Beckley Lamm Wilson - Like a Brother (2000)

Supergroups come and go with varying degrees of success. One would think that combining the vocal talents of Gerry Beckley (America), Robert Lamm (Chicago), and Carl Wilson (the Beach Boys) would be a recipe for success. And at times it is. This particular endeavour is largely hit or miss.

There aren't any songs on the album that could be considered "bad." There are a handful of good tracks mixed in with a handful that one would struggle to use superlative adjectives to describe. The best that can be said for much of this album is that it's pleasant and unoffensive.

In all fairness to Gerry, Robert, & Carl given the rigorous touring schedules of their respective bands finding the time to get together to record this album proved rather prohibitive. Add to that Carl Wilson's cancer and subsequent passing there were certainly plenty of obstacles which likely played a part in preventing this album from being far better than it actually ended up being.

That being said, there are some excellent songs on this album-- the Gerry Beckley sung Today, the Harry Nilsson cover Without Her, the wistfully nostalgic Watching the Time Go By, and the hopeful yet somber farewell from Carl Wilson to his sons: I Wish For You. Incidentally Watching the Time Go By had previously appeared on Robert Lamm's 1999 solo release, In My Head. On Robert's solo version he sings the first verse, whereas on the BL&W version, Gerry Beckley sings the first verse. Both versions are rather enjoyable and neither is really superior nor inferior to the other.

With this album being released a few years after Carl Wilson's untimely passing, the album was dedicated to his memory. Indeed, the strongest material on this album is the material that features either he or Beckley on vocals. And in light of Carl's passing his songs take on a decidedly more haunting and poignant tone, especially I Wish For You which is said to be the final song he recorded before his passing and Like a Brother which was a tribute to Carl's brother, Brian.

One is left wondering how much better this album might have been had it not been treated almost as an afterthought to Beckley, Lamm, & Wilson. If the album had been recorded over a shorter time span and all three members of the band had made a concerted effort to MAKE time to record this album rather than record and collaborate only when they were able to find the time to do so this album could and likely would have been considerably better. The talent was certainly there and the stronger material on the album does bear witness to the quality the entire album could have aspired to had it been give the time and focus it truly deserved.

Related Links

Like a Brother (wikipedia entry)

Like a Brother (Amazon.com-- mp3 download $8.99--includes 3 songs not on the original CD release!)

Gerry Beckley (wikipedia entry)

Robert Lamm (wikipedia entry)

Carl Wilson (wikipedia entry)

Gerry Beckley (official website)

Robert Lamm (official website)

REO Speedwagon - Lost in a Dream (1974)

Before becoming arena rock giants along with Journey, Foreigner, & Styx; REO Speedwagon was a hard workin', hard rock band. After a rocky start, and on their third lead singer in as many albums REO had seemingly found some stability with Michael Murphy who, at this point, was the first of their singers to sing lead on two consecutive albums.

Much like his predecessor (and as history would bear out-- his successor as well), Kevin Cronin, Murphy had a rather distinct vocal style. Where Cronin's vocals leaned more towards the nasal, Murphy's were more towards the Rod Stewart meets the more contemporary Macy Gray end of the vocal spectrum.

That this band could survive a revolving door of tenor vocalists as distinctly different as Terry Luttrell, Kevin Cronin, and Michael Murphy is a testament to the strength of REO Speedwagon.

This album is a return to form of sorts to the band's roots. Much like their 1971 debut there's a strong roadhouse dive bar vibe to this album. You can almost feel the sticky floors at your feet and see the Harleys lined up outside and the paint peeling from the tattered walls inside.

Unlike Ridin' the Storm Out which also features Murphy on vocals, I don't believe any material from Lost in a Dream or its 1975, follow-up This Time We Mean It has ever made it into the live set since Murphy's departure from and Kevin Cronin's return to the band. It's a shame really as there's some respectable material. The underrated Gary Richrath has some excellent solos, and Neal Doughty's piano/keyboard chops give off that really cool aforementioned roadhouse dive bar vibe, and as always Greg Philbin and Alan Gratzer on bass & drums respectively provide a strong backbone to the band's sound.

The trouble with the album is that it never rises above that roadhouse dive-bar vibe. That's both its greatest strength and Achilles heel. At this point in their career REO's fans were largely a regional cult following. There were hundreds of house bands at roadhouse dive bars playing the same kind of music. The only thing setting REO apart from their more anonymous less famous bar band counterparts was a record deal and the polish of professional studio production that went with the standard recording contracts of that era.

From start to finish the album is fun and catchy but never realizes or even aspires to excellence. If you're a fan of REO's latter day much more pop friendly sound, you'd scarcely be able to tell that the band that recorded Keep On Lovin' You, Take It On the Run, and Can't Fight This Feelin' also recorded this album. On the other hand if you're not a fan of their latter day more pop-friendly material and you think you know REO Speedwagon you might want to give Lost in a Dream a chance. You might just find yourself pleasantly surprised.

Related Links
REO Speedwagon (Official Website)
REO Speedwagon (wikipedia)
Lost in a Dream (wikipedia)
Gary Richrath (wikipedia)
Neal Doughty (Official Website)
Neal Doughty (wikipedia)

Chicago - The Box (2003)

Box sets come in all shapes & sizes and are often hit or miss. Generally casual listeners aren't inclined to spend the fifty to one hundred (or more) clams to purchase a collection of music they only have a casual interest in. And die-hard fans already have most of the material included on the box sets of their favorite bands (in some cases several times over).

This is Chicago's second crack at a box set. Their first was the early-90s 4 CD Group Portrait released on the Columbia-Legacy label and thus only included material they recorded while on contract with Columbia Records (their debut-Chicago XIV-- material recorded and released between 1969 and 1980). It included a non-LP B-side (Closer to You) and an unreleased track recorded during the Chicago XIV sessions (Doin' Business) and a 52 page booklet written by the AllMusicGuide's William Ruhlmann.

