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The 1970’s must have been a wild time for anyone in love with music. The early part of the decade had hard rock and Motown R&B ruling the roost, but by the end of it you had burgeoning New Wave, disco and outlier acts controlling charts like no tomorrow. And that’s not even mentioning all the amazing experimentation going on in everything from folk to progressive rock to Berlin School electronica. In some ways, this was the wild, wild west of popular music history: record executives would greenlight anything and anyone across disparate styles and genres because you never know who might stick with the newly LP-hungry public. Perhaps moreso than ever before or ever again, commercial audiences actually dug diversity. Due to the nature of the era though, only the best would rise to the top in any form or fashion regardless of their musical identity. Gino Vannelli, an experimental Canadian jazz-pop singer blessed with one of the most powerful and distinctive voices to ever grace a human being, is perhaps the primest example of just how weird and encompassing your music could be whilst still attaining international stardom. Layers of spacey synthesizers meets proggy lounge rock meets hard jazz-fusion? Plus he sings and writes all his own stuff? Only the 70’s could produce a prodigy like this- -cheeseball afro and all. His backstory is fairly interesting too: the whole Vannelli family were verrrrrry music oriented, and Gino was already writing and recording his own tunes by the time he was in his early teens. Eventually after a post-high school deal with RCA went sour and a few performances in New York, he and his siblings packed their bags and made an all-or-nothing gamble to get signed in L.A. They waited in the rain for hours outside the home of A&M executive and trumpeter Herb Alpert in desperation, willing to do anything for an ear, an audition…any acknowledgement at all. Thankfully, a brief listen to their demo material impressed him to the extent where he signed Gino and his brothers mere days later. And thus the career of a goofball was set in motion! Anywho, this artist spotlight will be zeroing in on this pop maestro’s rather intriguing mid to late 70’s six album run, starting from sophomore album Powerful People and ending with 1981’s Nightwalker. Also, Gino still records, performs, etc….but although he’s still great today, the dude was operating at such an amazing level of craft and performance in his prime that its become the stuff of legend in some circles, and that’s what I’m gonna cover. So welcome to the world of one Gino Vannelli. It’s a very weird, funky and fascinating set of albums we’ll be looking over here, but I hope you guys enjoy the ride. |
Strangely enough Crimson Glory missed my radar and its thanks to The Batlord that I found out about them, loved most of what I've heard and looking forward one day to put them into my journal and you've written some good stuff about them.
Tough Guys Don't Dance hell I remember that film when it came out (yer I'm that old) and I remember reading a review before seeing it and it got the lowest rating possible which was 1 star (a dud) but strangely enough I thought it was nowhere as bad as it was made out to be.I never realised that Queensryche were your favourite band but I can certainly see why you would love them, Queensryche = Classic Metal meets AOR:) |
^ Thanks for all the feedback US! Tough Guys Don't Dance is one of those "so bad its good" movies, but at the time it was universally panned. As far as the 'Ryche goes...yeah, love all their stuff up to Promised Land. I'll be interested in seeing you review The Warning or maybe their EP come 1983/84 in your journal. :D
Now then, onto Gino Vannelli... Powerful People (1974) 1. People Gotta Move (3:22) 2. Lady (3:43) 3. Son Of A New York Gun (3:23) 4. Jack Miraculous (2:41) 5. Jo Jo (3:41) 6. Powerful People (6:12) 7. Felicia (3:05) 8. The Work Verse (2:54) 9. Poor Happy Jimmy [Tribute To Jim Croce] (5:13) After an interesting yet ultimately too brief debut, 1973’s Crazy Life, it was hard to say whether or not Gino would be yet another promising talent who would drop off the A&M roster into unknown oblivion or rise to the occasion and stake something unique into the musical landscape that could launch him to great heights. The latter turned out to be the case, but not for the reasons anyone would have expected. Gino’s brother, Joe Vannelli, figured out how to overdub multiple synthesizers convincingly in both a studio and live setting, resulting in a futuristic and (at the time) unorthodox complement to Gino’s jazzy, melodic approach to songwriting. Coupled with some great production values, Powerful People was the record that began to solidify a unique sound which would become Gino’s calling card for the remainder of the decade. And when I say unique, I mean in