BREWER & SHIPLEY
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| artist: | BREWER & SHIPLEY |
| label: | KAMA SUTRA RECORDS KS0598 (?2058?) |
| release: | 1972, USA, LP |
| title: | RURAL SPACE |
| A-side: |
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| B-side: |
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| personnel: | Mike Brewer - Vocals & Guitars |
| comment #1: | This was the fifth album of Brewer & Shipley. |
| comment #2: | According to the ASCAP database and the liner notes of the album the co-author of the song is Diane Gravenites. However, it is commonly assumed this is a mistake. It should be Nick Gravenites. |
| comment #3: | Blue Highway is also covered by George Thorogood & The Destroyers (1982) |
| comment #4: | Before Prairie Prince joined the Tubes and the Jefferson Starship, he was helping out Michael Brewer and Tom Shipley on Rural Space , two albums after their hit "One Toke Over the Line." The project is at least consistent -- the type and style of music one would expect from Brewer & Shipley , but what's most noticeable on this odd collection of songs is that no progress is being made. The duo produce themselves here after Nick Gravenites did such a great job on the Weeds album, and the result is more like Chad & Jeremy gone hippy than what the audience might expect from these two fine musicians. "Have a Good Life" is a folksy Gregorian chant, while "Blue Highway" is a grooving coffeehouse sleepy strum. "Blue Highway" was written by David Getz of Big Brother & the Holding Company and credited also to a D. Gravenites, probably a misprint and most likely a co-write from their former producer, Nick Gravenites . It's one of the album's best tracks, and also the longest at close to six-and-a-half minutes. "Black Sky" is a tune by Steve Cash, and the song would grace the self-titled debut of his band, The Ozark Mountain Daredevils , a year after this unveiling. Jesse Winchester 's oft-covered "Yankee Lady" gets a fine treatment here; it's excellent singing and playing, with the first side having a bit more life than the second but with the notoriety of their hit record from early 1971, they could have played the game a little better. More spark and creativity was in order for a pair of folkies who found recognition, and the tune "Where Do We Go From Here" is truly prophetic -- they were going in circles. The cover art doesn't say much: a farmhouse and windmill on a stark plane with the modern logo flying in the air among the clouds overhead. It's good music without direction, adequate and not a bad listen years later, especially the strong "Sleeping on the Way," but at this particular point in time, they needed just a bit more. ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide |