Earth Quake - Purple The A&M Years / Earth Quake / Why Don't You Try Me (1971-72 us, good power pop rock, 2003 remaster)

Formed 1966 and initially called Purple Earth Quake, this Berkeley, California-based band was not only a permanent presence on the Bay Area music scene for more than a decade, but they gathered loyal followings throughout scattered pockets of the world and received a bit of airplay as well. During their lifespan, Earth Quake cut five studio albums, along with a live effort.

The band’s debut disc, simply dubbed Earth Quake, set the stage and standard for subsequent collections. Punchy hard rock, occasionally escorted by soul and funk trimmings, personified the group’s sound and style. Competent yet earthy, the band remained dedicated to their roots, but were wise enough to filter fresh fragrances into their material to prevent them from coming off as slavish imitators.

Here on the group’s second album, Why Don’t You Try Me? (A&M Records), they pursue a balance of harmony and heft with positive results.

Rolling with rapid rhythms, “Train Ride,” which is perhaps the strongest song on the disc, contains a torrent of towering choruses and a run of slashing Jimmy Page influenced licks that really hammer the point home. The burly buzz of “Live And Let Live” additionally reveals a Led Zeppelin fixation before climaxing into a funky Isley Brothers-flavored jam, and “Bright Lights” clocks in as just one example of Earth Quake’s knack for laying down the kind of gritty white man blues heard on certain Small Faces and Humble Pie recordings.

Released as a single, “I Get The Sweetest Feeling” definitely does carry a sweet feeling. Busy horns, honking with happiness, carpeted with a sparkling luster guide the program on the merry Motown-inspired missive. Stationed in a somewhat similar file is “Riding High On Love,” which skips and shuffles to a big and bubbly soul pop beat.

Although Earth Quake often dipped their toes into commercial pop territory, hard rock seemed to be their primary asset. Equipped with the power of the Who, boasting the brawn of Deep Purple, and armed with a surplus of inviting hooks and breaks, the group smoked like a city on fire when cranking the heavy stuff.

by Beverly Paterson

Tracks
1. Tumbleweed (Robbie Dunbar, Stan Miller) - 2:55
2. Distance Between (Greg Boykin, Robbie Dunbar) - 2:57
3. Summer Song (Robbie Dunbar) - 3:13
4. Things (Greg Boykin, Robbie Dunbar) - 9:21
5. Guarding You (Stan Miller, Steve Nelson) - 4:07
6. Wind Keeps Blowing (Robbie Dunbar) - 2:58
7. Look Out Your Window (Robbie Dunbar, Greg Boykin, Stan Miller, John Doukas) - 3:04
8. Blurry Eyes (John Doukas, Robbie Dunbar) - 4:08
9. Tickler (Robbie Dunbar) - 4:19
10.Bright Lights (John Doukas, Robbie Dunbar) - 3:27
11.Light Before The Blindman's Eyes (Rose Bimler, Robbie Dunbar) - 3:31
12.I Get The Sweetest Feeling (Alicia Evelyn, Van McCoy) - 3:41
13.Trainride (Robbie Dunbar) - 6:28
14.See What My Love Can Do (Robbie Dunbar, John Doukas) - 4:04
15.Why Don't You Try Me? (Billy Young) - 3:09
16.Riding High On Love (Edwin Starr, John W. Bristol) - 2:38
17.Live And Let Live (Robbie Dunbar, John Doukas) - 5:41
Tracks 1-9 from the 1971 album "Earth Quake"
Tracks 10-17 from the 1972 album  "Why Don't You Try Me?"

Earth Quake 
*Robbie Dunbar - Guitar, Electric Piano, Vocals
*John Doukas - Vocals
*Stan Miller - Bass, Vocals
*Steve Nelson - Drums, Vocals
With
*Pete Sears - Keyboards
*Lenny Pickette - Saxes
*Jim Horn - Saxes
*Chuck Findley - Trumpet

1976  Earth Quake - 8.5 (Vinyl) 
1977  Earth Quake ‎– Leveled (Vinyl) 
Related Acts
1975-93  Various Artists - Beserkley's Best 
1976-2000   Various Artists - Beserkley Chartbusters / Beserk "Alive Over Germany" 

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Chris Gantry - Introspection (1968 us, splendid orchestrated folk country rock, Vinyl edition)

Gantry’s big breakthrough came when Glen Campbell scored a hit with his song “Dreams of the Everyday Housewife,” which was included on the milestone 1968 album Wichita Lineman, preceding the legendary title track’s release as a single. That same year, Gantry released his debut album, Introspection, including his own version of the song alongside a batch of gracefully orchestrated, harmonically and lyrically sophisticated folk-rock tunes. Though there was no shortage of such sounds coming from either coast, it was still an anomaly in Nashville. “It was probably one of the first real singer/songwriter albums that was orchestrated like a Glen Campbell record, but Nashville-style,” Gantry assesses. “But it just did not catch on in the way that I thought it would.”