the sense nobody else sounded like the combination of Gino and Joe Vannelli. Spacey synth-laden lounge funk in 1974? That’s pretty progressive if you ask me! Folks primarily remember this record for opening number ‘People Gotta Move’, a catchy yet slightly off kilter R&B shuffler that hit #22 on the Billboard Top 100 and gave the Vannellis some much needed exposure. But as good as that particular single is, the Hammond-drenched love ballad ‘Lady’ and the six minute title track are better: tantalizing hints of what Gino is capable of as a lyricist and composer when he's working with the right ideas. You get the impression that he’s got a musical depth and aural attention to detail that rivals that of Elton John or Todd Rundgren when he's on the money. Yet due to his showy stage behavior and his jazzy inclinations, he ended up getting lumped in with guys like Tony Bennett, Tom Jones and Barry Manilow. I guess people get put in boxes whether or not we agree with them, but anyone who really listens to this record and beyond can say that Gino was pigeonholed unfairly. Lyrically, things range from thought-provoking to simple & repetitious. The music itself is always interesting of course (such as the Gospel/Bossa Nova hybrid ‘Jo Jo’) but despite some surprisingly moving moments of observation like in the opening section of the title track (Look at the powerful people / Stealing the sun from the day / Wish I could do something about it / When all I can do is pray), Gino tends to walk a fine line between the insightful and the ridiculous on all his records. But hey, sometimes we need to laugh in between all those romantic yearnings and social commentary eh? :yeah: So despite still having a few kinks to work out here and there, this is the first album that really establishes the Gino Vannelli sound going into the mid 70’s. But as solid as this collection is, this is pretty tame compared to later albums. The best, as they say, was yet to come... |
Storm At Sunup (1975) 1. Storm At Sunup (6:37) 2. Love Me Now (3:44) 3. Mama Coco (3:06) 4. Father And Son (3:13) 5. Where Am I Going (7:47) 6. Keep On Walking (3:49) 7. Love Is A Night (3:51) 8. Gettin’ High (3:25) Thanks to ‘People Gotta Move’, a lot of big doors opened for Gino and co. He started touring with Stevie Wonder, became one of the first Caucasian performers to get featured on Soul Train, and suddenly found himself with an audience larger than he could have dreamed of waiting for his next set of songs. That’s a lot to take in over the course of a year, so where would Gino go with his next album? If 1975’s Storm At Sunup was of any indication, the answer was to expand the grandeur of his sound with busier, bigger songs. Carl Sagan once said that the universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human ambition, but when you are the master of your own kind of universe, why not raise the stakes and shoot for the moon? As a result, this album is a marked improvement over Powerful People: the shorter songs are a bit punchier and the longer cuts rank among his best work ever. On top of that, he got drummer Graham Lear (Santana) and guitarist Jay Graydon (Steely Dan) to contribute to the songwriting and arrangements (as well as performance). These new, coagulating elements bring about an overall evolution to Gino's sound that comes across as a pop-oriented take on the Mahavishnu Orchestra. There’s still the spacey synthesizer and electric piano playing of Joe Vannelli, but you also get some instrumental sax/drum interplay on the title track and a series of synth/guitar/sax duals on the jawdroppingly awesome ‘Where Am I Going’. Clocking at nearly 8 minutes, it’s a jazzy progressive rock number that deals with a man’s inner reconciliation with life, death and the nature of time, and a big indicator of what Gino can do at his best from a compositional standpoint: its leagues in quality above anything on Powerful People. Very dramatic, operatic vocal hook going on here too, comparable to some of the best stuff Queen was doing at the time with Freddie Mercury. On the more radio-length side of the pond, the Broadway-esque material is actually pretty interesting. The harmonica/Rhodes flavored ‘Keep On Walking’ and the eerie synth-washed waltz ‘Love Me Now’ stand out the most of the bunch, but the number will raise the most eyebrows is the lyrically ironic stoner lounge of ‘Gettin’ High’, where Gino assures us that “I don't care much for smokin' weed / You know, I'm a man of a different breed / I don't thrive on drinking alcohol / 'Sides, I'm feelin' much too tall”. He goes on to say he’s not getting stoned, yet it’s pretty easy to picture people lighting up the second that single ‘45 of this B-side started spinning on the table… So all n’ all, this album elevated Gino from one-hit wonder to bonafide recording artist. Although some criticisms were directed toward the seemingly schizophrenic songwriting tendencies exhibited by this album to say that Gino “veered from the ridiculous to the sublime with absolutely no middle ground”, people were starting to realize that there was some serious talent at play here. Question was, where was that talent going to go next? The answer, of course, was a concept record. Stay tuned! |
