Genre: rock
Rating: *** (3 stars)
Title: Humble Gathering
Company: Stang
Catalog: ST-1016
Year: 1970
Country/State: US
Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+
Comments: small cut out hole lover right corner
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 4572
Price: $100.00
Cost: $75.50
With Stang Records best known for soul acts such as The Moments, Humble Gathering isn't exactly the kind of act I expected to hear on this label. Not only that, but I've looked all over the place and found nothing on this outfit ... This doesn't even show up in Ken Scott's "Archivist" reference work.
Produced by
Michael Burton, I've had a tough time deciding how to classify 1970's
cleverly-titled "Humble Gathering".
In strictly musical terms this set is a mess, with tracks such as 'Hometown Beggar'
and 'Lora' seemingly trying to meld overt Christian themes with
a combination of Blood, Sweat and Tears styled horn rock, folk-rock moves
and soul influences. Sound weird? Well it is. The good
thing here is that most of the material (mostly written be Denny Betz, John
Garber and B. Humble), is surprisingly tight and on occasion ('Mr. James')
it actually rocks out with considerable conviction. Also, vocalists B.
Humble (great name) and Jack Vallati both have strong and attractive voices,
that injected
considerable energy into even the most secular lyrics ('Hymn #2000'). Mind
you, between the lyrics and the horn arrangements, this won't be for
everyone, but I've got to admit that once I got over the
weird hybrid of styles, the set's grown on me. I can even hum along
with some of the tracks.
"Humble Gathering" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Hymn #2000 (B. Humble - John Garber) -
2.) Hometown Beggar (B. Humble - John Garber) -
3.) Mr. James (B. Humble - Denny Betz) -
4.) Lora (B. Humble - Denny Betz) -
(side
2)
1.) Breakout (B. Humble - Denny Betz) -
2.) The Dog Song (B. Humble - Denny Betz) -
3.) Down the Highway (B. Humble - John Garber) -
4.) The Gathering (B. Humble - Denny Betz - Phillip Bennett) -