Throughout 1965, Dion and his band, The Wanderers, augmented by keyboardist Al Kooper went into the studio with producer Tom Wilson to cut songs that were to make up Dion’s first true album.
Columbia Records, however, wouldn’t release the record, perhaps because it was folk-rock, not the mainstream pop that the label wanted Dion to record or maybe because they decided there weren’t any hits on the disc.
Now, more than 50 years later, “Kickin’ Child” is finally getting released by rock ‘n’ roll indie label Norton Records.
And it is superb, a fresh album that simultaneously sounds of its time, easily connecting to Bob Dylan’s “Bringing It All Back Home” and Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” -- both of which Wilson produced. And Kooper’s organ licks on "Now" and "Time in My Heart for You," echoes his work with Dylan.
The opening title cut is Dylanesque, a swinging number filled with word play and Dion’s vocals heading toward Dylan as well. It’s one of 10 originals on the record that also includes three Dylan covers, including a shimmering version of “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” with Dion applying his soulful singing to the now classic number.
Dion’s first adult album, “Kickin’ Child” contains some grown-up gems, like the swaggering “jump back baby” bluesy “Two Ton Feather,” a Byrds-like jangle-and-harmony take on Tom Paxton’s beautiful “I Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound” and “Baby, I’m in the Mood for Love,” a shaker that’s, shall we say, far more mature than Dion’s teenage love songs.
Listening to “Kickin’ Child,” it’s baffling why Columbia didn’t release it -- and intriguing to ponder what would have happened if Dion had caught the folk-rock wave.
In any case, “Kickin’ Child” is, as Scott Kempner points out in his liner notes, the connection between Dion’s early hits “The Wanderer” and “Ruby Baby” and “Abraham, Martin & John” from 1968. More than that it is a fabulous album that is among the best things Dion ever has done -- thankfully, no longer lost.
by Kent Wolgamott
Tracks
1. Kickin' Child (Dion DiMucci, Buddy Lucas) - 3:01
2. Now (Dion DiMucci, Carlo Mastrangelo) - 2:42
3. My Love - 2:09
4. I Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound (Tom Paxton) - 2:53
5. Wake Up Baby - 3:14
6. Time In My Heart For You - 2:45
7. Tomorrow Won't Bring The Rain (Dion DiMucci, Carlo Mastrangelo) - 2:47
8. Baby, I'm In The Mood For You (Bob Dylan) - 2:38
9. Two Ton Feather - 2:53
10.Knowing I Won't Go Back There - 2:56
11.Farewell (Bob Dylan) - 3:27
12.All I Want To Do Is Live My Life (Mort Shuman) - 3:33
13.You Move Me Babe - 2:23
14.It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (Bob Dylan) - 3:33
15.So Much Younger - 3:07
All songs by Dion DiMucci except ehere stated
After all the Millenium-related, as well as Curt’s own sixties stuff, being full of vocal harmony-laden studio trickery, at first I was kinda afraid of what to expect of what was described as his laid back/stripped down side.
As it happens, there wasn’t one bit of a reason to be afraid for, because, as much as it does sound different, these ‘70/’71 (mostly unfinished) recordings for the supposed There’s An Innocent Face follow up, are just as great as anything else he’d done in his “sonic past”.
The one that kinda stands out (and also the first one of only three Boettcher compositions, besides another co-written effort) is the opening I Call You My Rainbow, a gentle-fingerpickin’ folk, with an occasional power-chord or two, followed by Curt at his most folky in Louise, and speaking of which, there’s also an unpretentious acoustic arrangement of the earlier full-blown psych feel of Astral Cowboy.
Out Of The Dark Of The Night is a kind of a Bee Gees/Hollies-harmonizer, Rest In Piece offers a yummy slice of countryfied bubble-gum, while Sunrise Mango and Sunset’s Fallin’, accordingly to the titles, are a pair of perfect sunshine pop pieces.
