Friends and Lovers: Songs of Bread

by Friends & Lovers: Songs Of Brea

Overview

The soft rock revival reaches its possible peak with the release of Friends and Lovers: Songs of Bread. Badman has gathered some of the main practitioners of the revival and a few other less obvious choices here, giving a shout-out to the songs of David Gates, James Griffin and Robb Royer. A well-deserved nod for sure as Bread were definitely at the top of the soft rock mountain; the bands involved here certainly treat them with respect, turning in mostly reverent versions of some of their biggest songs. Josh Rouse turns in a breathtakingly beautiful and relaxed "It Don't Matter to Me," Erlend Oye's "Friends and Lovers" has a sweetly lilting quality, Ken Stringfellow power pops "Down on My Knees," making it sound like a Badfinger song, Oranger juice up "Make It With You" with some sitar and fuzz bass, and Eric Shea and Bart Davenport drop some absolutely beautiful harmonies on "Goodbye Girl" (which is a David Gates solo track but it is so nicely done you have to give it a pass). A few bands do take liberties with the source material with varying results. Two bands who make it work are Call & Response, whose vocalist Carrie Clough is a dead ringer for Karen Carpenter on "Baby I'm a Want You," the first 30 seconds of which is pure soft rock heaven before heading into a pleasantly bubbling Stereolab-like direction, and Paula Frazer, who imbues "Everything I Own" with a broken grandeur the original didn't have. Those who fail include Rachel Goswell, whose overly somber take on "If" sounds like a failed audition for a This Mortal Coil album; the Holy Sons noodly and vocally overcooked guitar-meets-electronic beats version of "The Last Time," and Emily Sparks' overly earnest and gray "Too Much Love." The rest is pretty decent, especially Dave Derby's sweet "I Use the Soap" and Cake's dorky yet enjoyable "The Guitar Man." Overall the disc is a fitting tribute to a fine band whose time to be rediscovered had come. Coming next -- American Hero: Songs of Joey Scarbury. ~ Tim Sendra

Product Details

Release Date:	04/19/2005
Label:	Badman Recording Co.
UPC:	0655037095125
Rank:	154365

Tracks

1. It Don't Matter to Me  - David Gates  - Josh Rouse
2. Baby, I'm a Want You  -  Call & Response  - David Gates
3. Games of Magic  - Jon Auer  - James Griffin  - Robb Royer
4. The Guitar Man  -  Cake  - David Gates  - Patrick Olguin
5. Friends and Lovers  - James Griffin  - Erlend Oye  - Robb Royer
6. Everything I Own  - Paula Frazer  - David Gates
7. Down on My Knees  - David Gates  - James Griffin  - Ken Stringfellow
8. Make It With You  - David Gates  -  Oranger
9. I Use the Soap  - Dave Derby  - David Gates
10. The Last Time  - James Griffin  -  Holy Sons  - Robb Royer
11. Too Much Love  - James Griffin  - Robb Royer  - Emily Sparks
12. Look at Me  - David Gates  -  Moore Brothers
13. If  - David Gates  - Rachel Goswell
14. Goodbye Girl  - Bart Davenport  - David Gates  - Eric Shea

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Eric Shea   Primary Artist
Ken Stringfellow   Primary Artist
Bart Davenport   Primary Artist
The Moore Brothers   Primary Artist
Jon Auer   Primary Artist,Vocals
Josh Rouse   Primary Artist
Rachel Goswell   Primary Artist,Vocals
Dave Derby   Primary Artist,Bass,Guitar,Vocals,Lap Steel Guitar
Call & Response   Primary Artist
Emily Sparks   Primary Artist,Vocals
Erlend Oye   Primary Artist
Holy Sons   Primary Artist
Oranger   Primary Artist
Cake   Primary Artist
Paula Frazer   Primary Artist,Bass,Guitar,Vocals
Greg Moore   Guitar,Vocals (Background),Piano
James Kim   Drums
Paul K.   Keyboards
Tyler Pope   Guitar
Simone Rubi   Vocals,Keyboards
Emil Amos   Vocals
Jim Lindsay   Trap Kit
Pete Finney   Guitar (Steel)
Patrick Main   Vocals,Keyboards
John McCrea   Vocals
Darius "Take One" Minwalla   Drums
Thom Moore   Vocals
Vince Di Fiore   Trumpet,Vocals (Background)
Carrie Clough   Vocals
Xan McCurdy   Bass,Drums,Guitar,Keyboards
Matt McCord   Drums
Mike Drake   Guitar,Vocals
Scott Hirsch   Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Jordan Dalrymple   Drums,Percussion
Gabe Nelson   Vocals (Background)
Matt Harris   Bass,Vocals,Guitar (Rhythm)
Keith Brogdon   Drums
Leila Mack   Vocals (Background)
Dan Judd   Guitar
Terri Loewenthal   Bass,Vocals

Technical Credits

Velvet Mornings   Engineer
Patrick Olguin   Composer
Paul K.   Engineer
Kip Beelman   Mixing,Engineer
Kotch   Engineer,Producer
Simone Rubi   Art Direction,Layout Design
Emil Amos   Engineer,Instrumentation
Dylan Magierek   Mixing,Engineer,Performer,Liner Notes,Compilation Producer
David Gates   Composer
Robb Royer   Composer
Jon Auer   Mixing,Engineer,Instrumentation
Brad Jones   Producer
Dave Derby   Engineer,Producer
Tom Herbers   Mastering
James Griffin   Composer
Emily Sparks   Instrumentation
Desmond Shea   Mixing,Engineer
Dave Auchenbach   Engineer,Producer
Graig Markel   Engineer
Danielle Rubi   Photography
Don C. Tyler   Mastering