Cross The Bridge - The Anthology 1965-1999

Cross the Bridge: The Anthology 1965-1999 gathers up representative work by singer and songwriter Keith West, an English musician whose career traces the path -- or at least a few of them -- that the countrys music took in the years between the Beat boom and punks takeover. West started off playing in R&B bands in the mid-60s; one of them was Four + 1, and they are represented here by their restrained covers of "Dont Lie to Me" and "Time Is on My Side," standard versions that prove an inauspicious start. His next band, the In Crowd, were much better, taking a heavier, more mod approach to early covers like "Thats How Strong My Love Is" and delving into wilder sounds on the over-the-top noisy "Things She Says." Wests vocals are confident and commanding, his songwriting is decent ("Youre on Your Own"), and as they edge toward psychedelia on "Am I Glad to See You," they come up with a nice blend of psych-pop and mod, much like the Creation only a little darker. That excellent song gives a hint to Wests next band, Tomorrow, one of the leading providers of trippy, inventive psychedelic pop found anywhere. The tracks from their one and only album, 1967s self-titled classic, are the best part of the collection, and even if its likely that anyone picking up this set will have heard them already, its still good to see the group in the overall context of Wests career. At the same time he was blowing minds in Tomorrow, West was making a dash to the top of the singles chart with the Mark Wirtz collaboration "Excerpt from A Teenage Opera" -- a charming slice of bubblegummy orchestral pop that was a precursor to the slick, sugary, middle-of-the-road pop that took over the mainstream U.K. airwaves in the late 60s. The other single he issued with Wirtz, "Sam," is included as are additional singles, both released and shelved, from the late 60s. "On a Saturday" is the best of them; its a heady slice of adult pop with lovely lead vocals and instrumentation thats halfway between the Zombies and Love. Unfortunately, after a quick flash in the pan, nobody ended up buying what West was selling, then Tomorrow split, and he went underground for a bit. He did record a couple of demos in 1969 that were in tune with the back-to-basics "getting it together in the country" movement: "West Country" sounds like a London answer to CSN&Y, and "A Little Understanding" rambles along like a Traffic song until the strings come in and it launches into slick MOR territory. Its too bad he didnt find a taker for these kinds of tunes as they sound very good many decades later. West did make a comeback in the 70s, making records that do follow in the vein of those demos, with some soft rock and country mixed in. His one album made under his name, 1974s Wherever My Love Goes, was only issued in Germany and gained little notice. That was a harsh fate for some nice, intimate, and melodic music. He formed a band in the mid-70s called Moonrider, and their sound was close to pub rock, especially standout track "Havin Someone," which lopes along pleasantly and features some lovely vocal harmonies. West stopped releasing albums in the 70s, but he continued in the business and still recorded occasionally. The set ends with a batch of demos and a version of Dylans "Lay Lady Lay" made with former Tomorrow bandmate Steve Howe. West had an interesting career and made quite a lot of good to amazing music; its nice that a label -- Strawberry Records -- finally decided to collect the best of it all in one place. ~ Tim Sendra