Americana-Rock Your Soul: Blue Eyed Soul And Sounds From The Land Of The Free (BBE 20th Anniversary Repress)

構成数 : 2
合計収録時間 : 00:00:00
The cover of BBE's Americana compilation is a shot of the Statue of Liberty, but a Los Angeles photo would have been more fitting. These rare recordings, most of which were released during the latter half of the `70s and the year 1980, resemble -- and, in some cases, are -- L.A. records, meaning that they have the relaxed and polished "smooth soul meets soft rock" sound that L.A. studios pumped out in torrents. The most "L.A." inclusion here would have to be Jaye P. Morgan's fluid version of "Can't Hide Love," written by Skip Scarborough and also recorded by Creative Source, Earth, Wind & Fire, and Dionne Warwick; the singer is surrounded by an L.A.-based cast heard on heaps of other releases, including a pre-fame David Foster, Harvey Mason, Ray Parker Jr., a handful of Toto members, and the horn section from Tower of Power. A close second would be "Living Off the Love," an elegant number from Lee Ritenour associate Eric Tagg. Several artists were actually based in Hawaii, and all of them would have been worthy of warming up for the state's Seawind. Just the names of certain acts -- Midnight Flyer, Tender Leaf, and the unhyphenated 1619 Bad Ass Band among them -- are likely to attract or repulse listeners. Indeed, this aims for insatiable, unapologetic lovers of smooth soul and soft rock -- those who will fall for Michael Franks playbook swipes like "Having my morning coffee/Peeling the cobwebs off me," as heard in Lil' Albert's "My Girl Friday." Some of these songs can be slipped between well-known hits with no perceptible dip in quality, while the remainder is, at the very least, entertaining. ~ Andy Kellman
エディション : Reissue