We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago…….
I don’t know wht this band wasn’t bigger. Why this, their third release, was their last until a retrospective was put out in 1993. But in 1972, “Castles” by the Northern California outfit known as Joy of Cooking was egregiously ignored.
The band is led by Madison native Toni Brown and Berkeley’s Terry Garthwaithe. And what makes the band so interesting is the meshing of styles. Brown’s folkie tunes led by her tasty piano and Garthwaithe’s more bluesey offerings and her guitar.
The LP is all originals save for an outstanding cover of Blind Lemon Jefferson’s “Bad Luck Blues”. Here’s the original for comparison…
My faves on the LP also include Brown’s “Don’t the Moon Look Fat & Lonesome”, “Beginning Tomorrow” and “Let Love Carry You Along” along with Garthwaithe’s “Home Town Man”.
A band of men led by two women was not the usual for the early 70’s but I would hope that sexism wasnt the reason this group didn’t find success…although as we saw with Fanny and other female artists of the time…sexism was rampant in the industry.
If this column does nothing but get you to check out not only this album but the other two, “Joy Of Cooking” and “Closer To The Ground”, I’ll be happy.
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