Chris White
Charisma 1976
CAS 1118
Chris White of the Zombies, produced by Shel Talmy... should be golden, right? Well it's not.
He really sparkled as a songwriter in the Zombies ("Butcher's Tale", "Nothing's Changed", "I Don't Want to Know"), he's a great producer, and his voice isn't totally awful... but for some reason this album is almost unlistenable. Perhaps not that extreme, but it's almost made that bad by how disappointing it is. I just can't believe that he and Shel Talmy listened to it upon completion and then nodding to each other agreed, "Yes, all right, that's perfect."
If you listened to it without knowing anything about it, you'd think it was the Beach Boys' worst album, recorded in the late '70s without Brian Wilson. There are, throughout, ridiculous vocal effects and bad '70s synthesizer solos, and all this is gussied up with totally incongruous strings and brass. Some of the songs sound almost like they're trying to be baroque funk. Ugh.
Each song has a gazillion vocal tracks, and for reasons which were probably lost in the '70s, he feels the need to harmonize with himself endlessly and needlessly. He even sounds kind of like Mike Love.
The worst thing is that his charm as a songwriter is totally lost. For the most part these are just bland, conventionally structured pop songs, totally lacking in nuance and inventiveness. Every time a glimmer of talent begins to shine through, it's obliterated by some disgusting and heavy-handed concession to what may have been marketable at the time. Mediocre songs poorly arranged and poorly produced.
If you find this album somewhere for a reasonable price, then by all means buy it. It's an interesting thing to have around as a conversation piece and the Charisma label is cool looking, but don't go out of your way to procure it.
Song Highlights: "Driftin'" and "Spanish Wine", but even these are not very good.
4 comments:
Just an FYI: the Mouth Music Chris White is not the Zombies bass player. The MM Chris is American, for one. Listen to the Zombies' Butchers Tale track from their Odessey & Oracle album to hear what the UK Chris sounds like.
Just FYI Steven, this Chris White is English through and through... still not an ex-Zombie, mind.
Yes - this IS the ex-Zombies Chris White, trust me. There are some good songs - Spanish Wine, Child of the Sun etc. so it can't be that bad!
100% it is Not Zombies Chris White. Ive loved this record for 30 years. My friend who runs the well bown IPO Festival in Liverpool finally met up with this Chris White and his wife last week ( see pic http://db.tt/Qz4jSme1 ). His homage to the Beach Boys is absoluely eautiful. If you're still not convinced, Google Chris Whits, you'll see the Zombies one, looks nothing like this present Chris.
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