Sunday, May 25, 2008

Renée Geyer - "Winner" (1978)




'I Miss You'


'Save Me'


'Apartment C & D'

One day soon we'll move on from Renée Geyer at this site, but some great things are appearing so we'll keep going for now :
Although her first U.S. release "Moving Along" (see previous post) had its troubles in the international market, there was enough interest for Polydor to fund the recording of a second album. Motown's Frank Wilson once again manned the console, however this time the Renée Geyer Band provided the rhythm section, ably supported by U.S. session players like Neil Larsen, Ernie Watts, Nate Morgan and the Tower Of Power horns (see credits below).

However, Geyer wasn't happy with either the mix or the promotion that Polydor were providing, and negotiated a release from her contract. She then brought the tapes home to Australia and remixed the album herself with the help of John Sayers and Christo Curtis. She toured the country promoting it, but neither the album nor the two singles released from it enjoyed the same success as previous releases.

One wonders whether Wilson's original mix of the album was more of the polished style that he applied to 1977's "Moving Along", but in any case, we've got a rawer final album here, more in the style of her 1975 album "Ready To Deal" (see previous post) with plenty of Rhodes, some good tracks and, of course, some great vocals.

Perhaps unhappy with its commercial failure, Renée herself has since referred to this album as "Loser", but she's being harsh : "I Miss You" stands out as a great piece of orchestrated jazzy soul, with even a bit of scatting; "Bad Side of the Blues" has a great vocal performance that precurses her later move into more blues-oriented territory; "Apartment C & D" is another one of those big production 70s soul numbers like "Stares and Whispers" on the previous album, with massive orchestration and some of the same writing team, and there's some good slow funk in "Save Me" and "Sweet Kisses". I put up a preview clip of "Money" at the previous "Rarities" post.

BIG BIG thanks to Micko from MidOzTouch for the 320 vinyl rip.

TRACKLIST

01. "Money (That's What I Want)" - 5.19 (Berry Gordy / Janie Bradford)
02. "I Miss You" - 4.50 (Melvin Robinson / Judy Wieder)
03. "Save Me" - 4.13 (Mark Punch / Garry Paige)
04. "Baby I'm the One" - 4.36 (Dee Erwin/Alexandra Brown)
05. "Baby Be Mine" - 3.46 (Jean Mc Clain)
06. "Sweet Kisses" - 6.28 (Mark Punch)
07. "The Magic is Still There" - 3.58 (Mark Punch / Garry Paige)
08. "Bad Side of the Blues" - 4.03 (John Finley / Katherine Ornelas)
09. "Apartment C & D" - 3.54 (John Footman / Judy Wieder / Ron Cederlund)
10. "I Don't Wanna Lose a Good Thing" - 3.50 (Jack Allen / Shelby Flint)

RENEE GEYER BAND

Renée Geyer: Vocals, Backing Vocals

Mark Punch: Guitar

Tim Partridge: Bass

Greg Tell: Drums


OTHER MUSICIANS

Guitars: Melvin Robinson

Piano, Clavinet, Synthesizer: Nate Morgan

Special Synthesizer Work: Michael Boddicker

Keyboards (Tracks 1,5): Neil Larsen

Saxophone: Ernie Watts

Horns (3,5,7): Tower Of Power Horns

Percussion: Jack Ashford; Frederick Lewis


OTHER CREDITS

Producer: Frank Wilson

Recorded at Crystal Sound Recording, Los Angeles, California

Mixing: John Sayers, Renée Geyer, Christo Curtis at Studio 301, Sydney, Australia

Horn Arrangements : Bruce Miller (Tower Of Power Horns)

String arangements : Bruce Miller, Sonny Burke, Jim Martin

Cover Illustration: Shane Conroy
Details from Wikipedia


24 comments:

paros said...

some great stuff you are sharing..its a shame where i live we can not use megaupload..thanks all the same...paros.

Simon666 said...

hey paros -
Micko uploaded this one - but i'll make a copy on rapidshare tomorrow at work. Check back :)

hooch said...

many thanks man!
the moving along album was superb, shes got a fabilous voice.

soulman said...

thank you very much - great stuff

cheers

Anonymous said...

Good stuff, she's defintely in the same league of Lydia Pense (Cold Blood). Thanx.

ps. I'm very curious of the album that she made with some cracks of AWB.

Stylen

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
soulbrotha said...

You are spoiling me! Thank you very much Simon. :)

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Simon666 said...

Sorry about the deletions folks, I'm having a discussion with someone about his re-posting of other people's links, but trying to keep the discussion OFF this site so we can discuss MUSIC here :)

Dreamer456 said...

Thanks so much. I really enjoyed your previous Renee Geyer posts.

Wone Nation said...

Micko........ Simon...... whoever's responsible for whateva.... thanks......

I may even write a flippin' story about Renee Geyer when I get done....... what? who? why? how?

Every time I hear her, those are the questions that run roughshod in my skull and that voice is just undeniable.

And that live Herbie?

Never Enough Rhodes man.......

Appreciation

The Axeman said...

Many thanks for all the Renee Geyer stuff. I hadn't heard of her before I discovered your blog. Keep up the great work!

Simon666 said...

Good that you guys are enjoying it!

Here's a RAPIDSHARE link for those of you who can't do Megaupload, contains tracks and artwork :

http://rapidshare.com/files/117748037/Ren_e_Geyer_-_Winner.zip

I'll gradually add rapidshare links to all posts, so check back soon.

AMM said...

many thanks again simon for this & rapid links m8!

Simon666 said...

No problems alex , more rapidshare added :
- Rhodes Compilation #3 (In Brazil) - need to scroll down comments
- Herbie Hancock Nice, Francec concert

Simon666 said...

- also Rapidshare link added to Renee Geyer -"Ready to Deal (1975)

http://rapidshare.com/files/117778101/renee_geyer_band_-_ready_to_deal__1975_.zip

... so all Renee Geyer downloads should be accessible now

k02 said...

Thank you.

MUFC said...

thank you for this one! sounds great. i need to check more of her stuff. again, thanks!

Simon666 said...

Hi guys, just posted the album ”Renée Geyer “It’s a Man’s Man’s World” (1974)

Gianni aka Cesare Barbetta said...

thanks again simon!
I love your blog!

invisiblenigma said...

Thanks Simon!

verystupidhead said...

Cheers Simon..my copy was worn out !! greatly appreciated..wondering about the album she did with Frank Wilson in LA...is that available ? ta muchly mate

Simon666 said...

hey verystupidhead,
glad to help :)
That albums's here :

http://neverenoughrhodes.blogspot.com/2008/05/moving-along-renee-geyer-1977.html

Ms.BeatJunkie!!! said...

breath takin'....never heard of her before. thanks for the introduction...Simon email me