Family - Fearless (1971)
Forty years ago this month (October 1971), the British rock band Family released their fifth album, Fearless.
Fearless is Family's greatest album, and the innovation and musicianship lives up to the title. It's a strong, challenging work in which Charlie Whitney's guitar chords are twisting and twisted, Roger Chapman displays great versatility as a singer even as he retains his wild vocal style, multi-instrumentalist Poli Palmer excels on every instrument he plays, and the rhythm section of drummer Rob Townsend and new bassist John Wetton pace and propel the songs flawlessly.
Fearless begins with "Between Blue And Me," a searing mid-tempo rocker about isolation, and ends with the stinging morality-play song "Burning Bridges" Among the standouts on this outstanding album are "Spanish Tide," a bewitching folk rocker on which Chapman and Wetton share lead vocals, "Sat'd'y Barfly," a good-times Faces pastiche, and "Children," a bright acoustic ballad with halting rhythms to undercut its own sweetness.
Poli Palmer contributes the ironically humorous song "Larf and Sing," on which he performs lead vocals, and "Crinkly Grin," a 65-second jazz instrumental. The best song is "Save Some For Thee," with Wetton handling most of the lead vocals and singing about the "living for free." The song begins with a barroom piano riff and ends with a marching band ensemble.
The cover artwork was as innovative as the record inside, bearing layered pages depicting pictures of the band's members on their edges and melding into a blur. The cover was designed by John Kosh.
For more on Fearless, go to my Family page - A Family Affair - and the fan Web site Family Bandstand.
Family in 1971 was:
Roger Chapman (vocals)
Charlie Whitney (guitar)
John Wetton (guitar, bass, vocals)
Poli Palmer (keyboards, vibraphone, flute, vocals)
Rob Townsend (drums)
Family - Fearless (1971)
Forty years ago this month (October 1971), the British rock band Family released their fifth album, Fearless.
Fearless is Family's greatest album, and the innovation and musicianship lives up to the title. It's a strong, challenging work in which Charlie Whitney's guitar chords are twisting and twisted, Roger Chapman displays great versatility as a singer even as he retains his wild vocal style, multi-instrumentalist Poli Palmer excels on every instrument he plays, and the rhythm section of drummer Rob Townsend and new bassist John Wetton pace and propel the songs flawlessly.
Fearless begins with "Between Blue And Me," a searing mid-tempo rocker about isolation, and ends with the stinging morality-play song "Burning Bridges" Among the standouts on this outstanding album are "Spanish Tide," a bewitching folk rocker on which Chapman and Wetton share lead vocals, "Sat'd'y Barfly," a good-times Faces pastiche, and "Children," a bright acoustic ballad with halting rhythms to undercut its own sweetness.
Poli Palmer contributes the ironically humorous song "Larf and Sing," on which he performs lead vocals, and "Crinkly Grin," a 65-second jazz instrumental. The best song is "Save Some For Thee," with Wetton handling most of the lead vocals and singing about the "living for free." The song begins with a barroom piano riff and ends with a marching band ensemble.
The cover artwork was as innovative as the record inside, bearing layered pages depicting pictures of the band's members on their edges and melding into a blur. The cover was designed by John Kosh.
For more on Fearless, go to my Family page - A Family Affair - and the fan Web site Family Bandstand.
Family in 1971 was:
Roger Chapman (vocals)
Charlie Whitney (guitar)
John Wetton (guitar, bass, vocals)
Poli Palmer (keyboards, vibraphone, flute, vocals)
Rob Townsend (drums)