After Gantry fell under the spell of Charles Mingus’s jazz innovations, his muse led him even further afield, and his next album, 1970’s Motor Mouth, made its predecessor seem staid by comparison. ” I didn’t want to stay Mr. ‘Dreams of the Everyday Housewife’ for the rest of my life,” he says. “So I changed, and I got a lot of slack for it. I sang those songs when I was on the road with Kris. I was his opening act, and I would do all that wacky shit opening for Kris.”

Today Gantry is still busy performing, writing, and recording, with a number of albums out over the last few years and a new solo acoustic record in the works. And he’s sanguine about the way things worked out with At the House of Cash. “I did the right thing by making that record,” he says. “I might not be a household name, and I might not have made the paychecks that a lot of the other guys have done, but I stayed true to artistic pursuit, and I’m still doing it, and that is my legacy. That is what I was born to do.”

by Jim Allen

Tracks
1. Dreams On The Everyday Housewife - 2:49
2. Sundown Mary - 2:35
3. If Only She Had Stayed - 2:16
4. Mexico Rain - 2:09
5. Tennessee Me - 2:03
6. Jamaica Avenue - 3:01
7. Louisville-Nashville Southbound Train - 3:12
8. Stranger I've Known A Long Time - 2:29
9. Atlanta Georgia Stray - 3:47
10.Dad I Never Saw You Cry - 2:32
All compositions by Chris Gantry

*Chris Gantry - Vocals, Guitar

1969  Chris Gantry - Motor Mouth (Vinyl)
1973  Chris Gantry - At The House Of Cash 1973 (Drag City 2017)

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The Sons Of Champlin - Follow Your Heart (1971 us, fine brass jazz rock with prog shades, 2002 remaster)

The Sons, who had once called themselves the Sons of Champlin and would again, broke up in March 1970 but re-formed in the fall of the year when Capitol Records reminded them they owed another album on their contract and they decided they could use the advance to pay their back taxes. Saxophonist Tim Caine could not be persuaded to return, which left a quintet without horns, eliminating what had been a major element of their sound, since the horn playing of multi-instrumentalists Bill Champlin and Geoffrey Palmer had been dependent on Caine's arrangements. But that actually simplified the sound of a band that had always been a little busy musically. 

The songs on Follow Your Heart tended to be shorter than those on the band's previous albums, with more focused arrangements. There was more room for Terry Haggerty's inventive guitar playing to impress the listener, notably on the title track, and Champlin's songwriting was not lost in the lengthy improvisations and digressions. (As usual, however, the songwriting was credited to the group, albeit through the pseudonym "B.B. Heavy.") But the downside of the new Sons sound was that it was more cut and dried; ironically for an album called Follow Your Heart, the music seemed to be following the bandmembers' heads.

This was certainly the Sons' most immediately accessible recording, and it might have been their most commercially successful one under other circumstances. But heads were rolling at the troubled Capitol Tower in the early '70s, and anyway, this was just a contractual-obligation release. The Sons only did a handful of West Coast gigs to support it in the spring of 1971 before breaking up again, so it never really had a chance.

by William Ruhlmann 

Tracks
1. Before You Right Now - 5:33
2. Children Know - 3:28
3. Hey Children - 4:53
4. Follow Your Heart - 5:50
5. Beside You - 1:46
6. Headway - 1:48
7. The Child Continued - 7:34
8. A Sound Love - 3:35
9. Well Done - 5:37
All songs by Bill Champlin

The Sons Of Champlin
*Bill Champlin - Vocals, Trumpet 
*Tim Kane - Saxophone 
*Terry Haggerty - Lead Guitar 
*Strong E - Bass 
*Jim Myers - Drums 
*Jeff Palmer - Horn

1969  The Sons Of Champlin - Loosen Up Naturally (2003 Remaster) 
1969  Sons of Champlin - The Sons (2005 Japan)
 
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Disciple - Come And See Us As We Are (1970 us, marvelous sunny psych with garage shades, 2007 issue)

The members of Disciple were all about 20-years-old in 1970, when they released their only record, Come and See Us as We Are!. Courtesy of Fallout Records, the album is now available on CD, and the label touts the album as a "lost psychedelic gem". The title track, which opens the album, does little to refute that assertion; the song is all choir-like vocals, brooding guitar phrasings, and slow-thudding drums layered into an effective wall of noise. The song appears twice more on the record, as a mid-LP refrain and once again as the closer. Unfortunately, these are the only moments on the record that even touch on elements of psychedelia. 

The rest of the record is full of powerless power-pop. Songs like "There Must Be an Answer" and "I'll Be Gone" seem to take more from soft rock radio than Brian Wilson and the result is an album full of saccharin '70s pop that rarely rises above its meager parts. "Bustin' Loose" is a track as cheesy as its title implies, with a melody aped from "Help Me, Rhonda" and a chorus that could have come from some old PSA for self-esteem. In the end, Come and See Us as We Are! is an album not unlike the band's young members -- it's precocious and bouncy, but ultimately aimless.

by Matthew Fiander, 01 Jul 2007

Tracks
1. Come and See Us As We Are! (Chris Sheppard, Jon Oliver) - 5:07
2. Come Along (Chris Sheppard) - 3:35
3. There Must Be An Answer (Chris Sheppard) - 2:58
4. Bits of My Life (Chris Sheppard) - 3:03
5. Bustin' Loose (J.F. Murphy) - 3:58
6. Are We As Us See and Come (Parade) (Chris Sheppard, Jon Oliver) - 0:50
7. Better Than You (Mental Song) (Chris Sheppard, Jon Oliver, Sandy Crespo, Al Christopher, Dennis Lattman) - 3:45
8. I'll Be Gone (Chris Sheppard, Jon Oliver) - 2:38
9. Rescue Me (Raynard Miner, Carl Smith) - 2:42
10.Never Changing (Jon Oliver) - 2:54
11.Gotta Get You Into My Life (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - 3:51
12.Come and See Us (Chris Sheppard, Jon Oliver) -2:02

Disciple
*Al Christopher - Drums, Percussion
*Sandy Crespo - Vocals, Percussion
*Dennis Lattman - Keyboards, Vocals, Percussion
*Jon Oliver - Guitar, Vocals, Percussion
*Chris Sheppard - Bass, Keyboards, Vocals, Percussion

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Chris Gantry - Motor Mouth (1969 us, exceptional outlaw country rock with fuzz guitars, Vinyl edition)

A widely respected tunesmith, singer, playwright, author, and maverick recording artist, Chris Gantry was the sort of outlaw presence in 1960s Nashville who later became associated with his better-known peers like Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard, and Johnny Cash. Amid a series of eclectic folk, pop, and country releases of his own, his career as a songwriter took off when Glen Campbell recorded Gantry's tune, "Dreams of the Everyday Housewife," turning him into a Music Row commodity. After leaving Nashville in the late-70s, he reinvented himself as an author of several novels, plays, books of poetry, and children's books. Gantry later returned to music in the 2010s, picking up where he left off with albums like 2015's Gantry Rises Again and 2019's Nashlantis.

A native of New York, Gantry was already an industry veteran by the time he reached Music City at the age of 21, having scored a short-lived recording deal with a friend in his early teens. Once in Nashville, he cut his teeth at bars like Skull's Rainbow Room, a Printers Alley burlesque where he met other up-and-comers like Kristofferson and Shel Silverstein. 

After several years of writing and gigging, Gantry scored a deal with Monument Records, which issued his debut LP, Introspection, in 1968. A vibrant mix of folk, pop, and country, it contained a song called "Dreams of the Everyday Housewife," which became a major hit for Glen Campbell that same year and won Gantry the Nashville Songwriter Award. Over the next decade, he continued to pen songs for a wide range of country stars while continuing his own sporadic recording career with albums like 1970's hard-edged Motor Mouth and a self-titled 1975 set. In between those two releases were sessions for a wildly eclectic LP recorded at Johnny Cash's House of Cash studio. An unruly and forward-thinking outlaw missive, At the House of Cash was too far out to find a label, and Gantry eventually shelved his lost album and moved on with his career. 

