CRYAN SHAMES / SYNTHESIS

Digitized from the original vinyl, released in 1968 on Columbia Records.
ALBUM INFO:
Produced by Jim Golden
Engineered by Fred Catero & Glen Kolotkin
Format: Mp3
Bit Rate: 320 Kbps
TRACK LISTING:
Greenburg, Glickstein, Charles, David Smith & Jones
Baltimore Oriole
It's All Right
Your Love
A Master's Fool
First Train To California
The Painter
Sweet Girl Of Mine
20th Song
Let's Get Together
Symphony Of The Wind
THE BAND:
Tom (Toad) Doody - Vocals
J.C. Hooke - Vocals, Percussion
Dave Carter - Vocals, Guitar
Alan Dawson - Vocals, Drums, Percussion
Lenny Kerley - Bass, Guitar, Vocals
Isaac Guillory - Bass, Guitar, Keyboard, Vocals
WEBSITE:
http://cryanshames.com
http://home.comcast.net/~mcduff01
REVIEW:

By Richie Unterberger

Synthesis is an apt name for an album that, like its predecessor, A Scratch in the Sky, proved the Cryan' Shames to be among the most versatile mainstream pop/rock groups of the late '60s. Versatile does not mean great, though, or especially interesting, and can also mean an absence of a solid identity. This record is more eclectic than it is exciting, though the material is well arranged and the group was accomplished harmony singers in particular. On "Greenburg, Glickstein, Charles, David Smith & Jones" they get heavy; with the cover of Hoagy Carmichael's "Baltimore Oriole," they get jazz/folk-rock progressive; on "It's All Right," it's jaunty country-rock; on "First Train to California," there's an almost-self-conscious straining for an MOR AM radio hit. The segueing together of tracks and occasional insertion of spacy instrumental and production flourishes indicate that they wanted to leave the impression of making a progressive statement. But it sounds for the most part like 1960s AM radio filler trying to get hipper with a touch of the far-out, the problem being that 1960s AM radio filler intrinsically cannot get too hip or far out. The 2002 Sundazed CD reissue of this odd mix of sunshine pop and mild pop-psychedelia adds eight bonus tracks. No less than six of them are single versions of tracks from the LP; the other two present both sides of their 1969 single, "Bits and Pieces"/"Rainmaker," which matched a country-rock original with a Harry Nilsson cover.
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