vast spacescapes filled with floating islands and flying elephants were never really Patto's forte -- not when the alternative offers barefoot cops, scantily clad damsels, and hippies bearing colorful mushrooms.
BIOGRAPHY
by Steven McDonald
Three albums and out, Patto (named after vocalist Mike Patto) were highly regarded on the British rock scene in the '70s. The key point of the band was probably the superb guitar work of the eminently flexible Ollie Halsall, a performer whose session work was highly prized, even though the guitarist seemed hesitant to step into the spotlight. Patto performed a stately mix of jazz-rock with a little bit of blues. Following the breakup of the band, Halsall moved on to play with Tempest while Patto joined Spooky Tooth for Mirror. Patto and Halsall came back together in Boxer in 1975, though Halsall remained for only a single album, with Patto remaining the sole founding member by the following album. Patto died in 1979 of throat cancer.
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