"...Peace Of Mind..."
Puerto Rican Flamenco
Guitarist and Singer JOSE FELICIANO (one of the first Latin American
Superstars) had released a staggering 11 albums with RCA Victor before he
decided in 1971 to largely ditch the cover-versions formula that had stood him
so well - and try a few tunes of his own. And that's where this rather lovely
2CD set from England's Beat Goes On (BGO) comes in. It gathers together three
rarely seen (and largely forgotten) albums from 1971, 1972 and 1973 where he
made an unsuccessful dash for the singer-songwriter market dominated at the
time by James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Elton John, Joni Mitchell and Carole King.
"Musical Menu" didn't chart at all - with "That The Spirit
Needs" and "Compartments" barely scraping Nos. 173 and 156
(respectively) on the American Billboard Rock LP charts. But that doesn't mean
that there aren't goodies to be had here - there are (Steve Cropper and Bill
Withers guest). Here are the dark glasses and the simple songs...
UK released April 2015 -
"That The Spirit Needs/Memphis Menu/Compartments" on Beat Goes BGOCD
1179 (Barcode 5017261211798) is a 2CD set and breaks down as follows:
Disc 1 (69:34 minutes):
1. Come Down Jesus
2. The Spirit
3. Wild World
4. Border Song
5. Only One
6. Take Me To The Pilot
7. She Let Me Down [Side 2]
8. Daytime Dreams
9. My Last Farewell
10. Mellow Felling
11. Pay Day
Tracks 1 to 11 are the album
"That The Spirit Needs" - released 1971 in the USA on RCA Victor
LSP-4573 and in the UK on RCA Victor SF 8223. All tracks are Feliciano
Originals except these cover versions "Wild World" (Cat Stevens),
"Border Song" and "Take Me To The Pilot". Produced by Janna
Merlyn and Jose Feliciano.
12. Magnolia
13. River Song
14. One More Mile
15. Never Leave You
16. Tale Of Maria
17. It Doesn't Matter [Side
2]
18. Good Times
19. Lay, Lady, Lay
20. Where Is My Woman
21. Movin'
Tracks 12 to 21 are the
album "Memphis Menu" - released 1972 in the USA on RCA Victor
LSP-4656 and in the UK on RCA Victor SF 8309. Side 1 is the "First
Course" with Side 2 being the `Second Course". All tracks are
Feliciano originals except these cover versions - "Magnolia" (J.J.
Cale), "One More Time" (Mark James), "Good Times" (Marc
Benno), "Lay, Lady, Lay" (Bob Dylan) and "Movin'" (Jackie
DeShannon).
Disc 2 (41:19 minutes):
1. Simple Song [Feliciano
song]
2. Me And Bobby Jane [Leon
Russell cover]
3. Don't Fail [Seal and
Crofts cover]
4. Find Somebody [co-write
with Carl Marsh and Steve Cropper]
5. Hey Look At The Sun
[Nelson Angelo cover]
6. Peace Of Mind [Loggins
and Messina cover]
7. Sea Cruise [Huey
"Piano" Smith cover] [Side 2]
8. Compartments [Jose
Feliciano/Bill Withers song]
9. Yes We Can Can [Allen
Toussaint song, Pointer Sisters cover]
10. I'm Leavin' [Feliciano
song]
11. Things Are Changing
[Donald Paschal cover]
Tracks 1 to 11 are the album
"Compartments" - released May 1973 in the USA and UK on RCA Victor
APD1 0141
It comes in the now
customary card wrap (which lends the reissue a classy feel) and a jam-packed
24-page booklet with thoroughly comprehensive liner notes from noted writer
JOHN O'REGAN. It provides lyrics to the first two albums on Disc 1 (but not
"Compartments") - and as eagle-eyed collectors will notice - uses the
reissue artwork for "That The Spirit Needs" which initially came in
an untitled elaborate gatefold sleeve. The booklet is well done and extends it
reach right up to 2014 on Feliciano's career. ANDREW THOMPSON did the expertly
transferred remasters at Sound Mastering In London and they sound beautiful.
Most of the tracks on
"Spirit" have the Acoustic Guitar to the fore accompanied on occasion
by orchestral arrangements (from George Tipton) or guitar overdubs with
Feliciano playing a wide range of instruments including Bass, Congas and Organ.
Jim Horn putts in Flute on "Wild World" and "Mellow
Feeling" with Buddy Emmons playing Steel Guitar on "My Last
Farewell". The opening duo of "Come Down Jesus" and "The
Spirit" are good rather than great while his fast-tempo take of Cat
Stevens' "Wild World" doesn't really do anything for a lovely song.
Things improve on "Border Song" where his voice is similar to that of
1971 Elton John. Other pretty entries include his "Daytime Dreams"
and "Mellow Feeling".
He opens the "Memphis
Menu" album with a great cover of J.J. Cale's wonderful
"Magnolia" (from his "Naturally" album) and you immediately
notice the improvement in Production Values (co-produced by Steve Cropper of
Booker T. & The MG's.). Feliciano's own "It Doesn't Matter" is
lovely feeling a little like a cross between Don McLean and Gilbert O'Sullivan.
Mark James provides "One More Mile" (he wrote "Suspicious
Minds" brought to Number 1 by Elvis Presley) and Marc Benno's "Good
Times" is probably the best cut on the album.
But the best album of the
three is "Compartments" which features some stellar guest
contributions that genuinely up the game of almost every song (with the whole
album again co-produced by Steve Cropper and Jose Feliciano). Leon Russell
lends his distinctive piano style to "Me And Baby Jane" - a hurting
tale about a first love in school who then later loses herself to drugs. Jim
Seals and Dan Crofts play Guitars, Mandolin and sing Backing Vocals on their
own "Don't Fail" (very hall & Oates kind of tune) while Loggins
& Messina provide Background Vocals on two - "Simple Song" and
"Peace Of Mind" (Messina also does a Guitar Solo on "Peace Of
Mind"). His keyboard player J.A. Spell gets very Leon Russell meets Fats
Domino on Jose's cover of Huey Smith's wonderful "Sea Cruise". None
other than Soul Maestro Bill Withers co-writes "Compartments" with
Feliciano and also plays Rhythm Guitar. Claudia Lennear (of "Brown Sugar"
fame), Jessie Smith and Robbie Montgomery contribute Backing Vocals to the
ballad "Find Somebody", the Soulful groove of "Hey Look At The
Sun", the cool Funk of "Yes We Can Can" and finally the brassy
pop hit "Things Are Changing". This is probably the best sounding of
the two CDs.
These albums represent the
lesser-heard sides of Jose "Light My Fire" Feliciano's cannon of work
- and well done to all at BGO UK for getting them out there...
PS: Beat Goes On have also
released "Alive Alive-O" (a double album) on BGOCD 794, "10 to
23/Fireworks" on BGOCD 795 and "A Bag Full Of Soul/Fantastic
Feliciano" on BGOCD 817...
