Don't Point Your Finger

Don't Point Your Finger
Studio album by
Nine Below Zero
Released27 February 1981
StudioOlympic, Barnes, London
GenreBlues rock, R&B, mod revival[1]
LabelA&M
ProducerGlyn Johns
Nine Below Zero chronology
Live at the Marquee
(1980) 		Don't Point Your Finger
(1981) 		Third Degree
(1982)

Don't Point Your Finger is an album by the English band Nine Below Zero, released on 27 February 1981.[2][3] "Three Times Enough" was released as a single.[2] The album peaked at No. 56 in the UK Albums Chart.[4] The band supported it by opening for the Who on a few United Kingdom concert dates.[5]

Production

Recorded at Olympic Studios, the album was produced, engineered, and mixed by Glyn Johns.[6][7] Nine Below Zero spent 15 days in the studio, including the time it took to mix the album.[8] "Treat Her Right" is a cover of the Roy Head song.[9] "Rockin' Robin" is a version of the song made famous by Bobby Day.[2] The version of "Sugar Mama" was influenced by Howlin' Wolf's take.[10]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Classic Rock[10]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[11]
Omaha World-Herald[12]
Rolling Stone[13]

In its syndicated newspaper column, Rolling Stone likened the band to a "British J. Geils" and noted that "like most white blues units, Nine Below Zero lacks a really exceptional vocalist".[13] The New Standard compared Nine Below Zero to "John Mayall and early Fleetwood Mac".[14] The Liverpool Echo opined that Mark Feltham "is one of the best harp players to emerge in the last decade".[15] The Cambridge Evening News noted that the band put "a 1981 stamp on blues classics ... without using straight imitation."[16] The Telegraph & Argus concluded that "the lyrics are the weak points".[17] The Swindon Advertiser praised the "hard, fast and earthy" R&B.[18]

The Trouser Press Record Guide considered Don't Point Your Finger to be a "transitional album" and opined that the songs "sound authentically old".[19] AllMusic said, "Nine Below Zero show themselves as sharp players with plenty of hooks up their sleeves. Stix Burkey and Peter Clark whack out a disciplined rhythm attack without fussiness or flourishes, leaving the interplay to singer/harpist Mark Feltham and the main songwriter, lead guitarist Dennis 'The Menace' Greaves. Greaves' tunes successfully execute '60s R&B toughness, yet are updated enough to grace a teen scooter fanatic's good books."[1] Classic Rock stated that Johns "gave the band a muscular sound retaining much of the rawness of their live shows."[10]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."One Way Street" 
2."Doghouse" 
3."Liquor Lover" 
4."Helen" 
5."Ain't Comin' Back" 
6."I Won't Lie" 
7."Treat Her Right" 
8."Three Times Enough" 
9."Sugar Mama" 
10."Don't Point Your Finger at the Guitar Man" 
11."Rockin' Robin" 
12."You Can't Please All the People All the Time" 

References

  1. ^ a b c "Don't Point Your Finger Review by Ralph Heibutzki". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  2. ^ a b c Gimarc, George (2005). Punk Diary: The Ultimate Trainspotter's Guide to Underground Rock, 1970-1982. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 440.
  3. ^ "Nine Below Zero". Weekend. Bristol Post. 7 November 2014. p. 31.
  4. ^ Gambaccini, Paul (1994). British Hit Albums. Guinness. p. 228.
  5. ^ Paddock, Geoff (20 February 1981). "Feedback". Chester Chronicle. p. 16.
  6. ^ Dewhurst, Tony (13 August 2015). "The healing power of music strikes a chord". Lancashire Telegraph. p. 31.
  7. ^ Johns, Glyn (2015). Sound Man: A Life Recording Hits with the Rolling Stones, the Who, Led Zeppelin, the Eagles , Eric Clapton, the Faces... Penguin Publishing Group. p. 297.
  8. ^ "Re-birth of the Blues". South Wales Argus. No. 54535. 21 March 1981. p. 4.
  9. ^ Davis, John T. (9 May 1981). "'Finger' good, despite skinny ties". Time Out. Austin American-Statesman. Vol. 110, no. 283. p. 31.
  10. ^ a b c Harrington, Jon (20 May 2014). "Nine Below Zero: Don't Point Your Finger/Third Degree". Classic Rock.
  11. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 6. MUZE. p. 210.
  12. ^ Catlin, Roger (5 May 1981). "New Sounds". Omaha World-Herald. Vol. 116, no. 97. p. 9.
  13. ^ a b Marsh, Dave (3 July 1981). "Don't point". The Evening Sentinel. Carlisle. Rolling Stone. p. C20.
  14. ^ "Below Zero but rising fast". The New Standard. 12 March 1981. p. 16.
  15. ^ "Pick on the New Albums". Liverpool Echo. No. 31402. 17 March 1981. p. 2.
  16. ^ Miller, Ian (18 March 1981). "Pop Music". Cambridge Evening News. No. 28401. p. 10.
  17. ^ "R&B revival with Nine Below Zero". Telegraph & Argus. No. 34901. 24 March 1981. p. 4.
  18. ^ "And Heard". Swindon Advertiser. No. 31857. 3 April 1981. p. 28.
  19. ^ The Trouser Press Record Guide (4th ed.). Collier Books. 1991. p. 467.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.