Plain and Fancy: Faith - Faith (1973 us, excellent hard groovy rock)

Faith Band, like most great groups, evolved through several powerful incarnations. From The Invincibles, to The Chosen Few, with an album on RCA, to Limousine, with an album on GSF, they got strong radio airplay building a large, enthusiastic following. With 1973’s move to Terry Knight’s Brown Bag Records, Faith Band was born. In addition to the debut “Faith” album with Carl Storie, vocals and harp, Dave Bennett, guitar, Dave Barnes, drums and percussion, Johnny Cascella, keyboards, sax and vocals, and Mark Cawley on bass and vocals, they went on to release four more commanding original albums on Village/Phonogram/Mercury records and toured nonstop.

Along the way, Nigel Olsson’s cover of Faith’s “Dancin Shoes” was a Top 20 hit. Carl and Mark formed the duo Blinding Tears, releasing a CD in 1986. Mark has gone on to be an award winning songwriter whose songs have been recorded by an amazing array of artists from Tina Turner and Joe Cocker to Wynonna Judd and Chaka Kahn just to name a few. Carl released a self-titled solo CD in 1992, while Dave Bennett released the jazzy “Out of the Bleu” in 2004. John Cascella moved to John Cougar Mellencamp’s band, where he lit the fuse on “Cherry Bomb” and many more. “Boots” sparkled on accordion and keyboards with Mellencamp until his premature death in 1992. Dave Barnes joined forces with his brother and helped build one of the largest music industry service companies.

Now, the remaining members of Faith Band and John Cooper - Faith Band, Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr have revisited their musical vaults and selected these 19 tunes, most never heard before, from the original sessions. Coop assembled all the tracks and with loving care and today’s vastly improved audio technology, mixed them for us as they envisioned them originally. This digital download “Boxed Set” also includes a booklet and three videos taken from live gigs. With liner notes from longtime DJ friend Mike Griffin and brand new cover art from Wille Faust who did the first two Faith Band albums, this is a labor of love and a one of a kind must have for Faith Band fans.

The lucky ones were there, and caught the band live. Most others have only heard the stories. Now, hear the legacy of music and creativity that gave voice to a generation of change. Actually their first album contains songs that already they recorded as "Limousine" renamed with new titles and different track list.