Here is the whole story (according to Batdorf):
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/histo...n-john-batdorf
I got the CD yesterday and started listening this morning. Very enjoyable. The CSN influence is strong in this one; like it I do. (Sorry about the bad Yoda impression there.)
At the risk of appearing too groovy, this is when I really appreciate the Progressive Ears community. Helping others discover great music is the goal, not arguing about what version of Yes is legitimate. Thank you all for your interest and help!
ALL versions of Yes are legitimate.
Just some of them suck donkey balls.
So as I listened to the track I knew the combination of the layered acoustic guitars and the great bassline reminded of something else besides the obvious CSN sound. It wasn't until this morning that I suddenly snapped to what it was. There was a marvelous duo that was one of the first to mix World sounds/instruments into their sound. It was called Do'a (later, Doah) and featured Randy Armstrong (primarily guitar) and Ken LaRoche (primarily flutes). They formed in 1974 and every release was marvelous. There isn't much of their stuff on YT but I did find this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36zc_t7j_ao
This track is one of my favorites but I am not positive it is the best example of similarity in guitar/bass texures. (And this track has many more instruments than the Batdorf and Rodney track.) My two favorite albums by them were "Companions of the Crimson Colored Ark" (the album that this track comes from) and "World Dance." The latter, to me, is simply stunning. Sadly, Ken died a number of years ago. Randy is still making music with a number of artists.
I hope some of you find them interesting. (Trivia: my mom stumbled upon the two of them at a Arts Fair in Westchester County, NY back in the late 70's and bought two of their cassettes for me. I was instantly hooked.)
My uncle had the Batdorf & Rodney album Off the Shelf and a few years ago I found my own copy. Pretty nice CSN style music.
Batdorf later was part of the band Silver who had the mid 70s bubblegum hit "Wham Bam" (a song the entire band disliked). They also included keyboardist Brent Mydland, later of the Grateful Dead.
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