The Gist Of The Gemini (1976) 1. Love Of My Life (4:30) 2. Ugly Man (3:54) 3. A New Fix For ‘76 (3:32) 4. Omens Of Love (4:31) 5. Fly Into This Night (3:27) THE WAR SUITE 6. Prelude To The War [Instrumental] (4:32) 7. The Battle Cry [Instrumental] (1:52) 8. To The War (4:34) 9. Carnal Question (2:36) 10. After The Last Battle [Instrumental] (2:04) 11. To The War [Reflection] (2:02) 12. Summers Of My Life (4:28) The idea of crafting a concept record is always fraught with the risk of providing too much pretension and not enough actual content to justify the album’s existence. Music has always been a storytelling medium, but only the minority of record buying audiences give a damn about song cycles or thematic extrapolation. Even back in the 70’s, you needed that hit single somewhere or your LP was practically dead on arrival for promoters. So in light of changing audience expectations and waning attention spans, what does a afro-sporting troubadour do to remain viable? The answer, of course, was a matter of structure. The Gist Of The Gemini marks the first of two occasions where Gino would delve into the process of writing classical suites, with the aforementioned War Suite taking up all of side B. The first half of the album, on the other hand, is strong collection of songs in and of itself but not directly related to the suite. That being said, while Gino Vannelli’s songwriting style may swing from jammy to hammy in the space of minutes, even a ham sandwich can be amazing with the right amount of cheese….and there’s plenty of that here! So, on to the meat: first thing you’ll notice there's less of jazz influence and more of a late 70’s progressive vibe goin' round. A steady electronic drum kick and some huge synths lead opening number ‘Love Of My Life’, and despite some falling into the goofier side of Gino’s lyricism (You broke the wings of a weary vagabond/ And I’m stranded on the island of your love), it’s great, layered fun. Things head into Alan Parsons Project territory on a couple of numbers afterward, particularly on the sonorous ‘Omens Of Love’ and the whirling after hours highway fireball that is ‘Fly Into This Night’, where Gino launches into a falsetto so high & sharp on the chorus it’s hard to believe it’s a human voice. But again, all part of the charm – progressive rock, yacht rock, synth-pop balladry: Gino Vannelli is well entrenched in all of these traditions and somehow makes them all his own. Whether he hits the mark or just comes off as a complete Italio-Canadian goofball, nobody sounds like him. And in the grand scheme of things, being completely unique and incomparable to others is the greatest compliment one can pay any artist. The War Suite which takes up side 2 is a mostly instrumental excursion with a number of highlights throughout, though obviously its something that meant to be listened to as a singular composition. A full blown orchestra was brought in for it, and when Gino lets his voice rise above the instrumental clamor on ‘To The War’, you realize he actually has a knack for carrying grand accounts about mankind, the pointlessness of war, the bitter homecoming of the veterans and other heady stuff with levity (though the lyrics of ‘Carnal Question’ are kinda funny). The suite ain’t half bad from a musical perspective either: the band is playing at such a furious pace at times that you can smell the electricity brewing in the storm they’re stirring up in studio. This album marks the midway point in Gino’s charismatic six album run, and also paints a lucrative picture of just how confident he was at this point in his career. All the live touring experiences and public exposure has made him a better frontman and a more ambitious songwriter, and since most of the lineup from Storm At Sunup has carried over to this one (including Jay Graydon on guitar), the chemistry between everyone was at an all time peak. All that being said, the album did pretty well commercially and got some radio play with ‘Fly Into This Night’ and closing cut ‘Summers Of My Life’. A&M was happy, a new breed of art rock fandom found Gino’s more ambitious approach interesting, and Canada was already considering turning the dude into a natural treasure. And yet it wasn't quite enough for our bushy afro'd hero. The next album, he said, would go "bigger and bolder". But what exactly would that entail? Keep your eyes on these reviews to find out! |