Luckily for Chicago, apparently someone at Columbia Records wasn't paying attention when Chicago's contract was written up. A few years after the Group Portrait box set was released all of the rights to Chicago's Columbia Records catalog reverted to the band (generally record labels aren't quite that generous). After a short and ill-fated attempt at their own record label (Chicago Records), the release rights to Chicago's Columbia era material was sold by Chicago to Rhino Records. Luckily for Rhino Records they are a branch of Warner Brothers. Warner Brothers owned Chicago's latter day catalog (Chicago 16-the then unreleased Stone of Sisyphus album as well as the bonus tracks that had been included in a couple of late 90s compilation CDs).

This chain of events has allowed Rhino to release a considerably more complete box set-- adding a 5th disc and a DVD of rare footage of the band. And therein lies the bait for all of those die-hard fans who already had/have multiple copies of much of the material on the CDs. In addition to material from their studio albums spanning their entire career this set includes Good For Nothing (a song recorded for the We Are the World album), Hearts in Trouble (from the Days of Thunder soundtrack), the 4 bonus tracks from the two Heart of Chicago collections from the late nineties, three tracks from the then ureleased Stone of Sisyphus album (Stone of Sisyphus was finally released in 2008), and a handful of alternate edits and single edits of various songs.

Addition by Subtraction

There are a handful of songs that were included that are real head-scratchers. Other than an abysmally bad performance of You Come to My Senses on the Arsenio Hall show in the early 90s Chicago has never performed any material from their twenty-first album live. So the inclusion of three songs from that album is rather surprising. Another regrettable inclusion is Song For You from Chicago XIV a rather bland and uninspired Cetera ballad. Overnight Cafe or Hold On would have been superior selections to represent XIV, one of Chicago's weakest albums.

Chicago X suffered from a "too many hands in the cookie jar" (and the white stuff in the "cookies" at that point in time wasn't sugar, if you get my drift) yet there were SIX songs from that album included in this set... and despite including six songs from Chicago X, they still managed to leave off the two best tracks from that album-- Once or Twice and Scrapbook!

Conspicuous Absences


Initially, it was surprising that the 2 non-LP tracks that had been included in the Group Portrait (Doin' Business and Closer to You) had been left off this set, however Rhino included those songs as bonus tracks on their re-releases of Chicago XIV and XIII respectively.

However, what is glaringly absent from this collection are any live tracks from either the Live at Carnegie Hall or Live in Japan albums. A live track or two from each would have been welcome additions as both albums feature some truly scorching Terry Kath guitar solos.

Terry Kath's haunting tribute to Jimi Hendrix, Oh Thank You Great Spirit from Chicago VIII would also have been a nice fit. The Robert Lamm penned When Will the World Be Like Lovers which was recorded for Chicago 18 but was cut in favor of the Jason Scheff penned Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now would also have been a welcome addition to this set.

When Chicago VII was being recorded the band couldn't decide between a pop/rock album or a more experimental jazz-influenced album. So they compromised and released it as a double album-- one LP of more pop-friendly mainstream material and one LP of more experimental jazz influenced material. While this set does include a handful of tracks from the more pop-friendly LP, it's conspicuously lacking any material from the more jazz-oriented LP (much to this listener's chagrin).

The collection could have been tremendously improved by dropping two songs each from XIV, Twenty-1, and X and including some of the stronger material from some of their other albums (In The Country from II, Sing a Mean Tune Kid and Happy Cause I'm Goin' Home from III, and Prelude to Aire & Aire from VII for example).

Bonus Points

Rhino deserves credit where it's due and they did include some excellent pieces from the Columbia era that were conspicuously absent from the Group Portrait. Chicago's anti-Vietnam epic-- It Better End Soon, Terry Kath's ode to breakfast food and self-love-- An Hour In the Shower, and the aforementioned Good For Nothing and Hearts in Trouble are all quite welcome inclusions.

The DVD

The DVD is a nice addition for both hardcore fans and the more casual listeners. The concert footage from Arie Crown Theater shows the band when they were still creative and adventurous with a bit of fire and youthful enthusiasm. It features Devil's Sweet, one of the aforementioned more jazz-tinged pieces from Chicago VII, as well as Now That You've Gone, Dialogue & Saturday In the Park from Chicago V.

The promo footage for Chicago XIII is an amusing addition for the more die-hard fans. But considering how laughably bad that album is (another instance of too many hands in the cookie jar and too much of the "other" white powder in those cookies) this footage is more of a novelty and will likely not generate enough interest to warrant repeated viewings even by the most die-hard of fans.

Closing arguments

One wonders what the rationale and/or motivation was behind some of the song selections for this collection. Some of the material is quite strong, but a lot of weaker material also made it onto this collection. Was the song selection based more on personal preferences of the members of the band and the staff at Rhino who compiled the box, on the perceived preferences of the target demographic, or on which collection of songs would generate the most songwriting royalties to the various members of the band?

Regardless of the motivations behind the song selections, in all fairness to those making such decisions it must be conceded that you can't please everyone. With that in mind, this box set was a valiant effort at accomplishing just that-- even if it did come up short for some fans it likely succeded in spades for others.

If you're new to Chicago with a thirst for deeper than all of the "greatest hits" and "best of" compilations and have the disposable income to do so-- purchasing this set is a considerably more economical way to get a broader view of Chicago than purchasing their entire back catalog. It offers a considerably deeper and more comprehensive snapshot of the band's history than any of the 1 or 2 disc compilations offered to date. If however you're merely a casual listener just interested in the hits, stick with the 2CD Only the Beginning: The Very Best of Chicago set.

