back to browsing

Americana - Rock Your Soul: Blue Eyed Soul and Sounds From the Land of the Free

Various Artists
1 disc

1. I Love Music - Babadu
2. Living Off the Love - Eric Tagg
3. Can't Hide Love - Jaye P. Morgan
4. I've Got the Feelin' - James Walsh Gypsy Band
5. Thought You Ought to Know - Jesse McFall and the Funk Elegant Orchestra
6. My Girl Friday - Lil' Albert
7. Love One Another - Mike Lundy
8. Coast to Coast - Tender Leaf
9. Just for You - 1619 Bad Ass Band
10. Little More Time, A - Michael Killen
11. Who Was It This Time - Breakaway
12. I Just Want to Love You - Midnight Flyer
13. Four in the Morning [Goodking Edit] - Ian Willson
14. Slow Dancer - Life Force
15. Between Hello and Goodbye - Society of Seven
16. Never Gonna Leave You - Evans Pyramid
Read More...
Additional Info

Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): BBE181CCD
Credits

Producer
Engineer
Liner Note Author: Bill Brewster.
Photographers: Jake Holloway; Vicky Winning; Siobhan Bradshaw.
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