Roger Morris - First Album

Title: First Album Artist: Roger Morris Release Date: 1972 Label: Hux Album Type(s): lyrics/libretto UPC: 682970000688 Genre: Rock Styles: Rock & Roll, Country-Rock, Folk-Rock, Pop/Rock, Album Rock Moods: Amiable/Good-Natured, Autumnal, Bittersweet, Nostalgic, Ramshackle, Rustic, Sprawling, Plaintive, Reflective, Rousing, Searching, Yearning, Earnest, Earthy, Freewheeling, Fun, Gentle, Humorous, Laid-Back/Mellow, Melancholy, Passionate, Playful, Poignant, Quirky, Raucous, Relaxed, Sentimental, Soothing, Swaggering, Sweet, Warm, Wistful, Wry, Dramatic, Intimate, Lively, Carefree, Cheerful, Eerie, Joyous, Reverent, Literate, Organic, Rollicking Total Copies: 0 Members Wishing: 3 Number of Discs/SwapaCD Credits: 1

1. Taken for Granted
2. The Vigil
3. Golightly's Almanac
4. Showdown
5. All My Riches
6. The Trail of Tears
7. Northern Star
8. Livin' on Memories
9. Poor Lucy
10. First Snow
11. Let the Four Winds Blow
12. Idaho
13. Mississippi Story [*]
14. Down the Meadow [*]
15. The Number 1 Need [*]
16. Copenhagen Moon [*]

Year Type Label Catalog # 2005 CD Hux 68

No other editions were found for this album.

Roger Morris' obscure First Album was part of a low-key country-roots rock movement in Britain in the early '70s -- Brinsley Schwarz being its most notable exponents -- that led to (and could be considered an early part of) the pub rock genre. The Band was a big influence on roots rock and pub rock, but even if you subscribe to the theory that there's no better way to start than by paying tribute to the masters, The Band's influence on this record is so obvious and inescapable that it starts to sound like an actual tribute album. It's not as alarmingly imitative as it might have been, since Morris is a skilled if derivative songwriter, and the musicianship is accomplished. Still, the effect is something like hearing a more laid-back, countrified early Band record that happens to have a singer that wasn't in the group. Morris, too, is not as strong or identifiable a vocalist as Levon Helm, Richard Manuel, or Rick Danko, with a scrawny tone that at times bears a slight resemblance to Van Morrison. It's a genial take on The Band sound, but not a very original effort. The highlight's the dramatic "The Trail of Tears," whose tolling bells and light orchestration not only add some tension, but (refreshingly) are touches the early Band would not have been wont to employ. The 2005 CD reissue on Hux adds historical liner notes and four previously unreleased bonus cuts, done about a year after the album, with a similar style and slightly lower (but still decent) fidelity. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide

Name Credits Bruce Berky Digital Remastering Bruce Rowland Drums Bruce Rowlands Drums Chris Mercer Saxophone DeLisle Harper Bass Dr. Toby Mountain Digital Transfers Gerard Kelly Original Sleeve Design Glenn Ross Campbell Guitar (Steel) John Almond Saxophone John Weider Guitar, Fiddle Keith West Guitar (Electric), Vocal Harmony, Guitar, Producer Ken Burgess Vocals, Vocal Harmony, Producer Nigel Cross Liner Notes Rod Coombes Drums Roger Morris Vocals, Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Main Performer, Piano Terry Stannard Drums Tommy Eyre Piano, Fender Rhodes, Guitar (Acoustic), Piano-Accordian