|
Post by 88keys on Jun 4, 2016 19:48:31 GMT
I'll start my turn early, with an album I'm certain most of you have heard. It's the Idle Race's 1969 self-titled album. This was Jeff Lynne's final album with the band before he went on to join The Move. - Come With Me
- Sea Of Dreams
- Going Home
- Reminds Me Of You
- Mr. Crow and Sir Norman
- Please No More Sad Songs
- Girl At The Window
- Big Chief Wooly Bosher
- Someone's Knocking
- A Better Life (The Weatherman Knows)
- Hurry Up John
|
|
|
Post by Chippa on Jun 5, 2016 18:37:29 GMT
This is a great choice, 88K.
Here we go...
Come With Me – Very similar, stylistically, to The Move’s Blackberry Way. It also obviously owes a big debt to Sgt. Pepper/Magical Mystery Tour era Beatles.
Sea Of Dreams – Always loved this one. Kind of a folk feel, almost in a Peter, Paul, and Mary way. The last part of the song is brilliant, and shows how much the music of the 30’s and 40’s influenced Jeff Lynne.
Going Home – Great, wistful vibe on this track. This is definitely a prefiguring of some of the ELO ballads.
Reminds Me Of You – Another slightly folky one. Not sure how I feel about the “trembly” lead vocals, but the song itself is quite good.
Mr. Crow and Sir Norman – Very cute and almost Monty Python-esque. I guess parts of this song would be considered skiffle?
Please No More Sad Songs – A grandiose sounding pop song, with some really cool guitar parts and vocal effects.
Girl At The Window – Very reminiscent of early Pink Floyd. Fantastic melody, especially on the verses.
Big Chief Wooly Bosher – I wonder if this was an early version of Jeff Lynne’s own Indian Queen, which eventually morphed into something else? Great lyrics, with some rare social commentary by Jeff.
Someone's Knocking – This song is very much of its time. A very typical mid-late 60’s rocker. But I dig it!
A Better Life (The Weatherman Knows) – One of Jeff Lynne’s most effective ballads. This stands up with the very best of his ELO work, in my opinion.
Hurry Up John – The Who meets The Move! This is a really unique song, with some killer vocals and stellar guitar work.
Overall, this album gets an 8.5/10. The Idle Race were criminally overlooked, and deserved to be way bigger.
|
|
|
Post by jrmugz on Jun 6, 2016 2:53:24 GMT
Wait a second, I don't see Roy Wood in the personnel on here? I played the first few songs, and clearly it seems his vocals are on some of them? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idle_Race_(album)Does he go by a different name of this album or something? Jim
|
|
|
Post by Chippa on Jun 6, 2016 6:29:31 GMT
Roy Wood was never in the Idle Race. He was in The Move, during this time, before eventually forming ELO with Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan.
|
|
|
Post by jrmugz on Jun 6, 2016 18:37:34 GMT
Is it just me or does the vocalist sound just like Roy Wood? Who sings the first song?
Jim
|
|
|
Post by queenofthehours on Jun 6, 2016 18:40:18 GMT
Ooooh! Could this be the best album so far that I'm looking forward to reviewing? This LP is a total gem. Everything here makes me smile .
|
|
|
Post by Chippa on Jun 6, 2016 20:55:20 GMT
Is it just me or does the vocalist sound just like Roy Wood? Who sings the first song? Jim Jeff Lynne
|
|
|
Post by joeyjoejoejr on Jun 7, 2016 0:25:43 GMT
I just bought this on vinyl re-issue for Record Day Sale. Also I got the first album when it came out. I tend to like the first album better, but the second has it's gems.