“Chicken” or not, whoever tells you that this is another Boettcher-related classic, you can bet that he’s right!
by Garwood Pickjon
Tracks:
1. I Call You My Rainbow (Curt Boettcher) - 2:48
2. Louise (Jerry Netkin) - 2:42
3. Out Of The Dark Of The Night (Don Gere) - 2:47
4. Astral Cowboy (Curt Boettcher) - 2:24
5. Rest In Peace (Constantine Gusias) - 2:25
6. Sunrise Mango (Steven Scull) - 2:32
7. Sunset's Fallin' (Web Burrell, Ric DeLong) - 2:34
8. We're Dying [Angel City] (Curt Boettcher) - 4:07
9. You Make Me Feel So High (Curt Boettcher, Jerry Netkin) - 2:22
10.I've Been Wrong (Don Gere) - 3:00
11.She's Got The Power (Sandy Salisbury, Curt Boettcher) - 2:18
Personnel
Curt Boettcher - Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Harmony Vocals
Web Burrell - Acoustic and Electric Guitar, Bass, Drums, Timbales, Percussion, Harmony Vocals
Based around the ’69 recordings for the supposed solo album on his own Together label, co-owned with soulmates and collaborators Gary Usher and Keith Olsen, Another Time is quite possibly the closest you’ll get to an actual Curt Boettcher album, even though there was an official one soon to follow.
The Spector-cular opener Baby It’s Real is a song rescued from the Millennium days, the title song is a stripped down acoustic arrangement of the Sagittarius classic followed by the “hurdy-gurdy” piece of psych called Lament Of The Astral Cowboy, given away to Curt’s Ballroom bandmate Michele O’Malley, just as was the “misty” popsike ballad Misty Mirage, considered one of his highlight performances.
That’s The Way It’s Gonna Be is, of course, his second attempt at the Phil Ochs/Bob Gibson-written shoulda-been HIT song, already recorded with Lee Mallory, which is as psychedelic and jazzy as bubblegum could ever get, while Tumbling Tumbleweeds is another sparkling cover, turned into a SMiLE-ing Americana.
Also present is Curt’s softish country sophistication Share With Me, coupled with Sometime for a Together single release, as well as a pair of songs from another aborted solo album sessions, 1973’s Chicken Little Was Right, recently also reissued by Sonic Past Music. The first of these, Louise, is probably among the closest Curt got to the traditional folky sound after his GoldeBriars days, while the other one is a perfect slice of country bubblegum called Rest In Peace.
The furthest you’ll get into the past is through a bunch of groovy high quality ’67 demos of songs, later recorded by either Millennium, Sagittarius, Sunshine Company or Eternity’s Children, of which at least one not only matches but outshines the officially released version (If You Only Knew), and as a special bonus, there’s also the ’65 demo acetate of Along Comes Mary, featuring Curt on vocals, backed by the author Tandyn Almer on piano and The Association’s own Gary Alexander on guitar, along with an unknown drummer.
Considering the amount of unreleased Boettcher-related material that has re-surfaced in the recent years, it seems as if “another time” might as well be the subtitle to each one of his recording, foreseeing the date of its release.
by Garwood Pickjon
Tracks
1. Baby It's Real (Curt Boettcher, Michael Fennelly, Sandy Salisbury) - 2:43
2. Another Time - 2:40
3. Lament Of The Astral Cowboy - 2:16
4. I Just Want To Be Your Friend - 2:21
5. Louise (Jerry Netkin) - 2:41
6. Share With Me (Lee Mallory, Joey Stec, Gary Usher) - 3:06
7. Along Comes Mary (Tandyn Almer) - 2:39
8. Sometimes (Curt Boettcher, Lee Mallory) - 2:58
9. That's The Way It's Gonna Be (Bob Gibson, Phil Ochs) - 3:30
10.The Know It All - 2:07
11.Misty Mirage - 4:15
12.If You Only Knew - 2:39
13.Rest In Peace - 2:40
14.Tumbling Tumbleweeds (Bob Nolan) - 3:50
15.You Know I've Found A Way (Curt Boettcher, Lee Mallory) - 1:52
16.Another Time (Curt Boettcher, Lee Mallory) - 2:59
17.Meanwhile Back At The World - 2:53
All songs by Curt Boettcher except where noted
The Voices Of Millennium are actually telling us about how some of the band members were spending their time after The Millennium break-up (if there ever was one) towards the end of the decade. Though it might not be as adventurous as it was while they were only just “begin-ining”, these sessions show that they were still spending some quality time together.
