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"Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest
are these 'It might have been'". John Greenleaf
Whittier
The Thunderhawks were a tremendous band fronted by
Tony Sarno, one of my very favorite blues/rockers, and featured
the blistering guitars of Sarno and Eddy Shaver, son of the
legendary Billy Joe Shaver. Their music was most properly
categorized as hard rock with a blues flavor, loaded with both
Sarno's "Bon Scott" type vocals and Shavers
powerful fretwork. Keith Christopher on bass and a most enjoyable
Rick Donnelly on drums supplied a driving and pounding rhythm
section which complimented Sarno and Shavers perfectly. The
composite song writing skills of the band were pure genius and
the energy was high.
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Their debut recording was recorded in May of 2000 and
mastered in November of the same year. They appeared to be on the
brink of something very special.
On December 31, 2000, Eddy Shaver left this world at
the much too early age of 38. Aside from the personal tragedy of
such a terrible loss, Shaver's passing also ended the very
short career of what would have no doubt become a highly
successful band the Thunderhawks. Their only recording nearly
faded into obscurity, but, thanks to the efforts of Tony Sarno we
have this absolute treasure, titled simply the Thunderhawks. The
CD front cover is very simple, appropriately solid black with
"Thunderhawks" in white lettering, as is the back cover
which displays a song list with the haunting message
"R.I.P." above the initials
"E.S.".
But, in between the covers lie 10 powerhouse tracks
which any Tony Sarno fan will find as a "must own" set.
Sarno, normally the lead guitarist in his bands, gives way to
Shaver's monstrously good guitar work, while Tony
concentrates on supplying some of the best vocals of his career
while adding a goodly dose of rhythm guitar. Don't look for a
lot of ballads and love songs on this set, but be prepared to
turn this one up loud to play as you drive down the highway with
the windows down on your ride of choice. This is kind of like
"ZZ Top meets AC/DC" music.
I like all of the tracks on this set, but if I had to
pick favorites they would be the hard driving "Sick and
Tired", the electric boogiefied "Don't Come Crying
To Me", and perhaps my favorite track on the set (certainly
lyrically it is) the working man's anthem "That Dog
Won't Hunt". As I said before, the entire CD is
excellent and enjoyable from start to finish.
The CD is available through Tony Sarno's official
web site at www.tonysarno.com. Availability is currently limited
so I encourage you to contact Tony and order a copy right away.
If you do not own the other CDs from Tony Sarno, pick up a copy
of those also. Tony Sarno is not only one of my favorite
blues/rock artists, he is also a good guy and patriotic American
who traveled recently on a USO tour to our troops stationed
abroad. Thanks, Tony.
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