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Plain and Fancy

Music gives soul to universe, wings to mind, flight to imagination, charm to sadness, and life to everything.

Plato

Sunday, April 16, 2017

Timber - Bring America Home (1971 us, great rural psych rock with funky vibes, 2009 extra tracks issue)



A curious mix of white-boy boogie-funk and more rural material, reminiscent of Leon Russell and Little Feat, with Wayne Berry apparently the more versatile songwriter: he contributes a couple of the more effective funk-pop tunes, as well as some twangier, more acoustic material, such as the overtly country "Canada" and the softer, folkie ballad, "Don't Underestimate Your Friends." I'd say Clinton got into heavier, deeper grooves, though I like Berry's songs better. 

Several tracks also feature a third vocalist, Judy Elliott, a more folk-oriented singer who recorded with Timber on both their albums, and later did some work with Hoyt Axton... I find her a little distracting because she seems stylistically out of sync with the blues-rock vocals of the guys, but she helps create a funky feel in their choruses.

Also worth noting is the album's political content - the opening tracks are about social decay and the draft-dodging of the Vietnam War era, while the rest fo the songs are more oblique and veiled, fuzzy ruminations about life and spirituality that are pretty typical of the era. 


Tracks
1. Bring America Home (George Clinton) - 3:01
2. Canada - 2:25
3. Pipe Dream - 3:30
4. Remember (George Clinton) - 4:25
5. Don't Underestimate Your Friends - 3:22
6. Witch Hunt - 2:26
7. The Spirit Song - 2:47
8. Caught In The Middle - 3:54
9. Same Ole Story (George Clinton) - 4:00
10.From The Time I Rise - 6:20
11.Outlaw - 4:42
12.Song For Two Signs - 3:23
13.Splinters From Timber - 6:01
All compositions by Wayne Berry unless as else stated

The Timber
*Wayne Berry - Vocals, Bass, Guitar
*George Clinton - Vocals, Keyboards, Woodwinds, Autoharp
*Warner Charles Davis - Drums, Percussion
*Judy Elliott - Vocals
*Roger Johnson - Lead Guitar, Vocals

1970  Part Of What You Hear (Vinyl Edition)  

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