"Makin' Magic" Album Description:
"Makin' Magic" (1977) is where Pat Travers stops sounding like “promising” and starts sounding like a problem. The riffs don’t pose; they shove. It’s blues-rock with hard-rock knuckles, the kind of record that makes you sit up even if you only meant to play one track while you’re making coffee.
The band helps. Peter "Mars" Cowling locks the low end down like a bouncer who’s seen enough nonsense, and Nicko McBrain (yes, the future Iron Maiden machine) hits the kit with that eager, hungry weight you only get before fame teaches people to behave. You can hear him pushing the songs forward, like he’s late for something better.
The title cut "Makin' Magic" comes out swinging: wah, grit, and that cocky forward-lean that screams “turn it up.” "Rock 'N' Roll Susie" is pure barroom momentum, and "Hooked on Music" rides a groove that feels like it was built for sticky floors and loud friends talking over the intro.
Then it gets sneakily bigger. "Stevie" stretches out and even pulls in extra vocals from Glenn Hughes, which is exactly the kind of detail you notice later, after a few listens, when the album stops being “new” and starts being “yours.”
And yes, they tackle "Statesboro Blues" too. Not as a polite tribute, but as a flex. Thin Lizzy's Brian Robertson shows up for additional guitar on that track, and the whole thing smirks like it knows you’re going to replay it.
This one doesn’t need the “masterpiece” label. It’s better than that. It’s the record you reach for when you want blues-rock that actually bites back, not something that politely asks permission from the room.
