A piece of forgotten rock history not to be missed.

We all know the hit 'Everlasting Love' by Love Affair, but you wouldn't necessarily put the voice behind that song from Steve Ellis, great though it is, together with sizzling bluesy hard rock. Neither initially did one time Mott The Hoople, Spooky Tooth or Stealers Wheel guitarist Ariel Bender (real name Luther Grosvenor) when, in 1975, he was looking to put together the band that would go on to become Widowmaker. However with Roger Chapman from the band Family suggesting Ellis was the right man for the job, the pair decided to give it a shot to see how things would work out. In fairness to Ellis, the outfit he'd been performing with since leaving Love Affair, simply called Ellis, were a much tougher affair altogether, meaning in reality it was no surprise that the partnership clicked right from the off. The rest of the band were no slouches either, Huw Lloyd Langton (Hawkwind) teaming up with Bender on guitar, Bob Daisley (Rainbow/Ozzy) playing bass, Paul Nicholls on drums and Zoot Money adding keyboards to one song on this excellent reissued debut originally released the same year the band formed.

The results were really quite startling; a mix of hard rock and almost acoustic blues landing neatly between the likes of Bad Company, UFO and early Whitesnake, but with a soulful, commerciality that none of those other bands offered. The quartet of Bender, Langton, Daisley and Nicholls are as good as any hard rock foursome of the day, although Ellis is the real revelation, his wonderfully controlled vocals bringing a maturity to the hard hitting 'Such A Shame' and 'Ain't Telling You Nothing', while offering a vulnerability to the more heartfelt 'Leave The Kids Alone' and 'Shine A Light On Me'. However the singer didn't stick around long, leaving soon after the debut emerged, John Butler taking his spot behind the mic for the follow up album 'Too Late To Cry'. The transition proved too much for all concerned though and sadly Widowmaker folded not long after.

Long out of print, this reissue is one to be lapped up by lovers of classy seventies rock and when you factor in three scintillating live tracks recorded for radio, including a cracking run through of the Ellis number 'El Doomo', none of which feature on the main album, then this is a piece of forgotten rock history not to be missed.

Steven Reid