This startling track produced by Dan Fogelberg's Producer Nortbert Puttman, on an album full of covers and sonic experimentation.
A funky track with Lap steel harmonics, trickling piano vamps, kalamazoo sounding harmonicas before the lonesome harmonies lead by Matthews enter in, the backing piano and rhythm section give a lite jazz beat to the proceedings. It has a mix of Dan Fogelberg and Kenny Loggins, with it's odd choice of instruments with a dissonant melody is all keeping with the frankly ridiculous album picture of a airbrushed, handsome box car racer with flaxen hair and raised cheekbones, hardly resembling Matthews's less photogenic face and shaggier look. Also on the Go For Broke album is a haunting Kraut rock inspired version of Darkness, Darkness with ethereal synthesizers sounding like glassy organs with ARP melodies that ping out in a thick, eastern lines that mimic pan's flute. There is also a dreadfully analogue sounding, Caribbean version of Hall and Oates's When The Morning Comes that plain don't work. However the arpeggio drenched, New Wave song Rhythm of the West, features Matthews on more folk driven malaise type of material plus a layered Moog part, though Lonely Hunter remains the sterling piece from a colourful misstep.
Though you can't argue that the use of AfroCarribean rhythms, synthesizers and electric pianos make his arrangements stand out a bit more and mirror what Richie Furay was doing with more soul and success in his solo career. As singer songwriters of the confessional folk rock of the early 70s beefed up their songs with more instruments and orchestras, the 'Less is More' School was now out in the second half of the 70s.
No comments:
Post a Comment