Some Favourite Songs ---
As requested by JayInOz, some favourite songs from BROM of October!.....one a day, some I've posted before on previous threads, I will try and include most that haven't.
I would often walk into Batman Records in Swanston St, Melbourne, browse through the record selection and pick one by the cover art without even listening through the stores headphones. .
This is one of them. Sons Of Champlain; Welcome To The Dance.
Sons of Champlin | website
The Sons of Champlin started in 1965 in Marin County, California, rising from the wreckage of the Opposite Six, a locally popular R&B band from the pre-Beatle era. “Six” members, Bill Champlin and Tim Cain, added Terry Haggerty and the first of a series of drummers and bass players. The new band was named for the “front” man, Bill Champlin. For a couple of years the Sons played as a five-piece band, working the college and high school dance circuit and the various clubs and bars in the Bay Area.The Sons’ first record release, on Verve Records, was a single called “Sing Me A Rainbow”. It got a little local AM radio airplay. In 1967 the Sons of Champlin became a seven-piece band, adding a trumpet and more importantly, Geoff Palmer on keyboards, alto sax, and vibraphone. By this time the San Francisco scene included the Fillmore and Avalon ballrooms, and as the Sons joined that rock circuit, they earned a reputation as a group of R&B and jazz musicians far above the caliber of the electrified folk-rockers who formed the core of the scene. Not only did the Sons boast a horn section, their philosophical themes, R&B and jazz tempos and arrangements were far ahead of any in rock music, and set the Sons apart from the guitar-dominated bands playing the San Francisco ballrooms. Because nearly every other major San Francisco band signed a big record deal before the Sons did in 1968, they have sometimes been referred to as a “second wave” San Francisco band, although the Sons predate most of the fixtures in that scene. Between 1968 and 1977 the Sons of Champlin released seven albums. Despite developing a fanatic fan base in a number of regions, the national breakthrough never arrived, and in 1977 the members dispersed to other projects. However, their fans never forgot the Sons of Champlin and continued to spread the word and the music. After a twenty-year hiatus, the Sons reunited for a series of successful reunion gigs in 1997. Two of the earliest shows were in April at the legendary Fillmore Auditorium where it all began. Several more concerts were held in July, followed by more in the fall. On January 24, 1998, the Sons recorded their first-ever live CD. It was released on July 28, 1998, in cooperation with Grateful Dead Records. The Sons’ earlier studio releases never quite captured the magic of their live shows. Quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart said of those earlier shows: “they were breathing fire… they were the most talented of all the bands.”More concerts followed whenever schedules permitted over the next few years, including some that were promoted by fans.In the fall of 2001, original guitarist, Terry Haggerty, left the band to pursue other musical endeavors. He also introduced the band to his replacement, Tal Morris, who is a great guitarist and blended into the Sons’ lineup very well. Early in 2002, in an extraordinary partnership with the Expression Center for New Media, located in Emeryville, CA, the Sons were back on stage and back in the recording studio. This collaboration resulted in the release of a live CD and DVD titled “Secret”, which captured the magic of the Sons at their best, not just live … but Alive. The Sons of Champlin continued to tour as their schedules permitted, mostly on the West Coast and in the Pacific Northwest. There were more personnel changes, with Tal Morris, as well as the horn section, leaving the band to pursue other musical opportunities.
Sons of Champlin - Wikipedia
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Originally Posted by Hallam
