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Boyer & Talton and Cowboy
ByCowboy
Boyer & Talton
Real Gone Music
2018
Quotes from interviews with Tommy Talton, combined with photos from his personal archive are more value-added than the bonus tracks here, both of which also appear on The Gregg Allman Tour (Capricorn, 1974). Yet real style and substance remains in the mellifluous blend of the co-leaders' singing, which suitably decorates a dozen songs, like "Everyone Has A Chance to Feel," as unaffected as the authors' voices. Played and recorded with a crew of collaborators still within the Capricorn family-at the time of this recording prior to the dynasty's decline-there are no pretensions to profundity or innovation on this record, but only an honest reaffirmation of the natural charm of Boyer and Talton's music. The duo consent to honor more stylized Dixie rock overtones, but wisely relegate their act of homage to a pair of instrumentals, "Road Gravy Chase" and "Houston Vamp," the combination of which elevates the warm informality of the sessions described in Scott Schinder's liner notes; the accuracy of his essay, in conjunction with this reissue label's wise decision to replicate the original cover graphics, adds to the overall authenticity of this release.
Cowboy
Cowboy
Real Gone Music
2018
Although this eponymous release features a wholly different lineup of personnel than the Cowboy ensembles Scott Boyer and Tommy Talton previously led, it is nevertheless rightly titled. The buoyant vocal harmonies may be a given on tracks like "Take It All the Way" and "Now That I know," but that doesn't make them any less alluring, especially since the singing compensates for some of the easy rhymes in these ten original songs (one of which, "Except for Real," was authored by Chip Condon, whose keyboards are so prominent in these arrangements). With even more hindsight, not to mention the sonic clarity afforded by Mike Milchner's remastering, similarities to the country-rock of Poco are even more prevalent here, but seasoned with the gospel overtones that differentiate the Southern band from their West Coast kindred spirits; given the success of that genre, as epitomized by the Eagles at the time of this album's original 1977 issue, both the reformation and subsequent dissolution of Cowboy makes comparable sense: Boyer, Talton et. al., didn't all that much new to the hybrid. But even in this modified form, this rejuvenated quintet lent distinction to the Capricorn Records roster in its later years.
Tracks and Personnel
Boyer & Talton
Tracks: A Patch & a Painkiller; Coming Back to You; Everyone Has a Chance to Feel; Where Can You Go?; I Heard Some Man Talking; Love 40; Road Gravy Chase; Something to Please Us; Long Ride; Message in the Wind (When I'm Listening); Houston; Houston Vamp; Time Will Take Us; Where Can You Go?.
Personnel: Scott Boyer: acoustic and electric guitars, lead and harmony vocals; Tommy Talton: acoustic and electric guitars, bass guitar, lead and harmony vocals; Jimmy Nalls: electric guitar; Paul Hornsby: keyboards; Chuck Leavell: acoustic and electric piano; Randall Bramblett: soprano saxophone, backing vocals; David Brown: tenor saxophone, backing vocals; Toy Caldwell: pedal steel guitar; John Hughey: pedal steel guitar; Johnny Sandlin: bass, congas; Charlie Hayward: bass; Jaimoe: drums, congas; Bill Stewart: drums, percussion; Giggling Heap: percussion Donna Hall, Ela Brown, Joyce Knight: backing vocals; Georgia Allstars: backing vocals..
Cowboy
Tracks: Takin' It All the Way; Now That I Know; Pat's Song; Straight Into Love; Everybody Knows Your Name; What Can I Call It?; Nobody Else's Man; Except for Real; Satisfy; River to the Sea.
Personnel: Scott Boyer: acoustic and electric guitars, lead and harmony vocals; Tommy Talton: acoustic and electric guitars, bass guitar, lead and harmony vocals; Chip Condon: keyboards, vocals; topper Price: harmonica; Harold Williams: baritone and tenor saxophone; Randall Bramblett: soprano and alto saxophone Arch Pearson: bass, vocals; Chip Miller: drums, percussion; Jaimoe: congas.
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