Related Links
Chicago "The Box" (Rhino Records)
Chicago "The Box" (Amazon.com)
Chicago "The Box" (Wikipedia)
Chicago (Official Website)
Chicago (Wikipedia)
Chicago Music & More (Chicago Message Board)
Other Chicago related reviews, interviews, & etc.

Mark Seymour - The Closest Living Thing (2008)

From 1981 to 1998 Mark Seymour was the front man and vocalist for Aussie pub-rock band, Hunters & Collectors. Since Hunters & Collectors called it quits in '98, Seymour has taken his solo career in a more acoustic direction.

In 2008, Seymour released The Closest Living Thing a collection of acoustic versions of H&C songs for all of those nostalgic for the music of that era of Seymour's career.

The song selection is exceptional. While all of the fan favorites are included, Seymour also included some more obscure and deeper H&C album cuts like Titanic and True Believers from Juggernaut and What's a Few Men from Fate.

While the "horns of contempt" are conspicuously absent the more bare-boned acoustic arrangements of the classic "Hunnas" repertoire allow the listener to focus more on Seymour's vocal and songwriting talents. The acoustic arrangements give the songs a new freshness giving the listener not only a reminder of what he or she enjoyed about the original versions but also an opportunity to hear all of these songs for the first time all over again.

Some of the highlights include Talking to a Stranger which features exceptional vocal harmonies, Titanic which Seymour gives a unique spoken-word delivery to the verses and sings the choruses, Everything's On Fire which features some beautiful acoustic guitar playing, and What's a Few Men stripped to the bare essentials making the lyrics a bit more emotionally charged than they were in the original version playing an exceptional tribute to the fallen ANZAC soldiers of the Battle of Galipoli.

All in all, with this collection Seymour blows the dust off the better material of Hunters & Collectors 17 years and gives it new life. Whether your new to Hunters & Collectors and/or Seymour's music or a long time fan this album is a welcome addition to any music collection.


Related Links
Hunters & Collectors (wikipedia)
Mark Seymour (wikipedia)
Mark Seymour (personal website)
Human Frailty (Hunters & Collectors Official Website)
Other Hunters & Collectors Reviews
Interview with Nick & Mark Seymour from the H&C website (Mark's brother, Nick, is a member of Crowded House)

Tim Feehan - Carmalita (1983)

For a moment, remind yourself that this album was released in the eighties and excuse the ever so unfortunate cover art.

Tim Feehan got his start in the Canadian band, Footloose. After achieving moderate success in his native Canada on a small handful of singles, Feehan opted to pursue a solo career.

Feehan has an exceptional voice. It's a cross between Bryan Adams and Richard Marx, although I'd argue better than either of them. Unfortunately, Feehan never enjoyed the level of success of either of those contemporaries.

Listening to his solo material it's not difficult to understand why. Carmalita is pleasant enough from start to finish. It's predominantly mid-tempo lite AOR with relatively catchy melodies however nothing that really sets it apart from any other mid-tempo lite AOR of the same era.

All of the songs are enjoyable and Feehan's voice is consistently strong and very easy on the ears. But none of the songs stick out. His duet with Vikki Moss, Never Say Die (Moss also did a duet with David Foster, Love at Second Sight and was featured on the song If I Turn You Away from the St. Elmo's Fire soundtrack)features strong vocals by both Feehan and Moss but the music seems phoned-in and generic. It does no favors to Feehan.

With stronger material and more passionate music from the session cats backing him up, Feehan's career might have gone on a much stronger trajectory than it did. He certainly had the vocal chops to have had a much more successful career than he ended up having.

Instead Carmalita remains an out of print curiosity of mid eighties Canadian pop. In fairness, Feehan's follow-up albums did show substantial improvement, but those are other reviews for other days.

Oh... and you can commence laughing at the cover art if you like, now. ;-)

Joseph Williams - I Am Alive (1996)

After his rather unceremonious departure from Toto following The Seventh One tour (1987/88), singer Joseph Williams seemingly dropped off the radar.

As a result, his 2nd solo album was aptly titled with the proclamation I Am Alive!

The album opens with Perfectly Clear, a song that seems to scream summer:

The man on TV says it's just another day
With all its picture postcard smiles
The sun is shining and the clouds are blown away
The perfect weather for denial

From start to finish the song is upbeat fun and catchy. It captures summer so well you can practically smell the barbecues, mosquito repellent, and sun-tan lotion. The optimism of the song is infectious and it puts the listener in an excellent mood. A fantastic way to open the album!

Next is Heroes, a bit slower tempo but just as melodic and enjoyable. In addition to Williams exceptional lead vocals Bill Champlin and Jason Scheff of Chicago provide exceptional background vocals along with Joseph's wife, Amye.

On track 3 Joe shifts gears with a cover of Paul Davis's Cool Night a song that speaks to chilly fall nights with amber leaves and cups of cocoa. Bill Champlin provides exceptional and very noticeable background vocals and Jason Scheff colors the song with his exceptional bass chops. And as much as I love Davis's original, I've come to love Williams' version just as much-- if not more.

The title track, I Am Alive, was built around by a drum loop recorded by Williams' former bandmate by Jeff Porcaro before his untimely death in 1992. So even 4 years after his passing, Jeff Porcaro was able to get a drum credit from beyond the grave. It gives the song a little extra something special as it also features some background vocals from Toto's original lead vocalist, Bobby Kimball.