by Timothy Monger

Tracks
1. Soup Duck - 3:49
2. Ear - 3:36
3. Nashville Jack Magic - 4:12
4. Allegheny - 3:26
5. Pentagon Bye Gone - 3:48
6. The Patent Leather Boogie Man - 4:47
7. Down - 3:07
8. Bone - 3:08
9. Family - 2:47
10.Flashlight - 2:47
All songs by Chris Gantry

Musicians
*Chris "Motor Mouth" Gantry - Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
*Tim Drummond - Bass
*Lee "Ping Bobot" Shively - Drums
*Karl Himmel - Drums
*George "Sly Mongoose" Turner - Electric Guitar
*Andy McMahon - Piano 

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Gene Clark ‎– No Other / No Other Sessions (1974 us, brilliant folk country classic rock, 2019 hybrid SACD three disc box set)

Barely understood when it was released in 1974, No Other is Gene Clark’s most polarizing record but generally considered essential today.

Almost every song an epic, Clark’s songwriting was never up for debate, nor his genuinely poetic verses, but it’s Thomas Jefferson Kaye’s production that would weed out hordes of would-be fans. I contend the producer made only one mistake: the use of “power gospel” backing vocals on every track is probably what turns most people off to No Other. Strike the voices and this record would be hailed as a mid-70s masterpiece for Clark’s efforts as much as its lush, candied orchestration.

The record starts off without skipping a beat from the Clark oeuvre; “Life’s Greatest Fool” sounds like a natural step forward from his earlier country rock. The supporting musicians are perfectly in tune with the vision; I want to dig in deeper with the sound every listen, so I hardly consider it overcooked. One tune does embody Gene’s new super-glam image in sound, where you can “hear the cocaine” churning the record: the sinister title track, “No Other,” is slathered with sleazy synth lines and electric guitars. Whether for camp or pure songcraft it’s an irresistable jam and centerpiece of the record.

All of the numbers possess the signature Gene Clark sound. Say when he waits for “Strength Of Strings” to reach full crescendo before sinking into his minor-tinged verse with that untouchable heartworn vocal. Clark is one of the world’s greatest songwriters, his skill in transforming traditional progressions to his unique brand of song unmatched.

Give this record the right chance and you’ll reach the point where you appreciate every overdone detail, down to the gorgeous sleeve and awesomely hideous poster of Gene decked in flowing garments, beads, and makeup in front of an airbrushed Gene Clark monument. I only have the record, but the CD resissue is reportedly worth it for the alternative versions and “Train Leaves Here This Morning,” a retake from the Expedition.

by Brendan McGrath

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Life's Greatest Fool 4:44

2. Silver Raven 4:53

3. No Other 5:08

4. Strength Of Strings 6:32

5. From A Silver Phial - 3:40

6. Some Misunderstanding - 8:09

7. The True One - 3:59

8. Lady Of The North (Gene Clark, Doug Dillard) - 6:04

All songs by Gene Clark except track #8

Disc 2

1. From A Silver Phial (Version 4) - 3:51

2. Silver Raven (Version 2) - 6:35

3. Some Misunderstanding (Version 3) - 5:20

4. Life's Greatest Fool (Version 2) - 4:27

5. Train Leaves Here This Morning (Version 2) (Bernie Leadon) - 5:02

6. Lady Of The North (Version 2) (Gene Clark, Doug Dillard) - 5:45

7. The True One (Version 2) - 4:18

8. Strength Of Strings (Version 2) - 6:29

9. No Other (Version 2) - 5:40

All songs by Gene Clark except where noted

Disc 3
1. From A Silver Phial (Version 1) - 4:08
2. Life's Greatest Fool (Version 1) - 4:10
3. No Other (Version 1) - 5:15
4. Lady Of The North (Version 1) (Gene Clark, Doug Dillard) - 5:54
5. Some Misunderstanding (Version 1) - 5:12
6. Silver Raven (Version 1) - 5:00
7. Train Leaves Here This Morning (Version 1) (Bernie Leadon) - 5:46
8. The True One (Version 1) - 4:42
9. Strength Of Strings (Version 1) - 6:23
10.Life's Greatest Fool (1974 Single Version) - 3:10
11.Silver Raven (1974 Single Edit) - 3:21
All songs by Gene Clark except where stated

