A very cool set from the Boston scene of the 60s – one that's got a slightly lighter, groovier sound than some of the other Beantown bands of the period – almost Sunshine Pop at times, but a bit wittier and with occasional baroque elements that gives the record a very unique sound! The trio boasts work from Erik Kaz and Artie Traum – who'd both go on to other projects – and there's some added instrumentation on a number of tracks that steps up the sound in a great way – psych-influenced, but more serious in terms of the arrangements – opening up the excellent vocals of singer Steve Soles. Titles include "It's Getting Very Cold Outside", "What Difference", "Like Cats", "So Loose & So Slow", "The Hungry Dogs Of New Mexico", and "Don't Say A Word".
D&G
In 1968, Steven Soles, Artie Traum, & Eric Kaz would come together to form one of the finest and most underrated bands of the 1960s and of all time. They would come together as The Children Of Paradise. With little reception, Bear wasn't too famous. They sang in clubs now and again, but nothing special. Then came the day that Brian De Palma discovered them and used them to perform multiple musical pieces for his 1968 underground film "Greetings".
The film starred an extremely young Robert De Niro and had Bear perform 3 of their songs, "Greetings", "So Loose And So Slow", & "Like Cats". The film made approximately $1,000,000. A great amount of money at the time which helped launch the second film "Hi, Mom!" in 1970. Bear had different plans however, they decided to go all the way and release their own album. They recored for Verve Forecast and managed to release the album titled "Greetings". By that time they had changed their name to Bear, but in hopes of cashing in on the movie, still kept the name "Children Of Paradise" on the album. The album sold poorly and to this day has never had an official CD release and is only available as LP. The album is an interesting span of songs ranging from Psychedelic, to Jazz, To Folk. It was certainly one of the most unique albums of the time and of all time for that matter.
Tracks
1. Greetings! (Artie Traum, Eric Kaz, Michael Soles, Steven Soles) - 2:34
2. So Loose And So Slow (Michael Soles, Steven Soles) - 2:17
3. Like Cane (Michael Soles, Steven Soles) - 3:42
4. Happy Days (Eric Kaz) - 2:14
5. What Difference? (Artie Traum, Marc Silber) - 6:28
6. It's Getting Very Cold Outside (Michael Soles, Steven Soles) - 3:09
7. I Won't Be Hangin' 'round (Eric Kaz) - 3:04
8. Don't Say A Word (Michael Soles, Steven Soles) - 2:33
9. Don't You Ever Want To Think About Them? (Eric Kaz, John Boylan) - 3:28
10.The Hungry Dogs Of New Mexico (Artie Traum) - 4:01
Bear
*Artie Traum - Acoustic, Lead, Rhythm Guitars, Percussion
*Eric Kaz - Piano, Orga, Guitar, Bass
*Steven Soles - Vocals
With
*Darius Davenport - Drums
*Skip Boone - Bass
Related Acts
No comments:
Post a Comment