AllMusic Review by Joe Viglione [-]\
The beauty of all this is it is before Wright went off on his keyboard kick, saturating everything in keys and becoming some astral minstrel. It’s bothersome to give a record label credit after they’ve let an artist move on, but the placement of “Holy Water” with “Stand for Our Rights,” from Wright solo to Spooky Tooth, show how influential his contributions were to a band that boasted a future Mott the Hoople guitarist in Luther Grosvenor and future Foreigner with Mick Jones. While Black Sabbath covered Crow’s song “Evil Woman,” the Spooky Tooth song by Weiss became an underground classic. The dirge-like epic, all nine and a half minutes of it, is included here. As Jethro Tull was able to turn “Living in the Past” into a hit years after it was recorded, it is certainly a statement that A & M couldn’t climb the charts with a single from That Was Only Yesterday. Regardless, it is a treat to hear these songs in this context, and a great primer for Gary Wright’s pre-The Dream Weaver work. https://www.allmusic.com/album/that-was-only-yesterday-mw0001879392
AllMusic Review
by Joe Viglione
[-]
AllMusic Review
by Joe Viglione
[-] https://www.allmusic.com/album/headin-home-mw0000371772
Like Peter Frampton's Breaking All the Rules, this is a solid album by "the Dreamweaver," former Spooky Tooth member Gary Wright.
"I'm the One Who'll Be by Your Side" has a solid hook, but like the
aforementioned Frampton disc, it breaks no new ground. "My dreams were
shattered" he sings in "Follow Next to You," which is "Dreamweaver"
redux, but not as much as "Moonbeams," which is an absolute sequel to
"Dreamweaver" in melody and in sound. The album is a consistent clone of
previous work with one exception: "Love Is Why," a melodic, together,
perfect pop tune with simple, bouncy rhythms and keyboard providing a
dancing Gary Wright lead solo. It is the brightest light on Headin' Home,
which is quite entertaining despite the repetition. Transplanted from
New Jersey to Great Britain, he sounds very much like Denny Laine on
"Keep Love in Your Soul," not only vocally, but in the songwriting, if
you strip away the heavy keyboards. "Love is alive within your back
doors" he sings, referring to past work. The mystery of how radio and
records hit or miss is inherent in this album, as Wright
would reach the Top 20 in 1981, while this and albums that came before
it were part of a Top 40 dry spell, a void spanning five years. Though
not extraordinary, "Keep Love in Your Soul" is at least as good as "Love
Is Alive" and would have been a nice addition to the airwaves in 1979.
Rare acoustic guitars open "Love's Awake Inside," and it boasts a great
chorus. Wright's
voice is perfect on this outing, an album seemingly driven by a serious
relationship in crisis. As Bobby Hebb poured his first divorce into the
Epic album Lovegames, Wright
makes it clear to his significant other "You Don't Own Me": "Give me
room" he says, to "discover who I really am inside." The sentiment is
quite different from Lesley Gore's hit of the same name, and the album
appears to be an exploration of various themes of love. With David
Crosby, Graham Nash, Hugh McCracken, Steve Lukather, Wright's
sister Lorna Wright (a.k.a. Lorna Doone), Michael MacDonald, and so
many others, this fine album should have had a good run on the charts.
Maybe the problem is that Wright's
production keeps his guests in the background. With a different
producer, the same songs and performances could have possibly had much
greater success -- the magic is there, it just sounds too immersed in
previous efforts. Nonetheless, Headin' Home has much merit, and for fans of Gary Wright, it is very enjoyable.