Musicians
*Gene Clark - Lead Vocals, Guitar
*Jerry Mcgee - Guitar
*Jesse Ed Davis - Guitar
*Buzz Feiten - Guitar
*Stephen Bruton - Guitar
*Danny Kortchmar - Guitar
*Ben Keith - Pedal Steel Guitar
*Leland Sklar - Bass
*Chris Hillman - Mandolin
*Michael Utley - Keyboards
*Craig Doerge - Keyboards
*Bill Cuomo - Rheem Organ
*Russ Kunkel - Drums
*Butch Trucks - Drums
*Joe Lala - Percussion
*Ted Machell - Cello
*Richard Greene - Violin
*Ronnie Barron - Background Vocals
*Cindy Bullens - Background Vocals
*Venetta Fields - Background Vocals
*Clydie King - Background Vocals
*Claudia Lennear - Background Vocals
*Sherlie Matthews - Background Vocals
*Timothy B. Schmit - Background Vocals
*Carlena Williams - Background Vocals

1964-90  Gene Clark - Flying High
1964-82  Gene Clark ‎- The Lost Studio Sessions (2016 audiophile double Vinyl set) 
1967  Gene Clark - Echoes
1967  Gene Clark - Sings For You (2018 digipak with unreleased material)
1968-69  Dillard And Clark - Fantastic Expedition / Through The Morning, Through The Night
1971  Gene Clark - White Light
1972  Gene Clark - Roadmaster  (2011 Edition)
Related Acts
1979  McGuinn, Clark And Hillman (2014 Japan SHM Remaster)
1964  The Byrds - Preflyte (2012 Edition)
1973  Byrds - Byrds (2004 issue)
1967-68  The Rose Garden - A Trip Through The Garden (2018 bonus tracks remaster)

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David Blue - Cupid's Arrow (1976 us, great blend of country bluesy smooth classic rock, 2006 reissue)

Singer/songwriter David Blue has tended to be well supported by talented studio musicians on his string of albums, of which this is the seventh in ten years. Here, he boasts a backup band as good as any he has used in the past: Jesse Ed Davis on lead guitar, producer Barry Goldberg on piano and organ, Auburn Burrell on pedal steel and rhythm guitar, Donald "Duck" Dunn of Booker T. & the MG's on bass, and Levon Helm of the Band (or Michael Baird) on drums, with David Lindley adding mandolin, slide guitar, and violin. 

The playing gives him more of a rock sound than he has used before, although the musicians are versatile enough to give the leadoff track, "Run, Run, Run," a lilting Southwestern/Mexican feel to go along with its lyrics about the Santa Ana winds and the lights of Santa Fe, and to negotiate a reggae rhythm on "Maria, Maria." More typical, however, is "Tom's Song," a sinuous rocker that recalls the Eagles' "One of These Nights." But as the musical content of Blue's records has become more accessible and accomplished, his songwriting has tended to take more of a backseat, and his monotonic singing has remained only adequate. Here, the songs have interesting lines as they tell their tales of love and loss, but they are not as effective on the whole as Blue's earlier work. 

by William Ruhlmann

Tracks
1. Run Run Run - 4:34
2. The Ballad Of Jennifer Lee - 4:23
3. Tom's Song - 4:11
4. I Feel Bad - 2:32
5. Cordelia - 4:34
6. Maria, Maria - 4:02
7. Cupid's Arrow - 4:11
8. Primeval Tune - 5:18
9. She's Got You - 4:47
All songs by David Blue

Musicians
*David Blue - Guitar, Vocals
*Michael Baird - Drums
*Pattie Brooks - Vocals
*Phyllis Brown - Vocals
*Auburn Burrell - Guitar
*Jesse Ed Davis - Guitar
*Donald "Duck" Dunn - Bass
*Barry Goldberg - Keyboards,
*Levon Helm - Drums
*David Lindley - Guitar, Mandolin, Slide Guitar, Violin
*Jackie Lomax - Vocals
*Bill Schwartz - Vocals

1965-66  David Blue - David Blue / Singer Songwriter Project (2001 remaster)
1968  David Blue ‎- These 23 Days In September (2007 reissue) 
1969  David Blue - Me, S. David Cohen (2007 edition)
1972  David Blue - Stories (2006 edition)
1973  David Blue - Nice Baby And The Angel (2006 issue)
1975  David Blue ‎- Com'n Back For More (2006 release)

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David Blue - Stories (1972 us, beautiful folk country rock, 2006 edition)

With his fourth album, Stories, David Blue joined Asylum Records, the label headed by David Geffen that had been set up to shelter singer/songwriters like Jackson Browne. For Blue, it was another welcoming home after stints at similarly artist-friendly Elektra and Reprise, and Stories was a continuation of his explorations of the personal relationships of sensitive people. 