Some of the tracks, with an almost baroque country feel, with the kind of a Wilson-ian touch too, like I Still Can See Your Face and Will You Ever See Me, as well as the chamber-psych The Blue Marble, later surfaced on Gary Usher’s sophomore Sagittarius release of the same title, while another easy country piece, Share With Me, graced the sunny side of Curt Boettcher’s Together single.
Along with the Spector-ized opener Come To Me Baby, the ones contributing to the more cheery side of the album, are mostly the songs coming from the pen of Sandy Salisbury, with or without a collaborator.
His Measure Of A Man is another piece of more innocent sounding country, as if done by Herman’s Hermits, Navajo Girl adds a bit of a bubblegummy flavour too, with an additional eastern touch through the sitar solo, while the yummy sounding Gouldman-like Together In The End and Little Lost & Found continue to blow the same bubbles, and Midnight Sun is a piece of popsike Monkee-business.
Hear the Voices Of The Millennium and let yourself be taken back to the “sonic past” … once again!
by Garwood Pickjon
Tracks
1. Come To Me Baby (Wilson) - 2:44
2. I Still Can See Your Face (Gary Usher) - 3:02
3. Measure Of A Man (Sandy Salisbury) - 2:26
4. Magic Island (Lee Mallory, Curt Boettcher) - 3:14
5. Will You Ever See Me (Gary Usher) - 2:17
6. The Blue Marble (Gary Usher) - 3:01
7. Together In The End (Curt Boettcher, Sandy Salisbury) - 2:33
8. Share With Me (Curt Boettcher, Joey Stec, Gary Usher, Lee Mallory) - 3:12
9. Midnight Sun (Gary Usher, Sandy Salisbury) - 2:09
10.Little Lost And Found (Sandy Salisbury) - 1:56
11.Navajo Girl (Sandy Salisbury, Gary Usher) - 2:33
12.Keep On Dreamin' (AKA There Is Nothing More To Say) (Curt Boettcher, Michael Fennelly, Lee Mallory, Sandy Salisbury) - 2:07
There's an old L.A. music biz tale that details a stunned Brian Wilson accidentally overhearing a recording session down the hall from his own. As the story goes, Wilson was hanging at Studio Three West with Pet Sounds collaborator Gary Usher in the spring of 1966 when he caught snippets of a recording conducted by 21-year-old wunderkind Curt Boettcher. Boettcher, fresh from producing The Association's first record, and with something of a rare talent for soaring, angelic vocal arrangements along the lines of Wilson's very own, took Wilson and Usher by complete surprise. In fact, legend has it that Boettcher's ability to produce majestically layered instrumental and vocal pieces seemingly at the drop of a hat threw Wilson for a loop, and is rumored to have started the breakdown that would ultimately destroy his Smile project, and indeed his life ever after.
Even if you don't buy the story, Boettcher's effect on L.A. pop cannot be denied. Usher would soon pull him in as a collaborator on what would later become Present Tense by Sagittarius, a psych-pop outfit whose only LP is one of the great, lost classics of "sunshine pop." Boettcher's other major projects in the 60s were work with his own band The Ballroom, and later, a curiously overlooked record by songwriter supergroup The Millennium. In addition to his love of exquisite harmony vocals, Boettcher's stereo productions were remarkably crisp for the time-- certainly more so that Wilson's concurrent adventures in mono. I'd say Boettcher's own songs (and that of most sunshine pop artists) usually weren't of the same depth as Wilson's, but that's another argument.
The Millennium was comprised of several successful songwriters and musicians living and working in Los Angeles in the mid-60s, including Lee Mallory, Sandy Salisbury and Joey Stec. All had worked with or around Boettcher and Usher, and proved themselves capable of delivering on what would become the largest recording budget in Columbia Records' history to that point. Their result was 1968's Begin, and though it's probably the single greatest 60s pop record produced in L.A. outside of The Beach Boys, it (like Wilson's music) found itself very much outside the times that year. After Begin tanked, the band was dropped from Columbia-- setting up the perfect cult record years later. Of course, the band had planned to make many more albums, and Pieces collects demos intended for their follow-up.
