sábado, 25 de fevereiro de 2023

Bob Lance (B. Lance) - Rollin' Man


















Bob Lance (B. Lance) - Rollin' Man - 1972

Bobby Lance was a noted songwriter and blue-eyed soul man who enjoyed a successful career as a tunesmith and arranger, while winning a cult following for his recording career without making much of a dent on the sales charts. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Bobby lost his parents at a young age, and the primary responsibilities of looking after him fell to his sister Fran Lance, 17 years older than her brother. Fran was a classically trained pianist, and Bobby developed a strong interest in music. When Fran married Norm Robins, he noticed Bobby's budding talent as a singer and composer, and as Bobby started writing songs in collaboration with Fran, Norm believed Bobby had the potential to be a pop star. Norm kicked in the money to record Bobby's first single, "Baby, I'm Gone," and while the record didn't sell very well, it got Bobby's foot in the door of the music business. In 1962, the vocal group the Escorts (led by future record producer Richard Perry) cut one of Bobby Lance and Fran Robins' tunes, "I Can't Be Free," and a year later, when lead singer Goldie Zelkowitz left the Escorts, Bobby was brought in to sing with the combo. (Zelkowitz later enjoyed greater success as a singer and producer under the name Genya Ravan.) While the Escorts broke up after two more singles, Bobby and Fran continued to enjoy success as songwriters, and Bobby began branching out as an arranger. By 1968, Bobby had been hired as an arranger and songwriter for Atlantic Records; Bobby tried to place a song he'd written, "The House That Jack Built," with Aretha Franklin, but when Franklin's A&R people expressed an initial indifference, Bobby persuaded R&B diva Thelma Jones to cut the tune. To Bobby's surprise, Franklin and her producers had a change of heart about the song, and Aretha's version of "The House That Jack Built" ended up trouncing Jones' on the charts.

By the end of the '60s, Fran and Bobby began going their separate ways as songwriters, and in 1970 Bobby began work on his first solo LP as part of his Atlantic deal. However, in hopes of expanding his profile as a tunesmith, Bobby had signed a conflicting songwriting deal with Motown Records, and by the time the lawyers had settled the matter, Motown was owed part of the royalties on Bobby's upcoming album. By the time it was released by Atlantic's Cotillion subsidiary in 1971, Bobby's debut album, First Peace, received little notice, in part because Atlantic was reluctant to promote an album that would earn profits for another label. While First Peace was inspired by Southern soul -- and Bobby's vocals were a perfect fit for that style -- Lance took his music in a more rock-oriented direction for his follow-up, 1972's Rollin' Man, which was released under the moniker B. Lance. The album fared no better in the marketplace than First Peace, even though unlike the debut, Atlantic released a single from Rollin' Man ("Rock Your Own" b/w "Hot Wood and Coal") in hopes of promoting radio play. Rollin' Man marked the end of Bobby Lance's contract with Atlantic, and his lack of commercial success as a performer made it difficult for him to land a new record deal. Lance stepped away from music, relocated to Tarrytown, New York, and took up a career in education, though he continued to write and perform in his spare time

01. Bar Room Sally
02. Hot Wood And Coal
03. Something Unfinished
04. She Made Me A Man
05. John The Rollin' Man
06. Last Stop Change Hands
07. You Got To Rock Your Own
08. He Played The Reals
09. A Tribute To A Woman

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sexta-feira, 17 de fevereiro de 2023

Clare Torry - Heaven In The Sky


















Clare Torry - Heaven In The Sky - 2006

Clare H. Torry is a British singer, well-known for improvising and performing the wordless vocals on the song "The Great Gig in the Sky" on Pink Floyd's 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon.

01. Intro- British Caledonian
02. Midnight Train
03. The Music Attracts Me
04. Love For Living (Backed By Man)
05. Carry On Singing My Song
06. Theme From Film 'Oce'
07. Heaven In The Sky
08. Love For Sale
09. I Always Seem To Wind Up Loving You
10. Love Is Like A Butterfly (from butterflies)
11. Warming And True
12. I Know What I Like Best
13. Knock Knock Who's There
14. Can't You Hear My Heartbeat
15. My Boyfriend's Back
16. One Way Street
17. Well Done
18. It's All Over


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terça-feira, 31 de janeiro de 2023

Dennis Yost - Traces of The Past


















Dennis Yost - Traces of The Past - 1982

This is a collection of Soft Rock & Pop gems from Florida born singer Dennis Yost. Recorded in 1982, "Traces of the Past" was originally released on Phonorama Records and features his reflective rentitions of a number of his past hits made famous in his time with the group 'Classics IV' including 'Spookey', 'Traces' and 'Stormy'. 

