THE CRYAN SHAMES / A SCRATCH IN THE SKY

Digitized from the original vinyl, released in 1967 on Columbia records.
ALBUM INFO:
Produced By: Jim Golden & Bob Monaco for MG Productions
Engineering: Fred Catero, Glen Kolotkin
Cover Art: Don Hunstein, Sandy Speiser
Bit Rate: 320 Kbps
Format: Mp3
TRACK LISTING:
A Carol For Lorelei
The Sailing Ship
In The Cafe
Mr. Unreliable
The Town I'd Like To GoBack To
Up On The Roof
It Could Be We're In Love
Sunshine Psalm
I Was Lonely When
Cobblestone Road

Dennis Dupree From Danville

THE BAND:
Tom Doody (Toad) - Lead Vocals, Autoharp, Bells
Jim Pilster (J.C. Hooke) - Vocals, Percussion
Lenny Kerlay - Guitars, Bass, Tamboura, Arrangements, Vocals
Jim Fairs - Guitars, Basss, Mandolin, Flute, Bagpipes, Arangements, Vocals
Isaac Guillory - Bass, Guitar, Keyboard, Accordion, Cello, Vocals
Dennis Conroy - Drums, Percussion
WEBSITE:

http://cryanshames.com/index2.html

REVIEW:
By Lee J. Davito
This 1967 offering from Chicagos finest band easily outmatches anything up to this point in time...even The Beatles Sgt Pepper..not only in composition, musicianship and recording quality/techniques...but the fact it is timeless....You wont find and drug references here....Just a down to earth, sincere musical effort by 6 extremely talented guys who truly loved what they did.
It is a tragedy that Columbia didn't venture more advertising budget into this band.....They had Americas answer to The Beatles and didn't do anything about it.
Buy this CD...and sit back and remember back to 1967 (if you're old enough to)...and think about everything that had been recorded to that point in time...and see if you dont agree....this was truly an overlooked masterpiece.

===============

By Yours Truly,

I completely agree with Lee's sentiments above and would just like to add that I still enjoy this album to this day. The Vocals, the harmonies, the excellent bass playing, the great tunes, including probably the best version of Up On The Roof ever recorded....this is the complete package and for 1967 it was considerably ahead of it's time. The problem as I recall was that it came out just about the time the whole San Francisco sound came about and all of a sudden top 40 music and pop songs weren't "cool" anymore. The Cryan Shames, thru no fault of their own just couldn't win against the likes of Country Joe & The Fish, Jefferson Airplane and the rest of the radical new bands of the late 60's. Years later when I pulled this album out and played it, realizing that I still loved it, I decided it was a definitive classic of the genre and one that everyone should have the pleasure to listen to at least once. With that said I apologise for the obivious vinyl imperfections in spots, think of it as added ambiance from the era.

CONTACT:

READ THIS for more information on this album.

Tom