Rock Archeologia

West - West (1968 Epic Records) 

Artist: West
Album: West
Label: Epic Records
Catalog#: BN 26380
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1968
Genre: Rock, Pop, Country
Format: FLAC (track+.cue)
Bitrate: lossless
Duration: 00:26:16

• Группа "West" нашла музыкальную манеру — нечто среднее между The Byrds, Poco и We Five. Результатом стал милый, гармоничный фолк-рок с приятным вокалом плюс кантри и поп-влияния, достаточно энергичный, сыгранный талантливыми музыкантами. Их первый титульный альбом вышел в 1968 году. Его продюсировал Воб Джонстон, который также работал с Бобом Диланом, Саймоном и Гарфанкелем, Леонардом Коэном и Джонни Кэшем…

• West's self-titled 1968 debut isn't particularly rare and it isn't particularly original, but I'll readily admit to enjoying some of the album's country-rock moves.
• Having previously recorded a couple of singles with The Untouchables and Captain Zoom and the Android and supported a broad array of acts as a sessions player, singer/guitarist Ron Cornelius was apparently the band's front man and creative focal point. Backed by keyboardist Bob Claire, former Captain Zoom bassist Joel Davis, drummer Lloyd Perata, harmonica player John Sagen, and former We Five multi-instrumentalist Michael Stewart, in 1967 the band found themselves the subject of a major label bidding war, with Epic eventually signing them to a contract. Epic management seemingly had major plans for the group, teaming them with Dylan and Simon and Garfunkel producer Bob Johnston. (Curiously, the front and back photos only showed five members - not sure who was missing.) Regardless, 1968's "West" found the band straddling the musical fence somewhere between The Byrds, Poco, and We Five. The result was a pretty, harmony rich collection of folk-rock that would have benefited from a couple more originals (xx of the 11 tracks were covers), and from a sizable dose of energy. On the plus side, these guys were obviously talented musicians, capable of tackling a wide array of well known covers. They also had a couple of decent singers in Cornelius, Davis and Stewart. The downside is that the set had far too many covers and precious little originality shined through the collection. With the possible exceptions of a nice Byrds-styled cover of Dylan's 'Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues' and 'xxx', they came off as little more than an above-average cover band. (BadCat records)

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 • Side One:
A1. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (Bob Dylan) - 3:07
A2. Baby You've Been On My Mind (Bob Dylan) - 1:40
A3. Four Strong Winds (Ian Tyson) - 2:50
A4. Summer Flower (Ron Cornelius - Joel Davis) - 2:20
A5. Step By Step (Mike Stewart - J. Chambers - B. Jones) - 2:30
A6. Dolphins (Fred Neil) - 3:20
 • Side Two:
B1. Six Days On The Road (E. Greane - C. Montgomery) - 2:04
B2. Everybody's Talkin' (Fred Neil) - 2:10
B3. Donald Duck ( Mike Stewart) - 2:00
B4. Settin' The Woods On Fire (F. Rose - E.G. Nelson) - 1:55
B5. New England Winter (B. Kimmel) - 2:19

Personel:
Michael Stewart - vocals, guitars
Ron Cornelius - lead guitar, vocals
Joe Davis - bass, vocals
Bob Claire - keyboards, cello, guitar
Jon Saegen - harmonica
Lloyd Perata - drums

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