01. Taking the Long Way Home
02. Traces
03. Spooky
04. Hooked on a Feeling
05. I Go Crazy
06. Stormy
07. Desperado
08. Everyday with You Girl
09. I Just Want to Be Your Everything
10. 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover


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segunda-feira, 23 de janeiro de 2023

Carl Palmer - Do You Wanna Play, Carl? The Carl Palmer Anthology


















Carl Palmer - Do You Wanna Play, Carl? The Carl Palmer Anthology - 2001

This double-CD set raises a lot of questions and red flags, though most of the doubts will be resolved by the music itself. For starters, the first disc, credited to Emerson, Lake & Palmer in terms of its focus, is a tiny bit of a cheat, since it's not a truly comprehensive look at Palmer's contribution to the latter group -- it consists largely of Palmer's solo work within the context of the group name, all dating from 1977's Works (which was essentially three solo albums and a group side) or later, some as late as 2001, and that material only tells part of the story of Palmer's work with the group. Additionally, the structure of the set is a little odd -- on an intellectual level, it is understandable why this double CD was arranged the way it was, with the ELP tracks on disc one, while disc two covers the periods before and after; the ELP stuff is qualitatively different from the rest, as music, in terms of its goals and what Palmer was doing. It's also probably the main selling point to lots of fans -- it's just a pity that the set is arranged this way, because it relegates a pair of supremely attractive mod-era tracks by Palmer's first band to record, the Craig, to a secondary position, and it leaves "Love Light" by the Liverpool group the Chants -- for whom Palmer played drums on that song -- in a similarly neglected spot, and does a similar disservice to Atomic Rooster's "Decline and Fall."

In fairness, however, the set does encompass virtually the entirety of Palmer's career and art, or at least the accessible high points; from his beginnings as a potentially top-ranked session drummer (he could have been the percussionist's answer to Jimmy Page) to his emergence as a member of Atomic Rooster, listeners get a sketchy but satisfying view of his developing ambition. Asia is represented by "Heat of the Moment," and the material by Palmer's more pop-oriented group P.M. is eminently accessible. The 3 project material shows a mix of pop and progressive sensibilities that should have proved more popular than it did (their version of "Eight Miles High" is fun). And the disc ends on a deeply personal note, with a live performance by Palmer with the Buddy Rich Orchestra -- an acknowledgment of Palmer's debt to the legendary jazz drummer (whom he got to know in the later years of his life) -- playing "Shawnee." The ELP material is all on disc one, and it is also sketchy -- the more developed 1977 version of "Tank" is present, and it is the earliest composition represented, but obviously Palmer's contributions to the trio go deeper than a track such as that; the opening section of "Tarkus" could just as easily have been included. In Palmer's case, as opposed to that of his bandmate Keith Emerson, at least his reach doesn't exceed his grasp -- "Concerto for Percussion" by Joseph Horovitz is well within his abilities as a player and does, indeed, give him an opportunity to say something with his playing in a classical context. The sound is excellent apart from the latter track, and the annotation is very thorough, if a bit disjointed.

01. Concerto For Percussion - ELP
02. The Enemy God Dances With The Black Spirits - ELP
03. The Pancha Suite - ELP
04. Bullfrog - ELP
05. Toccata - ELP
06. Close But Not Touching - ELP
07. LA Nights - ELP
08. Canario - ELP
09. Tank - ELP
10. Two Part Invention In D Minor - ELP
11. Fanfare For The Common Man - ELP
12. March Militaire - ELP
13. I Must Be Mad - The Craig
14. Suspense - The Craig
15. Love Light - The Chants
16. Decline And Fall - Atomic Rooster
17. You've Got Me Rockin' - Carl Palmer's PM
18. Dynamite - Carl Palmer's PM
19. Mount Teidi - Mike Oldfield
20. Ready Mix - Mike Oldfield
21. Heat Of The Moment - Asia
22. Wildest Dreams - Asia
23. Time Again - Asia
24. Desda La Vida: La Vista/Frontera/Sangre De Toro - 3
25. Eight Miles High - 3
26. Hoedown (Live) - Qango
27. Shawnee (Live) - Carl Palmer/Buddy Rich Orchestra

+@320