The album is rounded out by a handful of other excellent songs. Babylon is a catchy mid-tempo song. The lyrics aren't great but Williams' vocal delivery elevates the mediocre lyrics and makes them enjoyable. Unarm Your Heart again features Bill Champlin providing very exceptional background vocals in counterpoint to Williams'. The vocal chemistry shared between Williams' and Champlin is perhaps second only to the vocal chemistry Champlin shared with his own former bandmate, Peter Cetera on Chicago 16 & 17. On top of that the vocals are uplifting and positive:

If only you wouldn't turn away
We could make a start
I'll keep you safe
If you'll unarm your heart

One of the best songs on the album is Out of Harm's Way:

I don't care if it blows in my face
I'm still gonna love you with no loss of grace
And I don't care if I'm really afraid
Faith will surround us
And keep our love
Out of harm's way

The song is a celebration of new love. Those over the top highs of happiness you feel for that special someone when you first start falling in love with him/her. The melody is catchy and thoroughly enjoyable.

The original version of the album closes with I'd Rather Dance By Myself which borrows a page from the John Hughes film Some Kind of Wonderful. There's a scene where Amanda Jones (played excellently by a young Leah Thompson) says, "I'd rather be alone for the right reasons than with someone for the wrong reasons." I'd Rather Dance By Myself is the same idea-- you don't need someone else in your life to define who you are.

A later release of the album includes 2 bonus tracks Never Let You Go and Afterlife. Never Let You Go has a similar vibe to Out of Harm's Way and I Believe in You whereas Afterlife is an instrumental piece that offers a bit of a demonstration of the television scoring that Williams' had started to do at that point in his career (in the late 90s Joseph Williams wrote and performed the scores for CBS's Early Edition and LA Doctors and the WB's Roswell).

Unfortunately, this exceptional album is now and has long been out of print. It likely didn't help at the time of the release that the album had/has a late eighties vibe to it, making it sound dated even at its original release in 1996. However, the material is excellent and enjoyable despite sounding dated.

If you liked Chicago 16-19, Toto Fahrenheit & The Seventh One chances are you'll love I Am Alive.

Related Links:
Joseph Williams (wikipedia)
Joseph Williams (Totoweb.org)
Other Joseph Williams related reviews/interviews

Rhythm Dukes - FlashBack (recorded 1970/released 2005)

In 1970 after Moby Grape had broken up and the Sons of Champlin were on indefinite hiatus members of the two bands-- Jerry Miller from Moby Grape and Bill Champlin from the Sons of Champlin teamed up with Fuzzy Oxendine and John Barrett to form the Rhythm Dukes.

Primarily a live band, the Rhythm Dukes were fixtures at Bill Graham's various venues in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1970 they headed into the studio and recorded an album that would not see the light of day for 35 years!

Some of the songs on the album-- For Joy, Hey Children & I'd Like to Get to Know You-- were later re-recorded by the Sons of Champlin (albeit in substantially different forms than those heard on Flash Back) but most of the material on this album remained unheard for 35 years.

The material on the album bears the fruit of the influences of both Moby Grape and the Sons of Champlin. The Sons of Champlin influence is considerably more prevalant than the Moby Grape influence as Bill Champlin was not only vocalist and keyboardist, but he wrote 6 out of the 10 songs that appear on the album.

The album starts out with the Jerry Miller penned Love Your Daddy All Night Long which is an amusing musical selection considering this album was recorded in a church. Not exactly the type of material one might expect to hear recorded or performed inside a church.

While the lead vocal performances featuring Champlin are the strongest the vocal harmonies leave a bit to be desired. There's a somewhat over-relaxed looseness to them drawing attention away from otherwise strong material and instrumental performances and shifting the focus to the mediocre garage band-esque feel that the harmony vocals give the material.

Perhaps one of the strongest overall performances on the album is their cover of the blues classic, Kansas City. Champlin totally cooks. His B3 playing and his soulful vocals are a perfect fit for the song.

For Joy stretches out to a 14+ minute jam that Champlin would later trim to under five minutes when he re-recorded the song with the Sons of Champlin for their Welcome to the Dance album. The Rhythm Dukes version seems excessive but it does allow the band to stretch out and show off their musical talents.

In short this collection is not for the casual listener-- although fan completists of the works of Moby Grape or the Sons of Champlin may want to pick this album up as it provides an interesting snapshot of where members of the respective bands were in 1970 it's merely a curiousity for the more casual listeners of either group... That being said even for the casual listener this album is almost worth picking up for the cover of Kansas City alone.

Currently the CD is only available directly from the Rhythm Dukes website . The packaging is rather amateur-ish, however this is encouraging as most of the money paid for the CD actually goes to the guys who performed the music on it and not suits in the recording industry.

Related Links
Rhythm Dukes (official website)
Sons of Champlin (official website)
Bill Champlin (official website)
Jerry Miller (official website)
Rhythm Dukes (wikipedia entry)
Moby Grape (wikipedia entry)
Sons of Champlin (wikipedia entry)
Jerry Miller (wikipedia entry)
Bill Champlin (wikipedia entry)
Other Bill Champlin/Sons of Champlin related blog posts

Mapping a Musical Evolution

I've been listening to Toto's earlier albums lately and I've noticed that there's a bit of a musical evolution in progress when listening to the below albums in the following order:

1976 - Boz Scaggs Silk Degrees
1977 - Toto s/t debut
1978 - Toto Hydra
1978 - Bill Champlin Single
1979 - Airplay s/t
1981 - Toto Turn Back
1981 - Bill Champlin Runaway
1981 - Peter Cetera s/t debut
1982 - Chicago 16
1982 - Toto IV
1984 - Chicago 17

You can hear how the Toto sound started with Scaggs Silk Degrees and then morphed with David Foster's production on Champlin's Single and Runaway albums and on David Foster & Jay Graydon's Airplay album. Peter Cetera dabbled with it a little by using Steve Lukather on his s/t debut but when Champlin & Foster came in and brought some of the guys from Toto along for Chicago 16 & 17 it just hit on all cylinders. And even though Foster didn't produce Toto IV you can hear a bit of his influence. It's little wonder that Chicago 16, 17, and Toto IV all sold so well (not to mention Toto IV seemed to sweep the grammies the year it came out).

