"…Always Been Simple…"
As the principal songwriter and voice of BREAD – singer DAVID GATES won legions of fans with his beautifully melodic tunes. This cool-looking British 2CD reissue gives us his first four Solo albums for Elektra Records between 1973 and 1980 - and as you can imagine – it’s a mixed bag of the inspired and insipid. Here are the singer-songwriter details…
UK released September 2013 (October in the USA) – "First/Never Let Her Go/Goodbye Girl/Falling In Love Again" by DAVID GATES on Edsel EDSK 7034 (Barcode 740155703431) is a 2CD set offering 4 Remastered LPs and breaks down as follows…
Disc 1 (64:52 minutes):
Tracks 1 to 9 are his debut solo album "First" –
released October 1973 in the USA on Elektra EKS-75066 and K 42150 in the UK
Tracks 10 to 19 are his 2nd album "Never Let Her
Go" – released February 1975 on Elektra 7E-1028 in the USA and May 1975 on
Elektra K 52012 in the UK
Disc 2 (52:33 minutes):
Tracks 1 to 6 are the album "Goodbye Girl" –
released July 1978 on Elektra 6E-148 in the USA and K 52091 in the UK
Tracks 7 to 16 are the album "Falling In Love
Again" – released June 1980 on Elektra 6E-251 in the USA and K 52206 in
the UK
The generic card wraps that Edsel now uses on their reissues
are lovely – classy looking too. The chunky 36-page booklet inside is
jam-packed with details – album sleeves, 7” singles, Quad album labels, lyrics
to the songs and informative liner notes by noted writer Alan Robinson. It’s
beautifully done.
Sound – these albums were remastered by Rhino initially and
Phil Kinrade at Alchemy has clearly used those versions because this is
sonically brilliant stuff. The audio is amazing – well produced – not overdone
– muscle and clarity on every track.
Musical proceedings open with a peach – "Sail Around
The World" – and two things immediately hit you - the stunning sound
quality and the prettiness of the melody (lyrics above). It was put out as a 7”
in the UK in November 1973 (K 12126) but only charted in the USA (peaking at
50). Speaking of lost singles - the brilliant nine-minute epic of "Suite:
Clouds, Rain" was edited down to the piano opening of "Clouds"
(very Bread) and put out as a 7” in the UK in July 1973 with “Soap (I Use The)”
as its B-side (K 12114). I mention this because its rare edited version is a
no-show here - which is a bit of a missed opportunity. The debut album ends strongly
with "Sight & Sound" (very Eagles) - while "Lorilee"
gets a bit "Countdown To Ecstasy" Steely Dan slinky with Jim Horn on
Alto Sax (tasty).
The second album picks up where the first left off (even
with the two-year gap). "Never Let You Go" gets straight into
"Baby I'm-A Want You" territory and it’s easy to see why it was
chosen as the lead off single (the rocky "Watch Out" graced the
flipside). The acoustic ballad "Part Time Love" was the second and
last 45 from the LP (June 1975 in the UK on K 12157) – a lovely tune.
“Strangers” ends the album well – but even at this stage – there’s a feeling of
ordinariness about most of the record.
By the time we reach 1978’s “Goodbye Girl” and 1980’s
sluggish “Falling in Love Again” – the muse seems to have abandoned him
entirely. There are moments like the lightweight radio funk of “Took The Last
Train” and the schmaltz of “Where Does The Loving Go” which is clearly trying
to emulate the glory days of early Seventies Bread. But these albums have been
dollar-bin fodder for years – and with reason.
So there you have it – a very mixed bag. But then there is
that fabulous sound - and those melodic nuggets on the first two albums
especially that make the purchase worthwhile.
David Gates could always pen a melody that would get to
you...and that's what I like most about this excellent value-for-money Edsel
double...
