Inspired by the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,
Daughters of Albion took a hook-laden, harmony-filled approach to
late-'60s rock. Representing the combined efforts of
vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Greg Dempsey
and vocalist Kathy Yesse, Daughters of Albion failed to match critical
expectations. Billboard described the duo as "a striking voice but
uneven material."
Featuring original songs by Dempsey, some written with Dave Luff, Daughters of Albion's sole self-titled album was produced and arranged by Leon Russell.
After the duo's breakup, Yesse went to record a solo album, Boogie Bands & One Night Stands, as Kathy Dalton, in 1973. Produced by Dempsey, and featuring accompaniment by Van Dyke Parks, Carl Wilson, and members of Little Feat, the album was later renamed Amazing and reissued, with one different track by Frank Zappa's Discreet label.
Daughters of Albion is happy Californian pop/rock music, imbued with
streaks of the kind of weirdness that only cropped up in otherwise
normal pop/rock records in the late 1960s. Some of the harmonies are
good, if a little on the super-sweet and high side. The odd
interjections of orchestration and weird little effects -- most likely
producer Leon Russell
was a strong contributor in this regard -- make this more interesting
than you might expect from the basis of the songs alone. If you're
looking for rough ballpark cult figures that might indicate whether you
should seek this out, it's kind of between the albums of the era by
Millennium and the Judy Henske-Jerry Yester
duo. With its frequent good-time bounce, it's closer to Millennium than
the darker and more resonant Henske-Yester collaboration, though it
doesn't sound extremely close to either act, and isn't as good as
either. Still, the better tracks, like "Candle Songs," conjure an
appealing never-never fairyland, far more innocent than those devised by
psychedelic peers like the Jefferson Airplane on "White Rabbit."
A fine sunny album of it's time that makes a lot of fun.
Viel Spass wünscht
SB1
Flac
No comments:
Post a Comment