A Pauper In Paradise (1977) 1. Mardi Gras (3:28) 2. Valleys Of Valhalla (4:23) 3. The Surest Things Can Change (4:36) 4. One Night With You (4:19) 5. A Song And Dance (3:40) 6. Black And Blue (4:23) 7. A Pauper In Paradise (15:57) 1977: a strange year where schmaltzy disco had begun to peak across skating rinks and clubs across the U.S. just as New Wave and punk music began dethroning art-rock, prog-rock and all manners of the virtuosic in popular consciousness. This was also noted as the year where jazz-fusion started cross pollinating with soul, funk and R&B in order to achieve greater commerciality. Taking note of this last trend in particular yet desiring to walk his own way like he'd always done, Gino Vannelli went into studio with his brothers once more to record what would become A Pauper In Paradise. It was, as expected, a step forward in some respects from The Gist Of The Gemini, stripping out the guitar and overt progressive “rock” elements and bringing in sax and a funk centered carnival flair to complete the package. The core ‘Gino’ sound remained of course: there’s plenty of groove and balladry going on here, but at this point it’s all been refined to the point of science. No weak tracks, no weird left-field deviations into questionable songwriting ideas: everything’s on target. Despite (or perhaps because of) a nearly 16 minute orchestral jazz-funk epic on Side B from which the album derives its name, A Pauper In Paradise is probably my favorite album from Cap’n Afro and one of the best lounge rock albums ever depending on how much you enjoy the "Vannelli sound". Things start off with a bang, as it were, with the phantasmagorical shuffle of ‘Mardi Gras’. Gino’s having a wild night in Louisiana and making sweet, sweet love to Cajun womenfolk all over! OH THE HUGHMANITY!! Pretty swell way to kick off in any case, particularly about midway in when Joe Vannelli cuts loose at 'dem keays and goes all Emerson, Lake & Palmer on us. Woooaahh dawg, them housewives can’t handle that! That being said, usual lyric pretensions aside, Gino’s made a straight up late night R&B album here through and through. No grand statements about society, no universal observations – this is an album purely about love, romance and all that other cheesy, sentimental stuff that the musical elite can’t handle in more than small doses. But, as usual, the music is so well done that you can forgive him for his cheesy trespasses – ‘The Surest Things Can Change’ is a stellar Rhodes-laced ballad whilst ‘Valleys Of Valhalla’ is one of those great lost pop gems (complete with a sax solo) that DJs love to pull out of the hat just to fuck with people’s expectations on 70's Night. It also features the following verse which is as amusing as it is genius (take me to heaven /On this cold Norwegian night / My skin is unleaven / Untouched and so unsanctified / Feel the flame that burns my pagan soul). You simply have to applaud the man: it takes a special kind of talent to make lyrics like that work. Doubt even ol’ Frank Zappa could pull that one off with a straight face! xD Still, it’s the title track on the second half of the album where you can’t help but be in awe. Gino’s probably the only guy besides Alan Parsons back in the 70’s who has ever successfully blended proggy rock band virtuosity with the grand arrangements of an ensemble like the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and made it work. If you loved ‘The Fall Of The House Of Usher’ from 1976’s Tales Of Mystery & Imagination, you will absolutely adore what Vannelli is going for here. Four movements of sheer celestial force, the soundtrack to a movie we’ll never see… So how does this baby measure up to the last few albums? Well for one thing, it served as the finale and peak of Gino’s purely synthesizer driven era. But if Gist… was very cold and Storm At Sunup jazzy & psychedelic, A Pauper In Paradise is a pure party album, and one that did an excellent job at tapping into the late 70’s R&B/disco market whilst still sounding like something that naturally evolved from previous recordings. Yet consider: the fact that Gino still composed and included a full blown epic to end the album shows that he still enjoyed pushing himself compositionally and seeing just how far down the rabbit hole his typically non-prog audiences might follow him. A&M respected him enough creatively at this point to let the Gino machine record whatever it wanted and not even bat an eye. Of course, what nobody could have predicted was that Gino’s best album had yet to emerge from the void of precreative thought. And with it, a #1 single that would rule the world for atleast a year or more. See ya next time folks! |
Always an interesting read, ant my man! I bet there are people who don't even know who Gino Vanelli is, including me. I think I heard his name on some seventies pop or disco song once. Your usual off-the-wall approach is one of the many reasons why your journal is so successful and consistently readable. Keep it up my friend!