Anyone hip to The Millennium or other Boettcher projects might recognize many of the songs here, as they've been released before as Again, though Pieces includes many tracks that failed to make that compilation. Most importantly, almost all of these songs will be of interest to folks looking for perfect pop in the mold of The Association, Beach Boys and even into the budding country-rock of The Byrds. "I Just Don't Know How to Say Goodbye" is an almost perfect realization of the styles of each of those artists, though the tune and loose, gentle optimism of Salisbury's vocal give it a strength to stand on its own. The song, with rising, major-key guitar figures and a folkish bent (much of this music could have worked in a completely acoustic setting) did show up on Salisbury's 1968 solo LP.
"Can You See" is one of many Stec/Michael Fennelly songs (the pair was also responsible for the magnificent "To Claudia on Thursday" from Begin), and is a typically upbeat, sunny tune that might pass for The Monkees were it not for its surprisingly down-to-earth lyrics lamenting love lost over material concerns. The strength of the writing throughout the album is such that the band's failure to break through is a little shocking. "How Much I Love You" is a tender acoustic ballad also penned by Stec and Fennelly, and though it probably helped give birth to Jewel mk. I, it's nonetheless at once achingly melancholy and performed with professionalism that could have made it a hit in another universe. The same goes for the pair's "Sometime or Another", though this actually approaches indie-torch song along the lines Uncle Tupelo.
Although not every song on Pieces matches up with the band's best, none of it ever really betrays its origination as demo recordings. Boettcher obviously had some hand in this, though since all of the band were insiders to some degree, it's not surprising they had access to studios and engineers no other similarly unknown band could ever dream of. Song like "Suspended Animation" (first rate country-pop with a strange sci-fi theme) or the Beatlesque "It's You" sound better than 90% of the music to actually chart in 1968. The latter song in particular, with its pristine harmony vocals and chugging, "Baby You're a Rich Man" bass work, makes it hard to believe Clive Davis never saw anything in these guys.
If all of this is news to you, my advice is to run out in grab a copy of Begin. After that, check out Sagittarius and Boettcher's other projects. And then, when you think you've run out of sugary fun-time pop with a faint dejected edge, head here. The Millennium deserved better way back when, but anyone interested in 60s pop and folk-rock should have no problem digging them now.
by Dominique Leone
Tracks
1. Prelude (Ron Edgar, Doug Rhodes) - 1:04
2. To Claudia On Thursday (Michael Fennelly, Joey Stec) - 2:51
3. Baby It's Real (Curt Boettcher, Michael Fennelly, Sandy Salisbury) - 2:37
4. It's You (Michael Fennelly, Joey Stec) - 2:48
5. I Just Don't Know How To Say Goodbye (Sandy Salisbury, Joey Stec) - 2:04
6. Good People (Michael Fennelly, Joey Stec) - 3:07
7. Can You See (Michael Fennelly, Lee Mallory) - 2:24
8. How Much I Love You (Michael Fennelly, Joey Stec) - 4:06
9. The Blues Is Just A Good Woman Gone Bad (Michael Fennelly, Lee Mallory) - 2:39
10.Once Upon A Time (Curt Boettcher, Lee Mallory) - 2:27
11.Dying With You (Michael Fennelly, Joey Stec) - 2:14
12.The Word (Lee Mallory) - 3:02
13.Share With Me (Lee Mallory, Sandy Salisbury, Joey Stec, Gary Usher) - 3:06
14.Something Or Another (Michael Fennelly, Joey Stec) - 3:41
15.A Younger Me (Michael Fennelly, Lee Mallory) - 2:54
16.I Need To Be By Your Side (Michael Fennelly, Joey Stec) - 1:51
17.Sunshine Girl (Michael Fennelly, Joey Stec) - 2:41
18.Suspended Animation (Curt Boettcher, Lee Mallory, Sandy Salisbury, Joey Stec) - 3:11
19.The Ways I Love You (Michael Fennelly, Joey Stec) - 2:07
20.The Hills Of Vermont (Michael Fennelly, Lee Mallory, Sandy Salisbury) - 3:13
21.It Won't Always Be The Same (Michael Fennelly, Joey Stec) - 3:09
If the Airplane and the Dead were the Beatles and Stones of San Francisco's mid-1960s rock heyday, then the Mystery Trend were its Zombies or Left Banke, peddling craftsmanship and high quality pop songs in an era of burgeoning indulgence. Ahead of anyone else except perhaps the Charlatans, the Trend was the first alternative rock group in the Bay Area, debuting in May 1965.
