Family - It's Only a Movie (1973)
Forty years ago this month (September 1973) Family released their seventh and final album, It's Only a Movie.
It's Only a Movie is generally underrated by Family fans, and some of them even consider it to be a disappointment. But it's still a charming and enjoyable album in many ways. Recorded with the understanding that it was to be their swan song, It's Only a Movie, like Elton John's Tumbleweed Connection album of three years earlier, was an affectionate tribute to Americana music, mainly country and western and a bit of New Orelans soul.
Family showed off their humor with the title track, a song about a confused director trying to make a Hollywood western, with some smoky piano by new keyboardist Tony Ashton and biting guitar from Charlie Whitney, and they threw in some relaxed singalongs such as "Sweet Desiree" (their final single) and "Suspicion" Frontman Roger Chapman shows a wide range on this record, from his deadpan vocal on "Boots 'n' Roots" to his strident fireworks on "Check Out," the appropriately titled LP closer about an escaped convict. Guitarist/bassist Jim Cregan kept the pacing steady throughout, but Rob Townsend, as always, kept everything together with his spectacular drumming.
About a month after It's Only a Movie was issued, Family closed their farewell tour with a final show in their hometown of Leicester, England, their last concert before reuniting (with the lineup of Chapman,. Townsend, Cregan and earlier member Poli Palmer) for one-off shows in 2013.
In keeping with their fondness for all things American, the group featured on the front cover of It's Only a Movie a still from a 1919 silent Western motion picture released by Fox Films (before it merged with Twentieth Century Pictures in 1935). John Kosh, who desinged teh innovative sleeve for Family's previous album, Bandstand, once again conceived the front cover here.
For more on It's Only a Movie, go to my Family page - A Family Affair - and the fan Web site Family Bandstand.
Family in 1973 was:
Roger Chapman (vocals)
Charlie Whitney (guitar)
Jim Cregan (guitar, bass, vocals)
Tony Ashton (keyboards)
Rob Townsend (drums)
Family - It's Only a Movie (1973)
Forty years ago this month (September 1973) Family released their seventh and final album, It's Only a Movie.
It's Only a Movie is generally underrated by Family fans, and some of them even consider it to be a disappointment. But it's still a charming and enjoyable album in many ways. Recorded with the understanding that it was to be their swan song, It's Only a Movie, like Elton John's Tumbleweed Connection album of three years earlier, was an affectionate tribute to Americana music, mainly country and western and a bit of New Orelans soul.
Family showed off their humor with the title track, a song about a confused director trying to make a Hollywood western, with some smoky piano by new keyboardist Tony Ashton and biting guitar from Charlie Whitney, and they threw in some relaxed singalongs such as "Sweet Desiree" (their final single) and "Suspicion" Frontman Roger Chapman shows a wide range on this record, from his deadpan vocal on "Boots 'n' Roots" to his strident fireworks on "Check Out," the appropriately titled LP closer about an escaped convict. Guitarist/bassist Jim Cregan kept the pacing steady throughout, but Rob Townsend, as always, kept everything together with his spectacular drumming.
About a month after It's Only a Movie was issued, Family closed their farewell tour with a final show in their hometown of Leicester, England, their last concert before reuniting (with the lineup of Chapman,. Townsend, Cregan and earlier member Poli Palmer) for one-off shows in 2013.
In keeping with their fondness for all things American, the group featured on the front cover of It's Only a Movie a still from a 1919 silent Western motion picture released by Fox Films (before it merged with Twentieth Century Pictures in 1935). John Kosh, who desinged teh innovative sleeve for Family's previous album, Bandstand, once again conceived the front cover here.
For more on It's Only a Movie, go to my Family page - A Family Affair - and the fan Web site Family Bandstand.
Family in 1973 was:
Roger Chapman (vocals)
Charlie Whitney (guitar)
Jim Cregan (guitar, bass, vocals)
Tony Ashton (keyboards)
Rob Townsend (drums)