Three

When Jackie Lomax was signed to Apple Records in 1968, he was expected to be the same kind of break-out artist that James Taylor was. His single ("Sour Milk Sea", written and produced by George Harrison) stiffed as one of the first four records that Apple released, and the album ("Is This What You Want?") wasn't a good seller, either. There's a reason: The album is over-produced and does not have the best sound, even with the participation of Harrison, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, and other people surrounding The Beatles.Therefore, it came as a great surprise to me that this album ("Three") and its predecessor ("Home Is In My Head") on Warner Bros. are so good. The sound has been dialed back - most notable in the drum sound, which is rather flat, but to good effect - and the songs are extremely pleasant to listen to. Lomax has been described as "blue-eyed soul", and I'd say the description is apt. It's hard to say who this sounds like as a point of comparison; I find it a rather original sound, and I really enjoyed it.

Jackie Lomax, the 1st artist on Apple records, extends his focus away from folk to a raw white soul r&b sound on Three. Recorded in Woodstock, with the help of The Band members Levon Helm and Rick Danko, Lomax continues his abrupt about-face away from his folk leanings from his 1st lp. Here his white r&b and white soul influences explode to explore a new path not unlike the Stax sound from Memphis. I was surprised at the distinct change in the new stylings explored in his 3rd release, which displays influences but makes his own unique sound. Not a masterpiece but a solid effort by Lomax which should satisfy the longings for a bare bones white soul listeners. smrz!!!

Competent early 70’s pop

Jackie Lomax, a lanky Liverpudlian singer with a voice somewhere in the middle ground between James Taylor and Joe Cocker, is perhaps rock and roll's greatest hard-luck story. He fronted a litany of bands, most of which recorded material that was never released, and was being groomed for stardom by Beatles manager Brian Epstein shortly before Epstein's death.After "Home Is In My Head", his rather lackluster follow-up to the almost uniformly excellent "Is This What You Want?" debut for Apple Records, Lomax renewed his acquaintance with producer John Simon, who brought along several members of The Band as guest musicians on roughly half these tracks. The resulting album, "Three", while still hit and miss, was a marked improvement. The album contains several Lomax classics, including the bouncy rockers "No Reason" and "Rock Salt", the horn-drenched "Time Will Tell You", and the achingly beautiful "Last Time Home". There's still a bit too much filler here ("Lavender Dream", "Let The Play Begin", etc) for the album to merit a full five stars, but overall, its considerable rock-soul punch will open the ears of the uninitiated.Lomax's six album catalog (including one album as lead vocalist for the group "Badger") cries out for a best-of compilation, but until then, "Three" is a fine place to start.

Jackie Lomax was underestimated as a solo artist on the Beatles' APPLE label and his wonderful IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT? album has been unfairly ignored. After he left Apple he made a couple of great white soul albums for Warner Brothers and this is the second of those. Every track is of the highest quality whether they are uptempo (NO REASON or LET THE PLAY BEGIN) or slow ballads (LAVENDER DREAM and the achingly sad LAST TIME HOME). HELL-FIRE NIGHT-CRIER even features most of The Band. I hope WB now release his second album HOME IS IN MY HEAD which is every bit as good. No-one who buys this CD will regret it.