Black Eyed Susan – Electric Rattlebone (Release Year – 1991)
Unhappy with the direction Britny Fox was heading in, singer “Dizzy” Dean Davidson, left that group to form a brand new band, Blackeyed Susan.
From a musical perspective, Blackeyed Susan was probably a couple of steps above Britny Fox. The band had more of a bluesy rock sound in the vein of Aerosmith, that the hair metal sounds of Britny Fox. The metal screams that were commonplace on the Britny Fox albums were also gone. Dean Davidson sings in his natural voice on “Electric Rattlebone”.
Blackeyed Susan did have a song that was a minor hit called “None of It Matters”. This song incorporates a middle eastern flair in the guitar sound, which is kind of cool. Check out the video “None of it Matters” at this link.
“Sympathy” is a bluesy rocker that has a very cool slide guitar, mixed with some funky ragtime style piano playing.
“Ride With Me” reminds me a lot of the more acoustic bluesy numbers that Cinderella was doing on their album, “Heartbreak Station”.
“Old Lady Snow” is one of those songs with simple lyrics, but it is upbeat enough for it to get in your head and stay there.
“She’s So Fine” should have been a hit for Blackeyed Susan. It has catchy lyrics, good guitar work, and a very good beat. This song is one of my favorites on this record.
Even though the music on this disc was superior to anything else Dean Davidson had done previously, this album was a commercial failure. Mercury Records pulled the plug on their tour, and Blackeyed Susan crashed and burned. When this album originally came out, I expected this to be another hair metal CD, and this is nothing of the sort. I didn’t enjoy this very much back in the 90’s, but over the years, my taste has changed. I have grown to appreciate the music on “Electric Rattlebone”.
If you enjoy good bluesy hard rock, “Electric Rattlebone” is a disc you will want to pick up. This under rated gem has been out of print for years. You can find used copies of this CD, for next to nothing in the HRH music store.
Rating :
Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Electric Rattlebone
2. Satisfaction
3. None of It Matters
4. Sympathy
5. Ride With Me
6. Old Lady Snow
7. Don’t Bring Me Down
8. Indica
9. She’s So Fine
10. How Long
11. Best of Friends
12. Holiday
13. Heart of the City
Black Eyed Susan is:
Dean Davidson – Vocals
Rick Criniti – Guitar
Tony Santoro – Guitar
Eric Levy – Bass
Chris Branco – Drums
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Hard Rock Hideout 
I just bought this american printed copy here in Sweden for 10 SEK (1 Euro) and I must say I like it. Too bad they did not enjoy any success since the music is a descent version of Cinderella, Quireboys and Company Of Wolves.
Mikael Persson, Gävle, Sweden
I picked this up for like a dollar a few years ago. It’s decent, but far more blues rock than hair metal. Dean Davidson dounds much better here than he did with Britney Fox.