Product Description
Lynn
Anderson calls Live at The Renaissance Center her first video, and the
venue sure looks different from when Freddy Fender played there (and
released a DVD by the same name). Backed up by four guys and two gals,
the singer abandons the heartbreak for a lovely rendition of the
Drifters "Under the Boardwalk," adding "Michael," "Ed" and "John" --
allegedly from her fan club -- doing ridiculous Drifters moves out of
sync and out of time. The singer makes it all charming, of course,
taking a costume change while the band rumbles through "Foggy Mountain
Breakdown." "Someday Soon" is as elegant as ever after an uptempo "Even
Cowgirls Get the Blues." The DVD set is chock-full of goodies,
interviews with Anderson before and after the show, web links, a
discography, a slide show; 44 chapters in all with the concert right in
the middle. "Rose Garden," of course, gets the audience off their seats,
and the accompaniment, including Wanda Vick on fiddle, mandolin, and
acoustic guitar, Buddy Skipper on piano, and Richard Stickley on drums,
doesn't skip a beat. It's a solid package for the singer's following and
country/pop music fans in general. ~ Joe Viglione
Product Description
Lynn
Anderson calls Live at The Renaissance Center her first video, and the
venue sure looks different from when Freddy Fender played there (and
released a DVD by the same name). Backed up by four guys and two gals,
the singer abandons the heartbreak for a lovely rendition of the
Drifters "Under the Boardwalk," adding "Michael," "Ed" and "John" --
allegedly from her fan club -- doing ridiculous Drifters moves out of
sync and out of time. The singer makes it all charming, of course,
taking a costume change while the band rumbles through "Foggy Mountain
Breakdown." "Someday Soon" is as elegant as ever after an uptempo "Even
Cowgirls Get the Blues." The DVD set is chock-full of goodies,
interviews with Anderson before and after the show, web links, a
discography, a slide show; 44 chapters in all with the concert right in
the middle. "Rose Garden," of course, gets the audience off their seats,
and the accompaniment, including Wanda Vick on fiddle, mandolin, and
acoustic guitar, Buddy Skipper on piano, and Richard Stickley on drums,
doesn't skip a beat. It's a solid package for the singer's following and
country/pop music fans in general. ~ Joe Viglione
Product Description
Lynn
Anderson calls Live at The Renaissance Center her first video, and the
venue sure looks different from when Freddy Fender played there (and
released a DVD by the same name). Backed up by four guys and two gals,
the singer abandons the heartbreak for a lovely rendition of the
Drifters "Under the Boardwalk," adding "Michael," "Ed" and "John" --
allegedly from her fan club -- doing ridiculous Drifters moves out of
sync and out of time. The singer makes it all charming, of course,
taking a costume change while the band rumbles through "Foggy Mountain
Breakdown." "Someday Soon" is as elegant as ever after an uptempo "Even
Cowgirls Get the Blues." The DVD set is chock-full of goodies,
interviews with Anderson before and after the show, web links, a
discography, a slide show; 44 chapters in all with the concert right in
the middle. "Rose Garden," of course, gets the audience off their seats,
and the accompaniment, including Wanda Vick on fiddle, mandolin, and
acoustic guitar, Buddy Skipper on piano, and Richard Stickley on drums,
doesn't skip a beat. It's a solid package for the singer's following and
country/pop music fans in general. ~ Joe Viglione
Product Description
Lynn
Anderson calls Live at The Renaissance Center her first video, and the
venue sure looks different from when Freddy Fender played there (and
released a DVD by the same name). Backed up by four guys and two gals,
the singer abandons the heartbreak for a lovely rendition of the
Drifters "Under the Boardwalk," adding "Michael," "Ed" and "John" --
allegedly from her fan club -- doing ridiculous Drifters moves out of
sync and out of time. The singer makes it all charming, of course,
taking a costume change while the band rumbles through "Foggy Mountain
Breakdown." "Someday Soon" is as elegant as ever after an uptempo "Even
Cowgirls Get the Blues." The DVD set is chock-full of goodies,
interviews with Anderson before and after the show, web links, a
discography, a slide show; 44 chapters in all with the concert right in
the middle. "Rose Garden," of course, gets the audience off their seats,
and the accompaniment, including Wanda Vick on fiddle, mandolin, and
acoustic guitar, Buddy Skipper on piano, and Richard Stickley on drums,
doesn't skip a beat. It's a solid package for the singer's following and
country/pop music fans in general. ~ Joe Viglione
Product Description
Lynn
Anderson calls Live at The Renaissance Center her first video, and the
venue sure looks different from when Freddy Fender played there (and
released a DVD by the same name). Backed up by four guys and two gals,
the singer abandons the heartbreak for a lovely rendition of the
Drifters "Under the Boardwalk," adding "Michael," "Ed" and "John" --
allegedly from her fan club -- doing ridiculous Drifters moves out of
sync and out of time. The singer makes it all charming, of course,
taking a costume change while the band rumbles through "Foggy Mountain
Breakdown." "Someday Soon" is as elegant as ever after an uptempo "Even
Cowgirls Get the Blues." The DVD set is chock-full of goodies,
interviews with Anderson before and after the show, web links, a
discography, a slide show; 44 chapters in all with the concert right in
the middle. "Rose Garden," of course, gets the audience off their seats,
and the accompaniment, including Wanda Vick on fiddle, mandolin, and
acoustic guitar, Buddy Skipper on piano, and Richard Stickley on drums,
doesn't skip a beat. It's a solid package for the singer's following and
country/pop music fans in general. ~ Joe Viglione
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