How long after this album was released did Jeff leave?
|
|
|
Post by jrmugz on Jun 7, 2016 0:52:16 GMT
Is it just me or does the vocalist sound just like Roy Wood? Who sings the first song? Jim Jeff Lynne OK, will take your word for it. Jim
|
|
|
Post by jrmugz on Jun 7, 2016 19:26:12 GMT
01. "Come With Me" - Reminds me so much of Roy Wood, almost sounds like it would fit on "Boulders". 02. "Sea of Dreams" - Nice harmonies, reminds me a lot of something Tom Petty would come up with, say for the "Wildflowers" era, would almost fit perfectly on that TP cd. 03. "Going Home" - Strong song very reminiscent of The Moody Blues; background vocals sound very much like Mike Pinder from The Moody Blues. 04. "Reminds Me of You" - Neil Diamond meets Bob Dylan's "Positively 4th Street" song. Almost feel like I'm playing side one of Bob Dylan's "Bringing it all Back Home" CD, when hearing this song. 05. "Mr. Crow and Sir Norman" - Decent and upbeat, doesn't do much for me. Hard to follow the storyline. 06. "Please No More Sad Songs" - Nice melody and sentiment. Strong vocal performance. 07. "Girl At The Window" - Nice easygoing early Simon and Garfunkel kind of song, with one of Jeff's Beatles' references fully intact. 08. "Big Chief Wooly Bosher" - Kind of an innovative avant-garde kind of song, with an Indian tribal feel to it. Borders psychedelic. 09. "Someone's Knocking" - Interesting rhythm, maybe a tad repetetive. Seems like could have used a chorus, rather than just be based on the verse rhythm. 10. "A Better Life (The Weatherman Knows)" - Clearly a strong nod to John Lennon and The Beatles. Can hear everything from "Across the Universe" to "I'm Only Sleeping" in it. 11. "Hurry Up John" - A somewhat Celtic riff, that really needs to break loose into full Celtic a lot more. Where are the bagpipes, etc.? Good harmonies and melody, though!
Star Rating: 3.8 out of 5 Prime Cuts: "Sea of Dreams", "Reminds Me of You", "Come With Me", "Hurry Up John" Bottom Line: Overall, when the dust clears, the bottom line is they are spirited and strong songs that provide glimpses of the many musical glories to come.
A strong CD, not necessarily a masterpiece, but does showcase a lot of the talent and potential that was certainly fully realized over time.
Definitely a product of it's time, can hear a lot of the sixties influences in it, from Beatles to psychedelic.
For strong ELO and Jeff Lynne fans like us, definitely one for our collections.
Thanks 88Keys, a very enjoyable and interesting pick, now I just need to delve into their first album "The Birthday Party". Do you (or anyone else reading this) have any opinons on that CD, and how you would rank it compared to this, their second and last self-titled album that we are reviewing?
Have you marked down for the next open spot in a couple months or so! Thanks again!
Jim
|
|
|
Post by 88keys on Jun 8, 2016 18:51:04 GMT
I just bought this on vinyl re-issue for Record Day Sale. Also I got the first album when it came out. I tend to like the first album better, but the second has it's gems. How long after this album was released did Jeff leave? This album was released in November of 1969, and Jeff joined The Move in January of 1970.
|
|
|
Post by 88keys on Jun 8, 2016 18:53:12 GMT
Thanks 88Keys, a very enjoyable and interesting pick, now I just need to delve into their first album "The Birthday Party". Do you (or anyone else reading this) have any opinons on that CD, and how you would rank it compared to this, their second and last self-titled album that we are reviewing? Have you marked down for the next open spot in a couple months or so! Thanks again! Jim I like The Birthday Party, but the self-titled album stands up slightly better, due to the songwriting.
|
|
|
Post by unomusette on Jun 8, 2016 19:53:27 GMT
Wahey! Great choice 88keys, some proper gems on this album
|
|
|
Post by Platypus on Jun 10, 2016 9:35:16 GMT
I'm glad to hear this one! Wasn't familiar with anything from The Idle Race. It's certainly music of its time, psychedelic, bits of skiffle, folk... possibly where that slightly disconcerting tremolo vocal style comes from? Some creepy lyrics - Sea of Dreams? And a cringeworthy Big Chief. But you can hear hints of ELO: the opening of Going Home and the opening of Shangri-La (although isn't there something else that sounds really like that string intro?), Poor Boy & parts of Hurry Up John, and A Better Life is just an ELO song isn't it?