I know the shift in the sound and style on Scaggs Silk Degrees to the sound & style of Chicago 16 & 17 is a gradual one. But if you listen to those albums in that order you can hear that musical evolution happening.

Some other albums that further help flesh out this musical evolution are Earth Wind & Fire's I Am (featuring the hit single After the Love Is Gone written by Jay Graydon, David Foster, and Bill Champlin and Steve Lukather playing some guitar parts on certain songs), I-Ten's Taking a Cold Look (featuring most members of Toto and co-produced by Steve Lukather), Steve Perry's Street Talk (prominently featuring both Steve Lukather and his semi-frequent songwriting collaborator, Randy Goodrum), Fee Waybill's Read My Lips, and The Tubes The Completion Backward Principle and Outside Inside albums.

After hearing this evolution I pored over the list a bit further, looking for THE common thread... I found that other than the Airplay album Steve Lukather of Toto contributed in some way shape or form (either as a songwriter, guitarist, or producer) to ALL of those releases. Some of his Toto bandmates joined him on some but not others... and the Airplay album, the only one that didn't have any contributions from Steve Lukather featured his bandmate, Jeff Porcaro on drums and percussion

Many of these releases are referred to as "West Coast Music." Considering Steve Lukather's involvement in most of them might he be considered the father or godfather of West Coast Music?

Come September (1961)

This movie is arguably more notable for what happened off-set during filming than for the film itself.

While the film was focused more on the romance between Robert (Rock Hudson) and Lisa (Gina Lollobrigida) the romance between Sandy (Sandra Dee) and Tony (Bobby Darin) was brewing off-set as well as on. Darin & Dee ended up marrying and having a somewhat tumultuous seven year marriage.

Hudson plays wealthy American, Robert Talbot, who owns a rather expansive estate in Italy where he only lives one month out of every year-- always in September (hence the title). In his absence, his butler-- Maurice Clavell (played brilliantly by Walter Slezak) converts the expansive estate into a hotel.

While on business in Milan one July, Talbot realizes he misses Lisa-- a nice Italian girl he'd courted the previous September. Little does he know, Lisa has gotten sick of waiting for him and is about to marry a British fellow named Spencer (Ronald Howard).

With a single phone call, Lisa decides to call off the marriage with Spencer and give Talbot another chance.

Both Lisa and Robert show up at his estate in July and September forcing Maurice to quickly remove all evidence of the hotel.

Clavell also has to walk a fine tightrope hiding the truth about his true role and the actual ownership of the estate with the hotel guests at the same time trying to hide the existence of the hotel from Robert... While he inevitably fails on both counts-- Slezak provides some excellent comedy throughout the movie that keeps it from slipping into mediocrity.

Meanwhile a group of American teenage girls is staying at the hotel with their chaperone. As she's about to join the girls on their tourbus-- the chaperone slips on a cork and breaks her leg. Fearing a lawsuit, Talbot maintains the ruse of the hotel and steps in to chaperone the girls and to protect them from a trio of American boys whom he knows are up to no good. Despite his best efforts to prevent romance from blossoming young Tony (Bobby Darin), the ringleader of the trio and Sandy start falling for each other.

There is a bit of cat-and-mouse between Tony and Robert in which they perpetually try to foil one another-- Robert trying to protect the virtue of the girls left in his charge, and Tony and his friends trying to get those same girls alone that makes for some amusing comedic moments. It also acts as an amusing foil that perpetually gets in the way of Robert & Lisa's romance.

One of the highlights of the film was Bobby Darin's single vocal performance, a catchy upbeat number, Multiplication, that he wrote specifically for this film.

All in all, it's an enjoyable classic comedy-- certainly dated, but still fun.

Related Links
Come September (Internet Movie Database)
Bobby Darin (official website)

Bill Champlin - Single (1978)

In 1978, Bill Champlin had left his namesake band to pursue both his solo career and his career as a session vocalist— the latter would provide him with one of the most extensive and impressive CVs in the music industry. His credits as both a session vocalist and songwriter read like a who’s who of the music industry of the late seventies and through the eighties as well. He even netted a couple of grammies (Best R&B single for After The Love Is Gone for Earth Wind & Fire in 1979 and Best R&B single for Turn Your Love Around for George Benson in 1982).

Single is a product of that era. The influences are evident as the album bears a musical resemblance to Boz Scaggs grammy winning Silk Degrees album from a couple years prior. It’s little surprise that many of the musicians who performed on Silk Degrees also performed on Single. Incidentally those musicians who appeared on both Single and on Scagg’s Silk Degrees (Steve Lukather, David Hungate, Steve Porcaro, David Paich, & Jeff Porcaro) created a band of their own, Toto, and released a self-titled debut between working with Scaggs on Silk Degrees and Champlin on Single.

In addition to those dapper fellows from Toto, Michael McDonald of the Doobie Brothers and Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates contributed their voices for some catchy background vocals. And having future svengali producer David Foster at the helm in one of his first turns as producer certainly didn’t hurt.

While the similarities between the two albums are obvious, so are the differences. Where Silk Degrees had more of a jazz meets rock vibe to it, Champlin’s approach on Single was more of an R&B vibe with a bit of funk flavor to kick it up a notch.

The vestiges of Bill’s former band, The Sons of Champlin, can also be heard on songs like Yo Mama and Careless both of which bear the soulful funky horn-laden punch the Sons of Champlin had come to be known for. Indeed, Yo Mama is easily the strongest track on the album. That’s quite a feat considering that all of the material on the album is quite strong.

While Champlin and his producer, David Foster would take an (inevitably winning) gamble in 1981 by joining Chicago who were up against the ropes after getting dropped by Columbia Records, this album is much more in the late 70s blue-eyed soul vibe than its 1981 follow-up, Runaway.