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Unknown Soldier: I really appreciated that nomination back then. BTW, noticed you're a couple albums into the 80's for your journal, so keep up the reviews there too. :) |
Brother To Brother (1978) 1. Appaloosa (4:44) 2. The River Must Flow (3:48) 3. I Just Wanna Stop (3:37) 4. Love And Emotion (3:49) 5. Feel Like Flying (5:17) 6. Brother To Brother (7:16) 7. Wheels Of Life (4:14) 8. Evil Eye (4:14) 9. People I Belong To (4:01) And so at last we arrive at Brother To Brother..and as far as both the general populace and critics are concerned, Gino's strongest album. AKA, the culmination of five albums' worth of development and the LP that took the charts by storm with 'I Just Wanna Stop', one of the biggest one hit wonder ballads of the decade. So, for all intents and purposes, this record touched the zeitgeist for late 70's R&B audiences and introduced Gino to an audience probably tens of times larger than he already had internationally. But all of this would mean nothing if the rest of the album wasn't good... ...but of course, we don't have that problem here. If anything, I also consider this his best effort overall for a number of reasons. Firstly, there's the new lineup behind the songs: it's an allstar cast. Just to list a few, you have Marvin Gaye sideman Ernie Watts on sax, the drummer from jazz-fusion violinist Jean-Luc Ponty's band Mark Craney, not to mention electric bass god Jimmy Haslip. And if that's not enough, you have two guitarists and an absolutely bitchin' production and mixing job that really kicks where it needs to. Furthermore, a more rock band oriented ensemble makes everything sound more vital and in your face than Gino's more synthesizer led material was. And the songs? Well, you can have your catchy funk-rock and eat it too with arpeggiated 'Appaloosa', Santana-esque 'Love And Emotion' plus the titanic title track that serves as the album's centerpiece and strongest moment overall. Lots of guitar solos and fiery interplay on all these babies of course, which is of course interesting to hear in any R&B album from the era. What makes this album particularly fun though is that even the ballads and mid-tempo numbers here groove harder, flow better and have basslines as thick as California redwoods than anything on past Gino recordings. And as for 'I Just Wanna Stop'...well, its obviously nowhere near the best song on the album, but you can see why it went to #1. It's got a swingin' hook, a slick beat and Gino's voice in prime condition. What's not to like? So here it is folks, the peak of an artist in action in his element. You go from nascent synthesizer lounge music in '74 and four years later are pulling off complicated guitar driven jazz pop-fusion musical collections like it was nothing. But being able to replicate it live on top of that? This dude was simply on another level by '78, and you hear it on every note in these songs. It's a level of consummate professionalism and performance most people can only dream of, a high tier occupied by only the best frontmen, women and walking phenomena such as David Bowie, Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, etc. But last but not least, we'll be back after these messages with the last album in my Gino series next time. Goodnight and good luck. :wavey: |
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