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If you're the kind of person who buys homemade, locally-issued
thrift store records in search of a more personal sound, this collection
of instrumentals may be right up your alley. For us, the moods captured
here are as deep and soulful as it gets for this genre.
Recorded in in drummer Harold Collins' parent's living room, this is the
one and only document left behind by Louisiana's Reflections, who KO'd
all comers in local battle of the bands contests and worked weekends at
the Holiday Inn down the road in Slidell. This was 13 year old Collins'
first professional gig and his drowsy, rat-a-tat-tat jazz style lends
a flavorful back beat to to the selections. The deft organ work and soul-stirring
horn and guitar solos from Allis Murray is what pushes this one over the
top. Incredibly, she performed all three instruments at once, working
the organ with a foot pedal. "Would you believe a five-piece band
with only two people in it?" begins the liner notes... "We're
not putting you on. The sounds you will hear on this album are two people...No
double-track recording tricks, no extra help -- just two of the best musicians...playing
their favorite numbers."
Multi-tasking aside, what lures us are the haunting moods captured in
Murray originals "Autumn in the Air" and "Evening by the
Sea" and cover tunes like "Moonlight in Vermont". The rickety,
upbeat jazz/surf numbers are brimming with personality as well, in fact
if the whole album were made up of these, it'd still be a top thrift store
keeper.
As original vinyl copies are virtually non-existent, we are thrilled to
have worked with the artists on this humble CD-R reissue and hope very
much you'll grow as fond of it as we have. Allis and Harold, thank you
for your fantastic album! |
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Original LP and CD cover
[click for large version]
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