As good as the album is, much like Scaggs Silk Degrees, it hasn’t aged well. There’s no mistaking the album was recorded in the late seventies. For some listeners that may be a good thing, for others not so much. But chances are, if you were or are a fan of Silk Degrees, you'll also enjoy this album.

Related Links:
Other Bill Champlin related posts

Bill Champlin leaves Chicago

Yesterday I learned that one of my favorite musicians, Bill Champlin, left one of my favorite bands-- Chicago. While not an original member of the band, Bill had been in Chicago for over 28 years and was an integral part of their popular renaissance in the eighties. And while it wasn't so much Bill's voice that got me hooked on Chicago's music as an eleven year old boy back in the fall of 1988, it was largely Bill's voice which held my interest in the band's recent back catalog-- before I'd started to discover their earlier works with the late great Terry Kath.

It was through Bill's gritty soulful vocals that I discovered his OTHER band, The Sons of Champlin-- a staple of the San Francisco Bay area music scene of the late sixties and into the seventies. And in discovering the Sons, I also branched out into some of their contemporaries like Tower of Power and Quicksilver Messenger Service.

Due to lack of significant output in recent years, my interest in Chicago has waned. However they are my musical compass... Whenever life has been too overwhelming or confusing it's been Chicago's music I've returned to. And it's that music that brought me back to happier times and given me the strength and focus to re-center and re-focus on life before tackling whatever issues had been plaguing me.

Bill's departure, while not entirely unexpected given his level of professionalism and musical adventurousness contrasted with the complacency of his now former band is somewhat bittersweet. Now Bill has the time to devote to making new music, to being himself and stretching out-- to being the consumate professional he's always been at heart. But on the flipside, Chicago has lost one of the few (if not only) bandmember interested in creating new music and driving forward rather than looking back.

During Bill's 28 plus tenure in Chicago, I had the pleasure of seeing them live 9 times. I'll always treasure my memories of those shows... the first two in 1993 and 1994 featured 6 hour (roundtrip) road trips from the Northern tier of NY to the capitol district (Albany/Latham/Saratoga Springs) 3 hours south with my father I'll hold especially dear. Since I've moved over 16 hours away from my parents my time with them is limited these days-- I treasure the special times I had with them when I was growing up and lived closer-- and I hold my memories of the Chicago concerts we attended together especially dear.

I had the pleasure of meeting Bill in 1994 after Chicago's concert @ the Starlite Theatre in Latham and again the following year prior to their concert at the Joyce Center @ Notre Dame. Bill was then and from what I can tell, continues to be, a class act.

I will continue to enjoy the music Bill has already recorded and look forward to the music he's yet to create. I'm excited about what the future has in store for him and at the same time growing more pessimistic about the future creative output (or lack thereof) of his former band in his absence.

Here's Bill performing Turn Your Love Around back in 1994:



For more Bill Champlin related goodness:
More Bill Champlin related reviews
Bill Champlin's Official Website

Dream Theater - 12 Step Suite (2002-2009)

The Glass Prison from 2002’s Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (13:52)
This Dying Soul from 2003’s Train of Thought (11:27)
The Root of All Evil from 2005’s Octavarium (8:39)
Repentance from 2007’s Systematic Chaos (10:43)
The Shattered Fortress from 2009’s Black Clouds and Silver Linings (12:49)

My fascination with Dream Theater is unusual in that it was Mike Portnoy’s drumming that caught my ear before anything else. Unless one is a drummer (and lacking any sense of rhythm, I’m certainly not a percussionist or drummer by any stretch of the imagination), the drumming/percussion generally isn’t the first thing one notices about a band. Portnoy’s drumming is so fantastic that it actually got me to start appreciating the drums/percussion more in other bands I enjoy that much more as well.

Over the course of the past 7 years and 5 studio albums Mike Portnoy has chronicled his recovery from alcoholism with his 12 Step Suite. Some argument could be made, that the 12 Step Suite actually started on Dream Theater’s Awake album back in 1994 with The Mirror which thematically tackles facing oneself in the mirror and not liking the face looking back—there are multiple mentions in the suite about looking in a mirror that can be seen as a reference to the earlier song which predates the suite. However, for the purposes of this review, only the material that has actually been designated as part of the suite by Mike Portnoy will be discussed.

Each song covers a handful of steps in the 12 step plan of recovery. Together all 5 songs clock in at just under an hour in a predominantly heavy metal onslaught.

The Glass Prison has a long instrumental intro showcasing how and why Portnoy is one of the most respected and technically proficient drummers in the world, not to mention demonstrate the guitar prowess of John Petrucci. When the vocals finally do start (at about the 3:03 mark) they start as a call and response between Portnoy and the initially distorted vocals of James LaBrie. The vocals ride on hard driving locomotive-esque guitar riffing by Petrucci inspired by the late Dimebag Darrel of Pantera (Portnoy and Petrucci had attended a Pantera concert the night before they started composing The Glass Prison and the influence is not only evident, it’s quite conspicuous).

This Dying Soul picks up right where The Glass Prison leaves off without giving the listener a chance to catch his breath —Portnoy’s intense battery of the skins comes off as a racing heartbeat. LaBrie’s vocals joining in the instrumental onslaught at the 2:13 mark. Much like with The Glass Prison, there’s a use of distorted vocals, this time its Portnoy’s voice that gets distorted in an angry frenzy with a rapid fire staccato rap. Keyboardist, Jordan Rudess flexes his classical piano chops briefly at about the 5:43 into the song, in a way that sounds interestingly and unusually appropriate for a metal song before LaBrie and Portnoy continue their vocal onslaught. The song ends as it began, with an aggressive onslaught of drums and guitar.

