We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago…..
The University of Wisconsin in Madison became a fertile ground for pop music in the late 60’s. Steve Miller and Boz Scaggs cut their teeth there as did Ben Sidran and others. A bit earlier there was a woman who was a native of Madison who also came up in that culture. Her name was Tracy Nelson. She took her big voice to California and formed a band called Mother Earth. Scaggs was part of the band for one of the albums. After a number of LPs exploring the melding of country and rock and blues, the band released an album in 1971 called Bring It Home. It’s a standout in the fact that not only does it have all of the things that made the band strong but the choice of songs was decidedly gospel in nature.
Nelson’s voice drives this record. It’s a big instrument…think Bonnie Raitt or Linda Ronstadt…and the band keeps up . Once again, I discovered her in the stacks at 90FM and thoroughly her solo records in the mid 70’s. But this, like the band “Joy of Cooking” delivers the goods
The songs deliver too and they include a reading of Steve Young’s “Seven Bridges Road” years before the Eagles put it on record. Some other standouts include “A Sky About To Cry” and “Soul Of Sadness”…but it’s really all good.
Nelson can sing anything…and the choice of gospel drenched tunes works even you aren’t religious…you should dig this stuff.
After a hiatus in the 80’s she re-emerged in 1993 and released a bunch of good records into the 2010s. She’s another one that never quite had that breakthrough although a long and varied career is nothing to sneeze at.
This is a good one…enjoy!
Comments