Still have my vinyl from this time, musicianship is tops:
Still have my vinyl from this time, musicianship is tops:
Notice that Daryl Stuermer plays guitar.
I guess time for me to post these again, huh?
He pops up from time to time on this site but I can't remember the last time I heard him on the radio. I think maybe he's been forgotten by most which is probably rather unfortunate.
Do not suffer through the game of chance that plays....always doors to lock away your dreams (To Be Over)
I never really paid attention due to his slick, lovey dovey type material. But last summer I found a used CD at my local store. It was the BGO 2-fer with his second and third albums. I have to say that it's a great listen. High quality songwriting, arrangements, and playing by Graham Lear on drums and two keyboard players. One of which is his brother, Joe. The sound and production is superb as well. And Gino was all of 21-22 years old at the time. I pay no attention to these dumb marketing labels like "Yacht Rock." Some of his stuff is as impressive as any of the best fusion or Steely Dan. Check out the song, Santa Rosa, with Mike Miller on guitar. Killer tune!
Last edited by StarThrower; 06-18-2022 at 10:45 AM.
Trivia note: in "Living Inside Myself" Vinnie Colaiuta played drums on the recording, but the video shows Mark Craney, I guess just after he left Tull.
Yeah, Baker is great! He played all the keyboard bass and organ on those Gino albums. And Joe played the Rhodes and synth. There's very little guitar on those two. Jay Graydon played some on Storm at Sunup.
I didn’t know what Yacht rock was until I saw some threads about it here by proggers. Never heard it as a marketing ploy. Anyway, I loved BTB from the first time I heard it. Some friends of mine couldn’t get past the lovey-dovey vocals. But that is their loss, because I appreciated the theatrical quality of Gino’s performance. Not that dissimilar from some of the great Italian proggers. The instrumental aspect is sublime too.
I've only heard a few Vannelli songs I like (and he had a tendency for annoying sex symbol posing) but he hired great players and apparently demanded and got great performances from them.
The live clip of "Brother to Brother" with Craney and Stuermer was shared here on PE a few years ago. The musicianship is fantastic and the tune hangs together well; a uniquely excellent slab of vocal JR/F that truly works. I was impressed enough to check out his deep cuts a little further. There was nothing else even close to as interesting as that one song.
I love his stuff from Powerful People through to Brother to Brother, with the latter the absolute highlight of his discography. I probably should revisit Nightwalker at some point, too, I don’t remember much about it other than “Living Inside Myself” and the title track.
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
Are pipe and slippers required accoutrements for listening?
I Just Wanna Stop is still played on classic rock radio. Mostly adult stations. One of my least favorite songs by him. He was trying for a hit single being pressured at the time and it’s a good hit song but not my taste.
I think he did some great music and his live performances are stellar to see. I saw him once and his voice is dynamic and the band was tight.
My favorite album is still Pauper in Paradise.
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I want to hear other albums than Brother to Brother. BTB has some pretty interesting and appropriate synthesizer work on it.
Gist of the Gemini, which has the War Suite on the B-side, is the one most proggers will direct you to. But Powerful People, Storm at Sunup and A Pauper in Paradise have much to recommend them, too. Outside of Canada, most of these are “deep tracks,” but “People Gotta Move” hit the top 20, and “Love of My Life” was a low-ball Hot 100 hit.
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
About 5 years ago, I was a volunteer for an organization and worked directing parking cars for a Vanelli concert that was held in a guys back yard (big yard) that has a stage there (and a recording studio) After the parking was done, I got to watch the concert. Very rainy night and cars tore up the grass where we parked cars. Excellent show. Lots of fan girls of Vanelli.
Being from Montreal, I have never seen Gino Vanelli perform in that city where I lived for decades which may sound odd. But I may have missed him on the very few times he has performed live in his own city. But his style is very jazzy rock that is most pleasing.
I own one of his albums, don't even remember which one :-) Only thing that stuck with me that it has some good synth work.. (Gist of Geminii?)
Remember when he was on SCTV?
When in doubt....
Here's an instrumental cover of Brother To Brother by Norwegian drummer Pål Thowsen, which appears on his album Carnival from 1981:
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