Easy Does It - 1970
I'm not sure where I bought this but it was my first British copy of a
Kooper album. In 1970, I moved back to Bristol so it was probably bought
at MHE or Disc 'n Tape in Gloucester
Road - shops which specialized in 'pre-owned' records so I spent a lot
of time, not to mention money, in them. I did pick up some used bargains
there though- Carolyn Hesters first album featuring a young harmonica player
called Bob Dylan cost me six bob and yes inside the sleeve it's still marked
6/-! Amongst other notable bargains were Camerata's 'Velvet Gentleman'
- now worth around £80! I also bought most of my new albums there
too. I'd ordered the Select re-release of the Velvet Underground's first
album and the girls in the shop were eagerly waiting for me to collect
it so they could 'peel slowly and see'! Unfortunately, in their excitement
they tore the banana skin which probaly detracts from it's current value
of around £60!
Whatever, I bought this new and it was worth every penny. This was
Kooper's double album. Although Dylan had made (I think) the first double
rock album in 1965, the Beatles really started the trend a few years later
with the 'White Album'.Then everybody started doing it. Chicago even made
a feature of it - their first three albums were doubles and their fourth
was a quadruple!
The front cover was a 'cute' photo of him needing only a hair ribbon
to make him the prettiest little girl in town. The back photo and lots
of little photos around the inside were of him in a stars and stripes suit
performing antics. For the first time on a Kooper album, the lyrics were
printed inside.
Side 1
1 Brand New Day
2 Piano Solo Introduction
3 I Got a Woman
4 Country Road
5 I Bought you the Shoes
Side 2
1Introduction
2 Easy Does It
3 Buckskin Boy
4 Love Theme from 'The Landlord'
Side 3
Sad, Sad Sunshine
2 Let the Duchess No
3 She Gets Me Where I Live
4 A Rose and a Baby Ruth
Side 4
1 Baby Please Don't Go
2 God Sheds His Grace On Thee
After the (slight) disappointment that was 'You never know....', this
album marked a return to form. His songwriting contribution had dropped
to about 50% and the quality was so much better than on 'You never know...'.
The other songs were written by great songwriters including Ray Charles,
John D. Loudermilk and James Taylor.
The musicians are a very sparse team of Stu Woods and Rick Marotta
and special guests included Fred Lipsius and Bobby Colomby from BS&T,
David Bromberg and, for 'Let the Duchess No' his old friends Area Code
615. The Woods- Marotta rhythm section give a great lean sound which is
augmented in places by strings and horns (It wouln't be a Kooper album
without those horns!)
Kooper had recently scored that wonderful Hal Ashby film 'The Landlord'
but the two songs rerecorded for 'Easy Does It' are much better than the
soundtrack album. Unlike much of the other sountrack music of the time,
they stand quite independently from the film.
For me, side 3 is the better side spanning country rock, white soul
and 'brass rock' and, as with side 2 of 'I Stand Alone', the programming
is excellent.
Side 4 contains just the two tracks, 'Baby Please Don't Go' is a whopping
12'28" and according to the sleeve, has only two lines of Big Joe Williams'
lyrics. But. as a (largely) instrumental track, it harks right back to'Super
Session' and 'The Live Adventures...' - gorgeous!
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