Genre: rock
Rating: 2 stars **
Title: The Staton Brothers Band
Company: Epic
Catalog: KE
31797
Year: 1972
Country/State: US
Grade (cover/record): VG / VG
Comments: promo radio sticker airplay suggestion sticker on back cover; sticker tear on front cover
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 5465
Price: $20.00
For a band signed by Clive Davis to a major label, this San Francisco-based outfit is pretty darned obscure ... Good luck funding much in the way of bibliographical information (what I'm showing is taken from the liner notes on their LP), let alone an in-depth review of their LP.
Their line up consisting of brothers Jeffrey and Michael Staton, rhythm guiatrist Hal Atkinson, and bassist Donny Mederos. Produced by John Simon, 1972's cleverly-titled "The Staton Brothers Band" made it clear these guys had been listening to quite a bit of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. That's not meant to be a criticism since I'm a bug CSN&Y fans. The good news was that several of these tracks were quite good in an imitative way. Largely written by Jeffrey Staton, 'S.F. To La', 'Take It Back' and 'I Need To Be Alone' showcased lots of strumming acoustic guitars, catchy melodies, and four-part harmony vocals. Much of the album could have been mistaken for CN&Y outtakes. Elsewhere their cover of Stephen Stills 'Four Days Gone' was very nice. Speaking of Stills, much of the album borrowed heavily from his Manassas-styled Latin influences - lots of Latin percussion. Okay, now for the negatives. Whichever Staton brother handled the lead vocals had a penchant for kicking into a wailing falsetto when trying to punch home a lyric. I'll call the results an acquired taste - check out the performance on their cover of the obscure Joni Mitchell track 'Night In the City'. Elsewhere the band's detours into sensitive singer/songwriter territory didn't do nearly as much for me. 'April' and their cover of The Beatles 'Mother Nature's Son' were pretty, but largely forgettable.
The band apparently undertook some touring in support of the LP (), but presumably based on lackluster sales, never managed to record a follow-up and quickly called it quits.
"The
Staton Brothers Band" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) S.F. To La (Jeffrey Staton) - 3:05
2.) Take It Back (Jeffrey Staton) - 3:03
3.) April (Jeffrey Staton) - 4:00
4.) No One Listens (Jeffrey Staton) -- 3:14
5.) I Need To Be Alone (Jeffrey Staton) - 3:21
6.) Four Days Gone (Stephen Stills) - 4:22
(side
2)
1.) Mobile Blues (Mickey Newbury) - 3:04
2.) One Man Woman (Jeffrey Staton) - 2:10
3.) Mother Nature's Son (John Lennon - Paul McCartney) - 3:59
4.) Ooh Did I Miss Her (Jeffrey Staton) - 2:42
5.) Night In the City (Joni Mitchell) - 4:04
6.) Bridge Of Your Faith (Jeffrey Staton) - 5:56
Mederos remains active in music, including playing in the California-based The Blues Defenders.
As Jeff Jones, Jeffrey Staton enjoyed some success as a writer and a studio musician supporting the likes of Alabama, Stephen Bishop and Art Garfunkel.
This write-up had only been up on the web for a couple of days when I got the following email from the group's production company:
August 2008