|
|
|
Post by unomusette on Jun 11, 2016 21:23:42 GMT
Most of these songs are already total classics in my family, I loved them from when I first became the proud owner of The Birthday Party when I was about 17, then later when my kids were growing up I made a mixtape for them of Idle Race songs and some odd other songs which went with us everywhere until they left for college. This will be a happy trip back down Memory Lane, here goes: Come With Me - Insanely catchy, love the guitar sound here, total feelgood song and impossible not to sing along to. Brilliant opener and one of my Idle Race favourites. Sea Of Dreams - I can imagine Jeff coming out with something like this now, maybe not with these lyrics but the melody is very much his trademark. Love the gentle vocals, it's very soothing and smooth generally. Going Home - Proper old-school Jeff vocals here and they're pleasingly upfront, nice big sound and another catchy tune. Great full sound with the strings lifting it up and the guitar noodling away in the background, perfect. Reminds Me Of You - This is a new one on me, golly it's hugely reminiscent of some early Strawbs stuff. I therefore love it straight away, 'nuff said. Mr. Crow and Sir Norman - If I had a pound for every time I've sung this to my kids, either joining in with the record or just on my own, I'd be writing this from a villa on the Cote d'Azur. The number of fights defused alone make it worth the money.What a fantastic song this is, it has a brilliant surreal storyline, lots of different voices, a falsetto chorus, an irresistible tempo... n'aww I've gone all gooey just reliving it again. Faultless *squeaks along, grinning like a loon* Please No More Sad Songs - Burble...I do love it when Jeff sings right up against the microphone like that, thank heavens for earphones More neat guitar sounds here, pretty melody and the storyline has echoes of Nellie Takes Her Bow. Winner. Girl At The Window - I can imagine Jeff twiddling away with a song like this in his parents' front room with his B&O recorder. Yet more proof of his endless talent for creating catchy tunes with just that extra bit of gloss which pushes them above the average. Although he always claims not to bother himself too much with lyrics they're mostly also a bit different from the norm, or maybe in Idle Race one of the other members had a lyrical input? Big Chief Wooly Bosher - Back in Mr Crow... territory here, not quite as good but a darned good second best. Simply gorgeous vocal and I love the sort of '50's vibe from when there were a few songs about Red Indians (Running Bear springs to mind but I'm sure there were more) Jeff was plainly a big fan of the Western genre, as he later proved in a certain song off OOTB. I can imagine him as a boy , sitting with his Dad watching cheesy old cowboy and indian films and germinating this kind of masterpiece. Again, there's nothing to complain about here and a whole lot to cheer for. Someone's Knocking - This brings a few outside influences to mind, including the best bits of The Monkees, Man and Family. Obviously Jeff isn't singing so that loses it points but it has a great crazy sound so it's impossible to dislike. A Better Life (The Weatherman Knows) - Another new one to these ears, I like the doodling piano and it does have definite vibes of later songs Jeff wrote for ELO. The more I hear it the more I like it, it's easygoing and sweet but with the odd edgy bit which keeps your interest. Plus of course Jeff's back singing, it's so nice to hear his younger voice again. Hurry Up John - Pub singalong time! Lovely meaty guitars here and the most Beatle-esque song so far. Everyone sounds like they're having a total hoot and it's infectious, plus who can resist Jeff singing those low notes? *melts* It's really amazing how Idle Race never made it big when they were coming up with brilliant songs like this, not to mention the total classic Skeleton and the Roundabout which should be enough to cement anyone's career. 11 out of 10 from me, thanks for bringing it all back and plastering this great big grin on my face 88keys
|
|