Melton, Levy and the Dey Brothers' sole album has a bit of a come-down-from-the-reckless-heights-of-Haight-Ashbury vibe, but is a reasonably accomplished and pleasing record. It's got the characteristic San Francisco Bay Area blend of blues, country, rock, and good counterculture cheer, with a more laid-back, soul-influenced approach than Barry Melton had taken with his first band, Country Joe & the Fish. Everyone from the quartet contributes original material, with Melton, Rick Dey, and Jay Levy taking roughly equal shares of the writing credits.
It's easy to imagine this as suitable rustic rock to play on your escape from the big city of San Francisco to a more laid-back locale with similar progressive hippie ethos, but more space and less angst. A little bit of Melton's more radical past sneaks through on "Taxpayer's Lament," with its opening bursts of reverb guitar and anguished anti-war lyrics, in a vocal that falls between John Fogerty and Burton Cummings.
by Richie Unterberger
Tracks
1. Ooh, Ooh, Ooh (Rick Dey) - 2:23
2. She Dances Through (Barry Melton) - 3:41
3. Closer (Barry Melton) - 3:32
4. Been So Fine (Jay Levy) - 3:30
5. Sweeter The Peaches (Barry Melton) - 2:40
6. S.O.S. (Barry Melton, Rick Dey) - 3:45
7. Highway 1 (Blair Hardman) - 3:06
8. Hold On To The Good Times (Barry Melton) - 2:58
9. Play Little Children (Jay Levy, Tony Dey, Barry Melton) - 3:06
10.Be With The One (Jay Levy) - 2:46
11.Newsboy (Traditional) - 2:30
12.Taxpayer's Lament (Barry Melton) - 3:33
13.Bye Bye Sequence (Rick Dey) - 0:39
Musicians
*Barry Melton - Guitar, Trombone, Vocals
*Jay Levy - Keyboards, Vocals
*Rick Dey - Bass, Vocals
*Tony Dey - Drums, Vocals
*Rick Jagger - Percussion
*King Errisson - Congas
*Michael Bloomfield - Guitar, Producer, Slide Guitar
*Bruce Brymer - Drums, Vocals
*Carol Davis - Horn
*Ginette Melton - Vocals
Related Acts
1967 Country Joe And The Fish - I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die (2013 digi pack double disc set)
1967 Electric Music For The Mind And Body (2013 double disc remaster)
1968 Together (2005 remaster)
1969 Live! Fillmore West
1969 Here We Are Again
1970 CJ Fish