Courtney Marie Andrews new one "Valentine" is a delight
@joe-nathan That’s a band I haven’t heard mentioned for a long time., I remember their self-titled second album from 1972. I thought it was a bit too smooth but they were one of the bands to take the sounds of Buffalo Springfield, Poco et al to the bank in the ‘70s.
For whatever reason I had their debut album cross my mind yesterday so I thought I’d give it a spin. One of my older siblings had it on 8-track back when I was a kid in the 70s. Way back when I’d always intended to purchase it but never did. It’s not something I’m likely to revisit often but it did take me back to when I was first getting into music.
Bedroom rising from an old growth tree
Bringing out the sawmill, cutting the 12 inch beams
Building a pattern, the reservoir to fill with dreams
Rings like Saturn telling their old story…
Big Thief “Red Moon”
@joe-nathan That is the beauty of the power music has to invoke memories and feelings.
Lost in the mists of time, but periodically I keep coming back to Marc Benno’s “Ambush” album. Trivia, Stevie Ray’s dad was a member of Benno’s band for a while.
Lost in the mists of time, but periodically I keep coming back to Marc Benno’s “Ambush” album. Trivia, Stevie Ray’s dad was a member of Benno’s band for a while.
I know Marc Benno only from the second album he did with Leon Russell, Asylum Choir II. I’ve never heard the previous album they did together, nor have I ever heard any of his solo records. When looking up info on Ambush, I found no mention of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s father, who was evidently not a musician. However I did learn that a young Stevie played on an album with Marc in 1973 that remained unreleased until 2006. More info here:
http://therockasteria.blogspot.com/2016/11/marc-benno-and-nightcrawlers-crawlin.html?m=1
Back to Ambush, reading the credits, I see more than a few familiar names. Intriguing to see Mike Utley listed who is perhaps best known as a member of Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band. He retired from playing music following Buffett’s passing in 2023.
Years ago, I happened upon a copy of James Luther Dickinson’s Dixie Fried on vinyl in the attic of a radio station I was working for. I knew next to nothing about him at the time but held onto to the record after seeing Mike Utley credited in the liner notes.
Bedroom rising from an old growth tree
Bringing out the sawmill, cutting the 12 inch beams
Building a pattern, the reservoir to fill with dreams
Rings like Saturn telling their old story…
Big Thief “Red Moon”
@joe-nathan Sorry Joe, I meant to say Doyle Bramhall II’s dad played with Marc Benno in the ‘70s on an album not released by A&M at the time, “Crawlin’”. It finally saw the light of day in 2007. Stevie Ray played on it as a teenager.
For a while in the early ‘70s Benno was being push as the next thing to come out of the Texas/Oklahoma group of L.A. musicians. While he played on the Doors “L.A. Woman” and other sessions and his albums featured the cream of LA musicians like Jesse Ed Davis, Clarence White, Keltner etc and a number of his songs were covered by other artists A&M let him go after 4 albums.
His biggest success was with Asylum Choir II recorded with Leon Russell and released when Russell was at his commercial peak though it had been recorded a few years earlier in ‘69.
He left the music business after being dropped by A&M before restarting his career as a Texas based independent artist.
Here’s a link to his website and a feature in Guitar Player.
https://marcbenno.com/2021/09/16/guitar-player-article/
Utley at the time was a member of Jim Dickinson’s Dixie Flyers who at the time were something of a house band for Atlantic Records and backed Rita Coolidge on the road. Charlie Freeman was the guitarist who was a great loss when he died too young.
@joe-nathan I love Donna The Buffalo. Got to know them through Jim Lauderdale’s “Wait ‘Till Spring”.
@joe-nathan Sorry Joe, I meant to say Doyle Bramhall II’s dad played with Marc Benno in the ‘70s on an album not released by A&M at the time, “Crawlin’”. It finally saw the light of day in 2007. Stevie Ray played on it as a teenager.
For a while in the early ‘70s Benno was being push as the next thing to come out of the Texas/Oklahoma group of L.A. musicians. While he played on the Doors “L.A. Woman” and other sessions and his albums featured the cream of LA musicians like Jesse Ed Davis, Clarence White, Keltner etc and a number of his songs were covered by other artists A&M let him go after 4 albums.
His biggest success was with Asylum Choir II recorded with Leon Russell and released when Russell was at his commercial peak though it had been recorded a few years earlier in ‘69.
He left the music business after being dropped by A&M before restarting his career as a Texas based independent artist.
Here’s a link to his website and a feature in Guitar Player.
https://marcbenno.com/2021/09/16/guitar-player-article/
Utley at the time was a member of Jim Dickinson’s Dixie Flyers who at the time were something of a house band for Atlantic Records and backed Rita Coolidge on the road. Charlie Freeman was the guitarist who was a great loss when he died too young.
Asylum Choir II is consistently in my top 10 favorite albums of all time.
Bedroom rising from an old growth tree
Bringing out the sawmill, cutting the 12 inch beams
Building a pattern, the reservoir to fill with dreams
Rings like Saturn telling their old story…
Big Thief “Red Moon”
@joe-nathan I love Donna The Buffalo. Got to know them through Jim Lauderdale’s “Wait ‘Till Spring”.
I first learned of them thanks to Merlefest in Wilkesboro, NC in the mid to late 90s. They were among the first artists to perform on the then new Americana stage. I saw Gillian Welch and David Rawlings perform on that stage as well which was before Gillian’s debut album was released.
Bedroom rising from an old growth tree
Bringing out the sawmill, cutting the 12 inch beams
Building a pattern, the reservoir to fill with dreams
Rings like Saturn telling their old story…
Big Thief “Red Moon”
@joe-nathan Sam Bush recorded a cover of “Ballad for a Soldier” a few years back.
@joe-nathan Sam Bush recorded a cover of “Ballad for a Soldier” a few years back.
Funny that Skynyrd bassist Leon Wilkeson’s full name was “Leon Russell Wilkeson” and that Leon Russell’s real name was Claude Russell Bridges. Leon Wilkeson was a huge Leon Russell fan.This is from their Tribute Tour film from 1987 or so.
Bedroom rising from an old growth tree
Bringing out the sawmill, cutting the 12 inch beams
Building a pattern, the reservoir to fill with dreams
Rings like Saturn telling their old story…
Big Thief “Red Moon”