The opening song was called "Looking for a Friend," and that was a good introduction to an album that was about the ups and downs of friendship and the loneliness that sets in when friends are not around. Musically, the album was divided between its two LP sides, each containing four songs. On the first four, the arrangements tended to be limited to two acoustic guitars, while the second half used more extensive instrumentation, including Pete Jolly's accordion on "Marianne," the piano-with-strings "Fire in the Morning" (the chart done by Jack Nitzsche), the full-on rock band playing on "Come on John," and piano/organ folk-rock for "The Blues (All Night Long)," with Ry Cooder adding slide guitar. Blue's lyrical reflections, expressed in his matter-of-fact baritone, touched on experiences that ranged from temporary romantic contentment to suicidal urges. "It wasn't easy, when I think about it/Living in the house of changing faces," he sang in the chorus of "House of Changing Faces," "I still have the tracks to remind me what life was like, high and wasted/When I wanted to die." That wasn't the only song to allude to drug use.

The most explicit was "Come on John" (previously recorded by Helen Reddy), a cautionary tale for a friend that left little doubt about its subject when it began, "I've got a friend with a habit/A habit of runnin' away/He says he can't take it/But he takes it every day." Musically, the song had the feel of Bob Dylan's "Ballad of a Thin Man," but for once Blue didn't sound so much like Dylan on Stories as he did like Leonard Cohen. In fact, there was one song that might have been a direct response to Cohen. It's hard not to at least speculate that "Marianne" may share a subject with Cohen's "So Long, Marianne," particularly because of the musical similarity and because of the lines "I knew her from another song her older poet, he'd wrote before/We played in the morning, laughing on the floor/Till he came a-knocking on the Lower East Side door." Although Blue, too, seemed not have stayed with her, he made a point of countering Cohen's farewell, singing in the chorus, "Do not cry, you have helped me, I will not say goodbye." Whether or not this is the same Marianne, however, she is another friend described by Blue in a series of songs about a community of companions who love and lose each other, yet whatever their fates, he seemed grateful to them all. 

by William Ruhlmann

Tracks:
1. Looking For A Friend - 3:41
2. Sister Rose - 3:53
3. Another One Like Me - 3:17
4. House Of Changing Faces - 6:23
5. Marianne - 4:37
6. Fire In The Morning - 3:50
7. Come On John - 3:38
8. The Blues (All Night Long) - 6:25
All songs written by David Blue

Personnel
*David Blue - Vocals, Guitar, Piano
*Ry Cooder - Slide Guitar
*Chris Ethridge - Bass
*Bob Rafkin - Bass, Guitar
*Ralph Shuckett - Organ
*Pete Jolly - Accordion
*Russ Kunkel - Drums
*James Karstein - Drums
*John Barbata - Drums
*Milton Holland - Percussion
*Rita Coolidge - Backing Vocals
*Jack Nitzsche - Strings Arrangements

1965-66  David Blue - David Blue / Singer Songwriter Project (2001 remaster)
1968  David Blue ‎- These 23 Days In September (2007 reissue) 
1969  David Blue - Me, S. David Cohen (2007 edition)
1973  David Blue - Nice Baby And The Angel (2006 issue)
1975  David Blue ‎- Com'n Back For More (2006 release)

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David Blue ‎- Com'n Back For More (1975 us, wonderful folk soft rock, 2007 rerelease)

Backed up by some fine musicians, David Blue recorded his fifth album "Com'n Back For More" in 1975 (not counting his album "Me" under his real name Stuart David Cohen). 

The album contains some nice catchy songs, a good cover of Leonard Cohen's "Lover Lover Lover" a rocker "Where Did It Go" and the beautiful folkish "23 Days #2".

Tracks
1. Com'n Back For More - 3:00
2. Oooh Mama - 4:58
3. When The Rains Came - 2:56
4. Who Love - 2:38
5. Save Something (For Me Tonight) - 3:31
6. Lover, Lover, Lover (Leonard Cohen) - 2:58
7. Hollywood Babies - 3:20
8. 23 Days #2 - 4:06
9. Any Love At All - 3:26
10.Where Did It Go - 2:32
All songs written by David Blue except where noted

Personnel
*David Blue (Stuart David Cohen) - Vocals, Guitar
*Bob Dylan - Harmonica
*Joni Mitchell - Vocals
*Max Bennett - Bass
*Kreag Caffey - Harmonica
*Ben Keith - Pedal Steel Guitar
*Ben Benay - Guitar
*Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar - Guitar
*Don Felder - Guitar
*Larry Carlton - Guitar
*Robben Ford - Guitar
*Larry Nash, Tom Hensley - Piano
*Dick Hamilton - Moog Synthesizer
*Renie Press - Bass
*Karin Lamm - Vocals
*Dan Peek - Vocals
*Dewey Bunnell - Vocals
*Jerry Beckley - Vocals
*Carol Carmichael - Vocals
*John Guerin - Drums, Percussion, Vocals

1965-66  David Blue - David Blue / Singer Songwriter Project (2001 remaster)
1968  David Blue ‎- These 23 Days In September (2007 reissue) 
1969  David Blue - Me, S. David Cohen (2007 edition)
1973  David Blue - Nice Baby And The Angel (2006 issue)

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David Blue - Nice Baby And The Angel (1973 us, awesome country folk rock, 2006 issue)

David Blue, whose song publishing company is called Good Friends Music, has always relied on his fellow musicians, many of them more prominent in the record business than he is. His most prominent musical friend on his fifth album, Nice Baby and the Angel, is Graham Nash, who produced the disc in addition to singing background vocals and playing acoustic guitar and electric piano. Nash's influence has made for a fundamental change in musical style for Blue, whose previous efforts harked back to '60s folk and folk-rock. Not so Nice Baby and the Angel. Under Nash's aegis, and with sidemen including guitarist Dave Mason and multi-instrumentalist David Lindley, and additional background singers Mason, Glenn Frey of the Eagles, and Jennifer Warren, Blue is brought into the Southern California rock fold of country-inflected singer/songwriter music à la Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Jackson Browne.

The changeover is apparent right at the start with the rocking leadoff track "Outlaw Man." (The song was quickly taken up by the Eagles as appropriate for their Desperado concept album and released by them as a singles chart entry, giving Blue his biggest payday.) Mason makes himself felt right away with an electric guitar solo that runs right through the song. Anchored by Nash's keening tenor, the background vocals considerably sweeten this and other songs. Another potential single is "True to You," which is reminiscent of the First Edition hit "But You Know I Love You," while the catchy "Darlin' Jenny" makes lots of room for Lindley's slide guitar work. There are a few tracks on the LP that hark back to Blue's earlier style, the first of which is "On Sunday, Any Sunday," which features an arrangement for two acoustic guitars augmented by Lindley's violin and viola and Terry Adams' cello. "Yesterday's Lady" and "Troubadour Song" boast similar instrumentation, and the latter in particular is more characteristic of the old Blue with its downcast, introspective lyrics. 

Otherwise, Blue's words are somewhat less personal and involved than usual, although his outlook is much the same as ever, expressing the views of a lonely, sensitive man who encounters love but doesn't retain it. As he puts it in the album-closing "Train to Anaheim," "I'm still on the road/I can't be satisfied." Thanks to Nash, Nice Baby and the Angel dresses such sentiments in highly accessible musical garb that may make it easier for a larger audience to appreciate.

by William Ruhlmann

Tracks
1. Outlaw Man - 2:50
2. Lady O' Lady - 3:20
3. True To You - 3:40
4. On Sunday, Any Sunday - 3:44
5. Darlin' Jenny - 3:54
6. Dancing Girl - 2:48
7. Yesterdays Lady - 4:35
8. Nice Baby And The Angel - 3:06
9. Troubadour Song - 3:46
10.Train To Anaheim - 3:29
All songs by David Blue

Musicians
*David Blue - Acoustic Guitar, Piano, String Arrangements, Vocals
*Graham Nash - Acoustic Guitar, Keyboards, Electric Piano, String Arrangements, Vocals
*Jennifer Warren - Vocals
*Terry Adams - Cello
*John Barbata - Drums
*Chris Ethridge - Bass
*Glenn Frey - Vocals
*David Lindley - Acoustic, Slide Guitar, Mandolin, Viola, Violin, Zither
*Dave Mason - Guitar, Vocals
*Bob Rafkin - Bass, Acoustic Guitar

1965-66  David Blue - David Blue / Singer Songwriter Project (2001 remaster)
1968  David Blue ‎- These 23 Days In September (2007 reissue) 
1969  David Blue - Me, S. David Cohen (2007 edition)

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