Unlike the ex-folkies and beatniks that comprised the rest of the scene, the group, led by keyboardist and songwriter Ron Nagle, were older and came from an art school background, eschewing the jams and free-form modality of other local groups for concise ensemble arrangements. "The kind of writing that was going on in San Francisco then, to me, it was dogshit" says Nagle."Everyone was into this wankingsoloingpsychedelic-droneout. It was very uncool to play three minute pop songs." Nagle and guitarist Bob Cuff were turning out gems like Carl Street and Words You Whisper by the dozen, to the general indifference of crowds at countercultural hotspots like the Matrix or Fillmore.
Consequently, the Trend was a neurotic, uptight set of individuals who lent their quirky pop a garage-band edge. Shows were few and far between for these musical outcasts who preferred cocktails to acid, and Burt Bacharach to Ravi Shankar. In late 1967, while all around were being signed up in a major label feeding frenzy, the group quietly broke up. Nagle went on to release the classic cult album "Bad Rice" before pursuing his chosen vocation as a world-renowned ceramic artist.
The combo's sole vinyl legacy was the barnstorming 1967 single Johnny Was A Good Boy, but for years rumours have persisted of an unreleased album recorded for Kingston Trio manager Frank Werber's Trident Productions. So Glad I Found You finally uncovers these legendary sessions to reveal what could have been, and it's a remarkable batch of material. The bright Spoonful-esque jangle of Ten Empty Cups and One Day For Two reflects an innate pop sensibility that is in stark contrast to fuzz-toned neuroses- laid-bare like Mercy Killing and What If I. There's eclectic covers like Smiley Lewis' Shame Shame Shame and the Who's Substitute, majestic mood music with the bossa nova Mambo For Marion, and a forgotten masterpiece in the epic So Glad I Found You.
And in addition to collecting together the Mystery Trend's entire studio recordings, all resplendent in crystal-clear stereo from the original master tapes, So Glad I Found You adds a brace of illuminating demo cuts, including the cryptic Wake Up Cryin' and erstwhile guitarist Larry West's bewitching Lose Some Dreams, to fully tell the story of this unique group. In tried-and-tested Nuggets fashion, there's the usual bevy of pictures and memorabilia, to illustrate a lengthy sleeve note that draws upon the recollections of several band members. With this long-awaited compilation, a significant chapter, not just in the San Francisco 1960s chronology but in pop music history in general, has finally been closed.
by Alec Palao
Tracks
1. Carl Street (Ron Nagle) - 2:50
2. So Glad I Found You (Bob Cuff, Ron Nagle) - 2:20
3. Words You Whisper (Bob Cuff) - 2:23
4. Johnny Was a Good Boy (Bob Cuff, Ron Nagle) - 2:44
5. One Day for Two (Bob Cuff, Larry Bennett, Ron Nagle) - 2:08
6. Carrots on a String (Bob Cuff, Ron Nagle) - 1:57
7. Ten Empty Cups (Bob Cuff, Ron Nagle) - 2:21
8. Mercy Killing (Ron Nagle) - 3:02
9. Mambo for Marion (Bob Cuff, Ron Nagle) - 2:03
10.Substitute (Pete Townshend) - 3:00
11.There It Happened Again (Bob Cuff, Ron Nagle) - 2:28
12.Shame, Shame, Shame (Miss Roxie) (Ken Hopkins, Reuben Fisher) - 2:26
13.House on the Hill (Bob Cuff, Ron Nagle) - 2:22
14.From the Collection of Dorothy Tate (Ron Nagle) - 2:14
15.Carrots on a String (audition version) (Bob Cuff, Ron Nagle) - 2:05
16.What If I (Ron Nagle) - 2:46
17.Wake Up Cryin' (Ron Nagle) - 3:00
18.Lose Some Dreams (Larry Walorny) - 3:03
19.Empty Shoes (Bob Cuff, John Luby, Ron Nagle) - 4:08
20.Let Me See with My Eyes (Bob Cuff) - 5:51
21.Carl Street (audition version (Ron Nagle) - 2:36
Formed in 1970, this fluid but short-lived jazz rock group formed by Ray Russell (guitar) and featured several of the UK’s leading young jazz musicians, and originally included Harry Beckett (trumpet/flugelhorn), Bob Downes (saxophone), Bud Parkes (trumpet) and Tony Roberts (trumpet/woodwind), Derek Wadsworth (trombone) Alan Greed (vocals) and Brian Miller (keyboards), Daryl Runswick (bass), Alan Rushton and Robin Jones (drums).
