I BOUGHT THE MATRIX ALBUM ON RARE EARTH RECORDS FROM E-BAY AND IT IS GOOD CONDITION......I WAS EXCITED WHEN I WON THE BID AND COULD NOT WAIT TO PLAY IT.........SADLY I HAVE TO SAY THE GROUP DID A POOR PERFORMANCE AND I AM NOT IMPRESSED WITH THE ALBUM.......HOWEVER THEY DID "IN BED" PRETTY WELL AND "GOOD TIME SALLY" OK.........THE SONG "WINDOW" HAD POTENTIAL BUT IF RARE EARTH DID THE SONG JOHN PERSH WOULD HAVE DONE SONG VERY WELL( THE SONG WOULD HAVE FIT HIS VOICE).........I BELIEVE THAT TOM BAIRD,NICK ZESSES, DINO FEKARIS TALENTS ARE IN THE CONTROL ROOM AND NOT PERFORMING THIER SONGS...........PURISTS WOULD ARGUE THAT I AM FULL OF CRAP......IF ANY ONE HAS A CHANCE OF LISTENING TO THE ALBUM MUCH OF YOU WOULD AGREE WITH MY THOUGHTS.....
Interesting that you mention the song Window on the Matrix album as JP2 mentioned the same titled track for the Pyewackett recordings with John Persh which was supplied by Tom Baird, so maybe this is the same track. Thanks for the info MDF!
Interesting comment John, because when I read MDF's post the "Window" track also looked familiar to me. I had a feeling that R. Dean Taylor released it as a B side or album track on the Rare Earth label somewhere along the line. I've not checked this out but I bet Richard would know instantly.
I bought the "Road" LP by Road on ebay which features Rod Richards. Despite my anticipation, I can't say I was that excited about it, but then again it is 35 years old. Having said that, I much prefer One World which came out at a similar time. I think it is documented in Pete Rivera's book that Rod was very influenced by Jimi Hendrix and wanted to move in a different musical direction. Personally I'm glad that Rare Earth stayed true to their roots and gave us One World, In Concert, Willie Remembers and Ma. I don't dislike the post Ma albums or the pre One World stuff and there are some very good songs in there, but much as I wanted to love Rod's post Rare Earth career I have to say the Road LP is gathering dust in my record cupboard.
I see the Matrix album on ebay every now and then and keep wondering whether to bid. The HUB albums (Hoorelbeke Urso Baird) are well worth the investment.
I liked the album. I gave Tom Baird the idea for the " commercial " when I told him about the Park Lane " cigarettes " coming back from Viet Nam through friends of mine.
Thanks Richard. You are correct. It was Window Shopping I was getting confused with. I'd completely forgotten R. Dean Taylor was another artist who left Motown to record elsewhere.
I CHECKED OUT THE PYWACKETT POST AND I WAS TRUELY AMAZED THAT THEY DID THE SONG...... I HOPE PYWACKETT VERSION WAS DIFFERENT...MATRIX USED A GAZOO AT THE START OF SONG WHICH DOES NOT GIVE THE SONG JUSTICE TILL THE VOCAL KICK IN........MY FIRST THOUGHTS OF THE SONG WERE THAT....THIS SOUNDS LIKE JOHN PERSH COULD SING THIS AS WELL.......TOO BAD THEY COULD NOT GET THE ALBUM DEAL.......
I AGREE THAT THE HUB ALBUMS ARE WORTH THE INVESTMENTS......HOWEVER HAVING CD COPIES WOULD BE ALL THE BETTER.........BUT THEN AGAIN THAT IS LIKE TRYING TO PULL TEETH OUT OF A LION.....LOL!!
Well, the matrix and HUB albums will be a part of my project!
I am really digging Matrix. Mind you, it sounds unlike Rare Earth. Well, the background vocals remind me of those on Willie Remembers. Tom must've been great at getting those harmonies in shape because Pete, Mark, Gil & Mike blend well on Willie Remembers.
As for the matrix album, listen to the opening track "Soon". The melody is the same as in the final moments of "No. 1 Man" from Ecology. This makes sense as Tom Baird wrote both
In Bed is a nice version. Very different from the one on Get Ready. Three Dog Night also did a great cover of the song.
A nice cover of James Taylor's "Fire And Rain" too...J.T's is better but this ain't bad at all.
A Dream For The Longest Night...just as good as the HUB version, only without Pete on vocals.
Good Time Sally...one of my favorite songs by R.E. After all, it's the very first R.E. song I ever heard and also it's on the very first R.E. album I ever heard as well. A real highlight from the Matrix album.
Road is a good album...real power trio stuff. Rod was clearly influenced by Jimi Hendrix and Randy California.
Right, here's an album by a group with Nick Zesses and Dino Fekaris in it, the excellent Motown staff-writing team who were the writers of some of Rare Earth's best and biggest songs... that has only ONE song on the album written by Zesses and Fekaris! And the one they wrote is somewhere between a novelty and a joke, and instantly forgettable (thank heavens).
Team them up with Rare Earth's other quality writer -- as well as best producer -- Tom Baird, who barely managed to squeak out only one memorable song for this album, and what should have been the best album Rare Earth never did is something I would only listen to again by force, or sheer disbelief that it could actually be as bad as it is.
This is a good album. It wasn't destined to climb the charts with a bullet, but there is some great work. The production and string arrangements are top notch. There's more than one good song on the album in my opinion.
The Matrix LP was indeed a work of artistry supreme; The cover of "Fire & Rain" blows James Taylor's original (& even R. Dean Taylor's cover) away by *light-years!*
"In Bed" & "Good Time Sally" were, of course, The Much Regretted Tom Baird's own...and, IMHO, were personally handcrafted by said artiste to fit him more appropriately than the versions by Pete Hoorelbeke & Co., good as they are..
"Window" is a nifty little romp in the vein of Carl Stalling's "Looney Tunes" underscores.
Zesses/Fekaris' acapella "I Was Lonely (And They Laughed)" was quite interesting...well-executed and immaculately preformed.
"A Dream For The Longest Night" -- well, ditto the observation for "Bed" & "Sally"..the fade out was a GAS! (Who did the drumming on this?).
The Baird/Gordy collaboration "Ten Miles Beyond" is another masterpiece...though the "Thine, Thee, Thy" bits, as well as the choral parts kinda make it a bit OTT as far as loftiness is concerned.
I always dug the works of Baird, Zesses & Fekaris wherever they may have shown up at The Hitsville Empire; With Gladys Knight & Pips, The Undisputed Truth, Riot, Mike Campbell, The Originals, Rare Earth, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, XIT, whomever..
And the Matrix album only *cemented* the fact that Baird was one of the unhearlded "geniuses" within The Gordy Regime...and he left us all too soon..
Well, you know .. storyboarding, thinktanking, going *every* durn place with my cameras & pencils & paper...just paltry, trivial stuff...
Now that the 'love affair' between me & Time Warner has come to an end (The great daemon god called 'layoffs' in 2005), I have a nice little thing going with NBC Universal..there shall be *big* things comin' from Yours Truly's cameras & drawing boards....and *still* wanna have time to add *my* tuppence to all things Hitsville and Earth-bound. LOL!