The Root of All Evil showcases the keyboarding wizardry of Jordan Rudess with a slow build to a similar musical frenzy as the one which ended This Dying Soul with Portnoy, Petrucci, and bass player John Myung joining Rudess shortly into the song. LaBrie’s vocals start much earlier (at about 1:28) on this piece than on the previous two. The tempo is a bit slower but still features the crunchy guitar riffs of The Glass Prison and This Dying Soul. The vocals are the most melodic of the suite so far and clocking in at just under 8 minutes 40 seconds this is also the shortest movement in the suite making this the most accessible (to non-traditional Dream Theater fans) portion of the suite thus far.

Repentance shifts gears from angry to a more somber and melancholic vibe. The vocals start with the same lyrics as This Dying Soul:

Hello mirror
So glad to see you my friend
It’s been awhile

This time the lyric is sung by Michael Portnoy (instead of James LaBrie who opens with those lyrics in This Dying Soul) before James LaBrie takes over the vocal duties. Musically the themes are similar to that of This Dying Soul but with a slower tempo and the aforementioned melancholic vibe. Between John Petrucci’s emotive guitar solo and the samples of people speaking about repentance and regrets played over the somber theme that acts as the backbone to the song, if ever there was a song that captured not just the definition of the word Repentance but also the emotions associated with being penitent, Dream Theater hit the nail on the head with this song.

The Shattered Fortress pulls the musical and lyrical themes from the previous songs together in a musical summary that acts as an exclamation mark to the suite as a whole. The call and response element between Portnoy and LaBrie that was used to strong effect in certain previous movements makes another appearance. The song opens with a driving guitar riff not unlike a racing heartbeat over Portnoy’s rapid-fire drumming and keyboard wizardry of Jordan Rudess. Once again, as in Repentance, samples are used over the musical themes used in previous movements of the suite—this time the themes from The Glass Prison and The Root of All Evil are most obvious. There is a special 3CD edition of Black Clouds & Silver Linings which also includes an instrumental version of The Shattered Fortress which is also enjoyable to listen to, however in the context of the Twelve Step Suite, the absence of lyrics leaves the song wanting (On the other hand, in the context of Black Clouds & Silver Linings the instrumental version works quite well).

All in all, the 12 Step Suite is a musical tour de force, an onslaught of emotion and human struggle and introspection showcasing not just Portnoy’s recovery, but also his abilities as both a lyricist and composer. It’s almost unfortunate to note that in recent interviews Portnoy indicated that once the suite was complete that he’d likely be stepping away from songwriting to focus more on his drumming and leaving the songwriting to his bandmates. While his drumming will always be welcome and a joy to listen to, his songwriting talents will be missed on future Dream Theater releases. However, if this does indeed mark the end of Portnoy’s songwriting—as he has indicated-- he’s certainly chosen to step away at a definite high water mark with a very memorable bookend to an exceptional string of songwriting credits.

Related Links

The Glass Prison



This Dying Soul
(Part 1)


(Part 2)


The Root of All Evil


Repentance


The Shattered Fortress
(Part 1)


(Part 2)

OSI - Blood (2009)

Heavy metal isn’t generally known for its ambience. Listening to any of OSI’s three releases it doesn’t appear that Kevin Moore or Jim Matheos received that memo. Their latest release, Blood, is a natural progression from its two precursors. Where 2003’s self-titled debut felt a bit tentative, 2006’s Free and their latest, Blood feel decidedly more certain.

While some may describe OSI’s music as being progressive metal, perhaps ambient metal is a more fitting descriptor. While the music does certainly bear the evidence of the progressive metal roots of both Matheos (Fates Warning) and Moore (Dream Theater)—Moore’s influence provides the music with a much more ambient feel that listeners only caught sparse glimpses of on his Dream Theater material.

After providing percussion on the first two OSI releases, Mike Portnoy bowed out for the third outing—in his place Matheos and Moore tapped Porcupine Tree’s Gavin Harrison. Given Porcupine Tree’s musical proclivities, one might argue that while Portnoy may have a better pedigree, Harrison’s style is a much better fit for this band than his predecessor.

With each successive release Moore’s vocals have seemed to fit better than the one before. While Moore is a mediocre vocalist at best, his sparse vocals fit the general ambience of OSI’s music. And much like on their debut in which Porcupine Tree’s Steve Wilson contributed his vocals to shutdown, OSI once again knew when to invite guest vocalists to step in—Mikael Akerfeldt (of Opeth) on Stockholm and Tim Bowness on No Celebrations (only available on the 2CD Digipak version).

In addition to No Celebrations, the two disc digipak version of this release also features a cover of the late Elliot Smith’s Christian Brothers and an extended version of Terminal.

All that being said, this release isn’t for everyone—if you’re a fan of the first two OSI releases, the recent albums of Fates Warning, and Kevin Moore’s Chroma Key releases, or if you’re willing to take a chance on something a bit different than the mainstream there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy this next leap in OSI’s musical evolution.

Related Links
Chroma Key Dead Air For Radios (1999)
Dream Theater Images and Words (1992)
Dream Theater Awake (1994)
OSI Free (2006)
Porcupine Tree In Absentia (2002)

Illinois Speed Press - self-titled/Duet (2003 re-release)

In 1970 fresh off the success of Blood Sweat & Tears and Chicago Transit Authority, producer James William Guercio took another band under his wing—Illinois Speed Press featuring the guitarist/vocalist tandem of Kal David and Paul Cotton. While ISP never enjoyed the same level of success as that of their contemporaries, they did release two exceptional albums before imploding—their self-titled debut and its follow-up Duet.

For years these albums remained an obscurity, long out of print and only ever released on vinyl LP. In recent years some fans & collectors took it upon themselves to re-master and finally give these albums the CD release they deserved. Unfortunately, due to the obscurity of these releases, that 2 CD set is now out of print as well and is as much as (if not more of) an obscurity as the original vinyl releases.