Several were involved in other, simultaneous projects, notably solo albums by Downes and Russell and session appearances for albums at that time by Jack Bruce, Keef Hartley and Harvey. Wadsworth and Parkes appeared on the latter’s solo album, Roman Wall Blues, and Harvey who appears on just four of the eight songs on its debut album, but the presence of both a couple of subsequently familiar songs and a vocal workout to rival anything on Framed or Next establish them among his finest performances.
A savage rearrangement of the traditional "Wade in the Water" and his own (with fellow Workshop-per Ray Russell) "Hole in Her Stocking" are both bruising R&B stampers, punctured by howling horns and a guitar riff, in the first-named case, that could have escaped from "Walk Don't Run," Blood, Sweat & Tears-style. Harvey himself is in breathtaking form, utterly undistinguishable from the showman who brought listeners "Vambo," and the only regret is that he is confined to just the four songs -- the remainder of Rock Workshop, while certainly a blistering blur of hot and sweaty jazz-soul-boogie, also sinks into anonymity by comparison, just another white English fusion band honking and stomping around the room. Indeed, there are moments when the sound effects that open and link the songs are more interesting than the songs themselves.
Nevertheless, Rock Workshop remains a key passage in Alex Harvey's career, all the more so in its 2002 CD incarnation, where the original LP is appended by half a dozen bonus tracks, including alternate takes of "Hole in Her Stocking" and "Born in the City," plus a couple of songs that didn't make the album itself. (Despite the track listing's claims to the contrary, incidentally, Harvey does not sing the prettily Traffic-like "Primrose Hill.")
by Dave Thompson
Tracks
1. Ice Cold (R. Shepherd, Ray Russel) - 2:58
2. Wade In The Water (Traditional) - 3:45
3. Hole In Her Stocking (Alex Harvey, Ray Russel) - 4:09
4. He Looks At Me / Mooncross Grove - 10:19
5. Spine Cop - 3:47
6. Born In The City - 3:01
7. Theme For Freedom - 7:34
8. You To Lose (R. Cameron, Ray Russel) - 6:41
9. Spine Cop (Alt Version) - 3:50
10.Hole In Her Stocking (Alt Version) (Alex Harvey, Ray Russel) - 5:31
11.Born In The City (Alt Version) - 2:47
12.You To Lose (Alt Version) - 5:25
13.Primrose Hill (R. Shepherd, Ray Russel) - 5:41
14.Return Of The Goddess - 5:40
All songs by Ray Russell except where noted
Bonus Tracks 9-14
Brought together by manager/producer John Madara, Gulliver was one of the first shots at corporate music. With a line up consisting of Temple University student/vocalist Daryl Hall, drummer Jim Helmer, bassist Thomas Sellers and guitarist Tim Moore, the group had more than it's share of talent quickly attracting the attention of Elektra.
Largely penned by Moore, the album found the quartet trying to find a path between conventional rock ("I'm Really Smokin'" and "Flogene") and early stabs at blue-eyed Philly soul ("Every Day's a Lovely Day" and "Over the Mountain"). On the other hand, Hall's voice was instantly recognizable and most of the songs sported decent melodies ("Lemon Road").
