Genre: rock
Rating: 3 stars ***
Title: Trials and Tribulations
Company: Vanguard
Catalog: VSD
6565
Year: 1970
Country/State: US
Grade (cover/record): VG+ / VG+
Comments: white label
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 5697
Price: $75.00
The first couple of times I spun this one I felt these guys were a little too much in awe of Robbie Robertson and the Band for my tastes. That changed the more I listened to this album. While there was a distinctive Band influence throughout the collection, what originally struck me as being immitative turned out to be quite likeable and even a little more original than I initially thought. Also, I didn't know it at the time, but it turned out there were actually a couple of tie-ins to Robertson and The Band.
Can't say I know a great deal about these guys. The line up featured drummer Gene Fuchs, singer/keyboardist Jim Harvey, singer/lead guitarist John Wilf, and bassist Sonny Wilf. They somehow attracted the attention of Vanguard Records which signed them to a contract, teaming the with producer Bob Scherl for 1970's cleverly-titled "Trials and Tribulations". Most of the dozen tracks were penned by the Wilf brothers with keyboardist Harvey co-writing 'Message' (one of the standout performance). Harvey and Sonny Wilf shared lead vocal duties. One of the two had kind of a nasally delivery that wasn't the most impressive voice you've ever heard. In fact on tracks like 'Sing (Don't Ever Worry If You're Gonna Die)' and 'Friend of Mine' you were left to wonder whether he was actually going to make it through the entire song. Luckily his occasionally ragged voice was well suited for the band's Americana-influenced repertoire and the group regularly showed themselves to be capable harmony singers ('Simple Song of Freedom'). The second lead singer was far better, baring a mild resemblance to a less manic David Clayton-Thomas on selections like 'Hallelujah' and the pretty ballad 'Thoughts That Rhyme'. Moreover, exemplified by performances like the rocker 'Message', the country-flavored ballad 'Calgary Lady' and 'Friend of Mine' the brothers had a knack for penning material that was under-the-table catchy and commercial. It made for FM material that would have sounded good on AM radio. The other big surprises were Harvey's always tasteful keyboards (good example found on 'Can't Change You Fate') and John Wilf''s equally impressive guitar. While he wasn't a showy player, whenever the spotlight was on Wilf, he made full use of it ... check out the solo on 'Friend of Mine', or his work at the end of 'Home'. Very nice ! So back to The Band tie-ins ... the two Dylan covers 'Please Mrs. Henry' and 'Open the Doom Homer' (the latter sounding like a Thunderclap Newman track) were recorded by Dylan and the Band and released on "The Basement Tapes". Elsewhere 'Stones That I Throw' was a Robbie Robertson track. (Recorded by Levon and The Hawks the song was originally entitled 'The Stones I Throw (Will Free All Men)'.). Another quirky tie-in; John Wilf wrote and produced the soundtrack to the film "End of the Line" which co-starred The Band's Levon Helm.
Vanguard didn't exactly bust a corporate gut trying to promote the album, but did release an instantly obscure single:
- 1971's 'Please Mrs. Henry' (stereo) b/w 'Please Mrs. Henry' (mono) (Vanguard catalog number 35124)
And that appears to be it for the band, which was s shame given their considerable talent.
"Trials
and Tribulations" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Please Mrs. Henry (Bob Dylan) - 2:55
2.) Sing (Don't Ever Worry If You're Gonna Die) (John Wilf - Sonny Wilf) - 2:56
3.) Message (Jim Harvey - John Wilf) - 4:09
4.) Stones That I Throw (Jaime Robbie Robertson ) - 1:58
5.) Calgary Lady (John Wilf - Sonny Wilf) - 2:32
6.) Home (John Wilf - Sonny Wilf) - 4:15
7.) Simple Song of Freedom (Bob Darin) - 3:51
(side
2)
1.) Open the Door Homer (Bob Dylan) - 3:14
2.) Hallelujah (John Wilf - Sonny Wilf) - 2:58
3.) Friend of Mine (John Wilf - Sonny Wilf) - 3:19
4.) Thoughts That Rhyme (John Wilf - Sonny Wilf) - 3:13
5.) Can't Change Your Fate (John Wilf - Sonny Wilf) - 7:14
Harvey lives in South Carolina where he serves as the editor of Piano Technicians Journal and works as an in-demand keyboard technician.