Prior to ISP, Kal David was a blues guitarist mainstay of the Chicago club circuit in his band, The Exceptions, which also featured an exceptional tenor vocalist and bass player, Peter Cetera who went on to join Chicago. Paul Cotton’s musical talents lean more to the acoustic end of the spectrum, his influences more of the Buffalo Springfield variety. The two different musical styles are quite evident on both albums as there appears to be an initial marriage of these styles on their debut followed by a more fractured tug of war between the two styles on the Duet album.

Indeed, it’s almost hard to believe that you’re listening to the same band when hearing Kal David’s rock blues guitar playing on songs like Get In the Wind and Pay the Price interspersed with songs like Here Today and Sky Song featuring Paul Cotton’s more mellow country-tinged guitar playing and smoother vocals. Despite the two very different styles—this works quite well on disc 1 featuring ISP’s debut album.

On the 2nd disc featuring Duet however you can hear the two styles competing rather than blending—two men trying to take the band in two very different directions in a disagreement that would lead to the band’s demise. While the first album exhibited more of Kal David’s influence, Duet seemed to show Paul Cotton exerting more control and many tracks exhibit the country-rock sound that Cotton would come to be known for as a member of Poco.

Following the demise of ISP as a band, drummer Freddie Page died and had the song Take Me Back to Chicago written for and dedicated to him by Chicago drummer Danny Seraphine and recorded on Chicago XI. Kal David continued taking his music in a blues-rock oriented direction initially with The Fabulous Rhinestones and later as a solo artist in his own right. And upon the recommendation of Peter Cetera, Paul Cotton was approached by country-rock band, Poco, to replace founding member Jim Messina who had left the band to form the duo Loggins & Messina.

A handful of ISP’s songs found new life as Poco songs once Cotton was well settled in that band. Get In the Wind was re-arranged to the point of being unrecognizable—Kal David’s distortion heavy blues guitar vibe was completely stripped away, the tempo completely changed and the only aspect of the song bearing resemblance to the ISP original being snippets of lyrics here and there. P.N.S. (When You Come Around) was a bit more faithful to the original and remained at least marginally recognizable—but without Kal David’s trademark blues tinged guitar—in its place a bit of pedal steel and a lot more of Paul Cotton’s acoustic guitar stylings. Bad Weather was probably most faithful to the original but again with pedal steel replacing Kal David’s guitar work. Cotton also took advantage of Poco’s stronger vocal harmonies in his later arrangement of the song.

This two disc set is a true gem, not to mention an interesting snapshot of what happens when you mix the urban electric blues influences of the Windy City, late sixties/early seventies rock and roll, and a bit of southern California country-rock into one band.

Related Links:
Kal David (wikipedia entry)
Paul Cotton (wikipedia entry)
Kal David's Website
Paul Cotton's Website
P.N.S. (When You Come Around)



Morning Blues

Cold Chisel - Ringside (2003)

Cold Chisel, the definitive Australian pub-rock band are best enjoyed in the context of a live setting. While their studio albums are enjoyable, they lack the spitfire energy of Chisel’s live releases. There’s a chemistry between Ian Moss (guitar/vocals), Don Walker (piano/keyboard), Jimmy Barnes (vocals), Steven Prestwich (drums & percussion), Phil Small (bass), and guest musicians Andy Bickers (saxaphone), David Blight (harmonica) that is at its fullest when the band is performing live.

In 2003 Cold Chisel embarked on a reunion tour. Ringside, captures the enthusiasm and energy of that tour to full effect, making this one of the best live albums released by ANY rock band from ANY country… ever.

The performances on this album from the piss and vinegar misogyny of Goodbye Astrid to the somber melancholy of When the War Is Over are all powderkegs of energy and emotion.

With 32 songs on 2 CDs clocking in at over two and a quarter hours, this release captures an excellent sample of the best music this band has given to Australia over the entire tenure of their careers. From their self-titled debut in 1978 to their 1998 reunion album, The Last Wave of Summer this live release covers an excellent mix of up-tempo (Home and Brokenhearted, Khe Sanh, Hound Dog, The Things I Love In You), mid-tempo (Cheap Wine, Rosaline, Saturday Night, Shipping Steel, Forever Now), and slower material (Flame Trees, Lovelight, Four Walls, Water Into Wine).

The vocals are shared between the gravelly growl of Jimmy Barnes, the Warren Zevon-eque rasp of drummer Steven Prestwich, and the smooth tenor of guitarist Ian Moss giving the concert as a whole a very vocally balanced feel. Perhaps the greatest illustrations of the vocal diversity of Chisel are the 2 versions of All I Wanna Do that close out both CDs 1 and 2. Steve Prestwich’s vocals on the song at the end of disc 1 bear a stark contrast to Jimmy Barnes more gravelly delivery of the same song at the end of disc 2.

Don Walker’s keyboard and piano playing is also highlighted on this release—whether it’s the somber tones he adds to When the War Is Over or the roadhouse boogie feel he adds to songs like Goodbye Astrid and The Things I Love In You his talent continues to shine.

Whether you’re familiar with or new to Cold Chisel, Ringside is a must have.

Related Links
Cold Chisel - Khe Sanh (Live 2003)



Cold Chisel - Bow River (Live 2003)

Cold Chisel - Goodbye Astrid (Live 2003)

Cold Chisel - HoundDog (Live 2003)

Cold Chisel - Flame Trees (Live 2003)

Cold Chisel - When the War Is Over (Live 2003)

Cold Chisel (Wikipedia entry)
Cold Chisel - The Best of Cold Chisel (1998) review
Various Artists - Standing On the Outside: The Songs of Cold Chisel (2007)review
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