The album proved a commercial flop and the group quickly disbanded, though not before recording a couple of demos with guitarist John Oates. Hall went on to enjoy gigantic success as a member of Hall and Oates.
Calling Valparaiso, Florida home, H.Y. Sledge featured the talents of singer/keyboardist Michael Ewbank, multi-instrumentalist Billy Jones, former Wilkinson Tri-Cycle guitarist Richard "Dickie Porter, bassist Jan Pulver, and drummer Monte Yoho. Pulver had previously been a member of Those Five, while Jones and Yoho had been members of the Tampa-based Dave Graham Band. Interestingly, only credit Ewbank, Porter, and Pulver were credited on the album liner notes, which also fail to provide any writing credits.
Signing a recording contract with Shelby Sumpter Singleton Jr.'s SSS International label, the group made their debut with 1971's "Bootleg Music". Co-produced by Ewbank and Porter, the album wasn't the most original collection you've ever heard. The band were certainly talented with a couple of decent singers and an excellent bassist.
Their sole album was originally issued in the summer of 1971.
Tracks
1. Citation On Liberty - 5:21
2. Such An Easy Day - 3:01
3. Canadian Exodus - 7:39
4. Cellophane Lady / Nowhere To Go - 3:54
5. Ride The Waves - 4:06
6. I'm Your Brother - 3:28
7. Tamara - 2:18
8. Day Of Realization - 2:06
9. It's In The Air - 4:46
10.Finding It - 2:28
All songs by Michael Ewbank, Richard Porter, Jan Pulver
Almost like a fly on the wall, we are witness to the young J.J. Cale and Leon Russell, stretching out among friends in Russell’s Paradise Studios in Los Angeles, in June of 1979. In a 21 song set, they are having the time of their lives, and we are left to watch in wonder. Joining Cale and Russell are his wife, Christine Lakeland, along with Marty Green, Nick Rather, Jimmy Karstein, Bill Boatman and Ambrose Campbell.
by Keith Hannaleck
There isn't a bad track on this album. The playing is way more muscular than on his records. The band just lays right into it from the opening track Nowhere to Run and never lets up. You will not believe the bass pouring out of your speakers. The beat is big thumping tremendous and propels the whole album. The drums and guitars are crisp. The solos are tasty. The mood is very relaxed and the band is having a great time.
The standout track for me is Going Down where they, ahem, take it up a notch. The energy on that track is just phenomenal, which is saying something since we've already heard the band in a rip-snorting version of JJ's signature song Cocaine. Studio owner, Leon Russell, lets it rip on piano and kinda snarls out of the side of his mouth. Then the saxes take over with a wailing chorus the whole backed up with fer-ro-cious rhythm guitar. It ain't all up-tempo though, JJ can sing a ballad with the best of ‘em viz Sensitive Kind.
by Ray Chowkwanyun
Tracks
1. Nowhere To Run - 2:43
2. Cocaine - 2:58
3. Ten Easy Lessons - 4:20
4. Sensitive Kind - 3:33
5. Hands Off Her - 3:39
6. Louisiana - 2:38
7. Going Down (Don Nix) - 5:14
8. Roll On - 2:51
9. No Sweat - 3:13
10.Crazy Mama - 3:13
11.Fate Of A Fool - 2:55
12.Boilin' Pot - 3:36
13.After Midnight - 4:13
14.Same Old Blues - 2:55
15.Don't Cry Sister - 3:05
16.Call Me The Breeze - 3:22
17.Ever Lovin' Woman - 2:34
18.Katy Kool Lady - 2:39
19.Lies - 3:19
20.Don't Wait (Christine Lakeland Cale) - 3:31
All songs written by J.J. Cale except where stated
Personnel
*J.J. Cale - Guitar, Vocals
*Leon Russell - Piano, Organ, Vocals
*Christine Lakeland - Guitar, Harmonica, Backing Vocals
*Larry Bell - Piano
*Marty Grebb - Horn
*Nick Rather - Bass
*Jimmy Karstein - Percussion, Drums
*Bill Boatman - Guitar
*Ambrose Campbell - Percussion, Drums
*Pat ‘Taco’ Ryan - Brass
*Shamsi Sarumi - Percussion
