December 1, 2013

Posted by sitemanager Category: Diary

Hi,

The Facebook Guy asked me for my recollections on the “Looking In” album. I won’t make this long as I’ve just got out of bed and just started sipping my first cup of coffee. So how do I get my head back to 1970? Well, my first thought is….wow, I was only twenty three, at most, when the album was recorded. That doesn’t seem possible. But I won’t digress on my age and the passing of time…………..

Back then, vocalist Chris Youlden had left the band and I had a strong belief that 2nd guitarist Lonesome Dave could take over the singing duties (after all, he had subbed for Chris on the Blue Matter album).Dave was a singer in his own right but was understandably intimidated by the talent of Youlden.

The songs I contributed for “Looking In” were based around Dave’s voice. I knew Lonesome’s vocal range and I picked keys to enhance his singing. Sometimes, as in “Take It Easy” I deliberately kept the vocals in a low key so as to give variety. Bassist Tony Stevens also wrote a couple of great songs for the album (the best ones I think) and Roger Earl’s creative drumming was super simpatico. Really (as you know), it was a terrific band.I produced the album too….. I couldn’t go wrong.

A couple of the songs were written around my guitar playing. Those were the guitar instrumentals on the album. “Sunday Night”, for instance, was a last minute idea thrown in on the final day of recording (Sunday night) and “Sitting and Thinking” was a vocal song that wasn’t working out so we turned it into an instrumental with Dave playing the theme on lap steel.

I remember taking the tapes to New York City and mixing the album there prior to a US tour….no wonder I eventually had a breakdown! Now, when I listen to the “Looking In” record, I’m surprised at how simple the guitar playing is considering the “over the top” jamming I would do on live stage shows. I suppose, even then, I was beginning to become introspective regarding my playing (yeah, it’s a 60’s thing).

The album was a huge success and only held back from being a top five charter due to London records being a smaller company and not Warner Bros (who wanted to sign the band the previous year….but that’s another story).

Today, live, I play two songs from the album… “Poor Girl” and “Sunday Night” (maybe that means they are my two favorites). Do I like the album? Yes, I do. Where is it among all the others? Top five. What is my favorite track? Too hard to pick…I’ll leave that to you!

Best wishes,
Kim Simmonds

PS: the band and I went separate ways after recording “Looking In”. I had written the “Street Corner Talking” material and after trying it out with the guys it wasn’t a fit. Later on tour it became apparent that the band wanted to continue more as a rock n roll band and I wanted to move in other directions. Thus they became Foghat and I recorded “Street Corner Talking” with a new line up.

PPS: I just realized I haven’t commented on the cover art. Well, it’s my favorite Savoy Brown album cover. The artist ( a friend of Lonesome Dave’s) hit it out of the park. The concept probably came from Harry my brother and band manager. Back in those days the managers were almost band members….they were so involved.

I said this was going to be short and that second cup of coffee is waiting for me. I hope you enjoyed these recollections…if you want the dirt….you’ll have to wait for the book!