Various Artists - Friends And Lovers: Songs Of Bread

Artist:

Various Artists

UPC:

655037095125

Description:

Tributee: Bread.
Personnel: Dave Derby (vocals, guitar, lap steel guitar); Paula Frazer, Mike Drake (vocals, guitar); Simone Rubi, Patrick Main (vocals, keyboards); Emily Sparks, Terri Loewenthal, Matt Harris, John McCrea, Jon Auer, Rachel Goswell, Thom Moore, Carrie Clough, Emil Amos (vocals); Greg Moore (guitar, piano, background vocals); Xan McCurdy (guitar, keyboards, drums); Dan Judd, Tyler Pope (guitar); Scott Hirsch (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Pete Finney (steel guitar); Vince Di Fiore (trumpet, background vocals); Paul K. (keyboards); Jordan Dalrymple (drums, percussion); James Kim, Keith Brogdon , Darius "Take One" Minwalla, Matt McCord (drums); Leila Mack, Gabe Nelson (background vocals).
Audio Mixers: Desmond Shea; Dylan Magierek; Jon Auer; Kip Beelman.
Liner Note Author: Dylan Magierek.
Recording information: Alex The Great Studios, Nashville, TN (2002); Badman Recording Co (2002); Closer Recording, San Francisco, CA (2002); Ellsworth House (2002); Halfway House, Ballard, WA (2002); Pain & Pleasure Studios, Providence, RI (2002); Robert Long Studios (2002); Sleep Shelter (2002); Telemart Concepts, Oakland (2002).
Photographer: Danielle Rubi.
The soft rock revival reaches its possible peak with the release of Friends and Lovers: Songs of Bread. Badman has gathered some of the main practitioners of the revival and a few other less obvious choices here, giving a shout-out to the songs of David Gates, James Griffin and Robb Royer. A well-deserved nod for sure as Bread were definitely at the top of the soft rock mountain; the bands involved here certainly treat them with respect, turning in mostly reverent versions of some of their biggest songs. Josh Rouse turns in a breathtakingly beautiful and relaxed "It Don`t Matter to Me," Erlend Oye`s "Friends and Lovers" has a sweetly lilting quality, Ken Stringfellow power pops "Down on My Knees," making it sound like a Badfinger song, Oranger juice up "Make It With You" with some sitar and fuzz bass, and Eric Shea and Bart Davenport drop some absolutely beautiful harmonies on "Goodbye Girl" (which is a David Gates solo track but it is so nicely done you have to give it a pass). A few bands do take liberties with the source material with varying results. Two bands who make it work are Call & Response, whose vocalist Carrie Clough is a dead ringer for Karen Carpenter on "Baby I`m a Want You," the first 30 seconds of which is pure soft rock heaven before heading into a pleasantly bubbling Stereolab-like direction, and Paula Frazer, who imbues "Everything I Own" with a broken grandeur the original didn`t have. Those who fail include Rachel Goswell, whose overly somber take on "If" sounds like a failed audition for a This Mortal Coil album; the Holy Sons noodly and vocally overcooked guitar-meets-electronic beats version of "The Last Time," and Emily Sparks` overly earnest and gray "Too Much Love." The rest is pretty decent, especially Dave Derby`s sweet "I Use the Soap" and Cake`s dorky yet enjoyable "The Guitar Man." Overall the disc is a fitting tribute to a fine band whose time to be rediscovered had come. Coming next -- American Hero: Songs of Joey Scarbury. ~ Tim Sendra

Track Listing:

DISC 1

1. It Don`t Matter to Me - Josh Rouse
2. Baby, I`m a Want You - Call & Response
3. Games of Magic - Jon Auer
4. Guitar Man, The - Cake
5. Friends and Lovers - Erlend Oye
6. Everything I Own - Paula Frazer
7. Down on My Knees - Ken Stringfellow
8. Make It With You - Oranger
9. I Use the Soap - Dave Derby
10. Last Time, The - Holy Sons
11. Too Much Love - Emily Sparks
12. Look at Me - The Moore Brothers
13. If - Rachel Goswell
14. Goodbye Girl - Eric Shea/Bart Davenport/Eric Shea

Album Information

Release Date:

12/21/2007

Type:

Collection

Genre:

Rock & Pop

Subgenre:

Tribute Albums

Label:

Badman Recording Co.

Producer:

Dave Auchenbach; Dave Derby; Kotch; Brad Jones; Dylan Magierek (Compilation)

Catalog Number:

951

Original Release Year:

2005

# of Discs:

1

Studio/Live:

Studio

Mono/Stereo:

Stereo

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