Albert where formed late sixties in New York City by the time when Otis Smith left his band (All Night Workers, which found national success with its 1965 recording “Don’t Put All Your Eggs In One Basket,” a tune that was paired with “Why Don’t You Smile?,” co-written by friends Reed and John Cale), round 1968, by which point Smith had moved to New York City’s Albert Hotel, where he met musicians like Howard Wyeth, Jon Huston, Paul Dickler among others.
The hotel was located in Greenwich Vllage in New York City and was a hangout of many musicians, such as Tim Buckley, Mike Bloomfield, Skip Spence, Mama Cass Elliot, Jonathan Richman, John Sebastian, James Taylor, Frank Zappa and many others. It was actually a shelter and several musicians had negative experiences.
Smith and his friends created a shape which they called "The Albert" apparently after the name of the hotel. They released two albums by the same name "The Albert". Their musical horizons were quite wide, from elements of jazz, blues, psychedelic rock with lots of horns, splendid vocals and great guitar work. After achieving limited success as The Albert, some of the members joined Bob Dylan for his Rolling Thunder Revue and recordings.
Otis Smith passed away in 2008, and Howard Wyeth the keyboardist and drummer who was the one of the guys who joined Dylan’s band, died March 27, 1996.
Tracks
1. Pity The Child (John Trivers, Marcia Hillman) - 6:12
2. Things Ain't Easy (Jon Huston) - 7:13
3. Cold 'n' Hard (Louis St. Louis) - 7:33
4. Been So Good (For So Long) (Louis St. Louis) - 8:39
5. Misery (Lloyd Baskin) - 4:37
6. Let It Fall (Howard Wyeth) - 6:13
The ALbert
*Otis Smith - Vocals, Congas
*Frank Vicari - Tenor Saxophone
*Michael Gibson - Lead Trombone
*Jon Huston - Solo Trombone, Trumpet
*Jay Silva - Lead Trumpet
*Richard Meisterman - Solo Trumpet
*Paul Dickler - Guitar
*Howard Wyeth - Organ, Piano
*Paul Petruccelli - Bass
*Barry Lazarowitz - Drums
