Rainbow had a fan in Brian Wilson, his inspiration. Chris worked with Alan Parsons, Camel & others, and even created & sang jingles for the BBC! His was a talent not to be missed. But, many did.
It's impressive how Parsons hand-picked his musicians and vocalists for the albums. He ended up with a pretty regular rotation for each album....his regulars. I was told once that he toured early on, but, not unlike Steely Dan, quickly became a steady studio-only group, and prior commitments/other dates kept many of the players from being free to tour.
I tried that little Rainbow "hiccup" on those two words, and found it became easier if I relaxed my throat/vocal cords, and didn't try to "tighten" those mid-word dips!
Touring does not sound like much fun after a while, especially if you want to have any semblance of a normal life. So not surprised that he decided to go studio only.
The club where I did karaoke a decade ago just might actually have "Turn of a Friendly Card"! They had some 65,000 songs in their database, as I recall, so they just might! They had "Calling All the Heroes" by It Bites, which stunned me, so I had to sing it (on more than one occasion)!
As for touring, many acts not only "HAD" to to sell the new album, but many built their following by trundling coast to coast.....just ask Head East, REO Speedwagon, and the Michael Stanley Band! Middlin' to no airplay, they all built fanbases thru touring religiously in the '70s! Then, those same fans went home and pestered their local FM-ers to play album tracks, and that's how some bands did it!
What a great deep dive! I was unfamiliar with Chris Rainbow and his work. As a big fan of vocals and singing, I find it fascinating to discover what a versatile and agile singer he was. What an ear, for crying out loud! The way he stacked his harmonies is heavenly, there really is no other word for it.
Unfortunately many talented singers never manage to break free from their "session singer" hats. Not that there's anything wrong with being a session singer but it would be foolish to pretend this is what people envision when they say they want to become a singer. Still, I am glad he managed to find so many different ways to show his talent (bands, solo, jingles etc.).
I also feel that there is not enough appreciation for this kind of talent, in general and, particularly, in rock music. I feel it's a bit different in soul/pop/R&B. For example, Mariah Carey (there he goes! 🤣) was a session singer and back-up vocalist (for, among others, Brenda K. Starr). While of course she was thrilled to make it as a solo artist and enjoy the colossal success that ensued, she never lost her love and appreciation for session/background singing work. She's known for recording her own background vocals before recording her lead vocals, and for stacking/layering her own harmonies in a way not too dissimilar to what Chris Rainbow was doing (this is one of many examples: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFv6G9vDlT4).
She also works with other background singers (both in the studio and on tour) and she has always given them a shot in the same way Brenda did with her. For example, Mariah was instrumental in developing Cindy Mizelle's and Trey Lorenz's careers and getting them record deals. Unfortunately, like Chris, I don't think either of them really "made it" commercially.
My point is that it sometimes takes an influential artist who is aware and appreciative of this kind of talent to let the session singer shine. I am glad Chris crossed paths with someone like Alan Parsons who was musically intuitive and gracious enough to understand the value he could bring.
Thanks so much, Andy....so much good to unpack! 👏Mark was a major inspiration for me getting off my tuneful duff to honor Chris with this! As for Mariah (there he goes going after Andy going on about Mimi!)😉, I can't even imagine laying down backing vocals BEFORE having a lead track! But, that's just me...............mi.😊But, with doing both, she can, likely, here her lead in her head as she lays down her harmonies!
My big bugaboo about Chris is Stateside....and, how his EU/UK releases never even saw the light of day "over here"! I mean, at least give him a shot at radio turning their collective noses up at him! I'm just happy I was reading the rock rags as voraciously to not only discover Rainbow (through articles and, mostly, reviews), but the other Chris we mentioned here....White. Another fab singer/artist whose slim recorded output never even had a chance at a stateside ray of sunshine!
Mark and I are planning a dive into White's career, as well...which may be more challenging. Not only are there a small handful of "other" Chris Whites in rock history (and confusion may reign along the way as some before us may have confused one CW with another regarding, say, pix and captions!) And, for our CW, there may be precious little info out there....far less than Rainbow, who had his higher visibility with Parsons that White didn't! We shall persist, though, as we must!🎵
I'm glad we were able to shed some light on Master Rainbow...I was thinking of you when we were composing this, knowing the vocal fan and champion you are! I knew he'd be right up your alley!🎙🎶
As a regular reader of the rock press (starting with 16, Tiger Beat and Flip in the mid- and late-'60s!), I quickly discovered in mags like Creem, Circus, Hit Parader, BOMP!, Phonograph Record Magazine (PRM), Crawdaddy, Stereo Review (with Steve Simels' reviews), Canada's Beetle, and others, the preponderance of "an international market" ("you mean, records are released in countries OTHER than the U.S.??!?"), which made me "extend my antennae" to watch for "import" vinyl I'd read about! Hence, the Rainbow and White discs!
A sudden realization (I was 15 in '70 for perspective) that "this record thing" was, indeed, a planet-wide thing was key, too!
That hugeness never intimidated me....discovering Bellaire News (stand) in SW Houston, and the fact that they carried UK's Melody Maker, NME, and Sounds, only aided my obsession and compulsion to know it all (if it was printed, and about rock, I could think of no reason it can't (or shouldn't) also be in my head)!!!😁
The fact you were doing all of this decades before the internet was even “a project” is mind-blowing. Also, I can now see where that curiosity stems from. It is not very common for you guys in the States to have that international mindset (this is not entirely American citizens’ fault, though, as the western world of entertainment revolves around you guys most of the time). It’s because of all of this that I think your POV and perspective, from such a young age, is so unique.
To round out the picture (and all of what you say is accurate!).....consider that I grew up surrounded by 20,000 LPs and 78s...Dad's jazz collection. So, getting a full picture of the industry called records was instilled early on...that, and learning about so many pre-pop/Beatles artists! I developed my love and appreciation for Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra, and so many more from his collection!😊
I would KILL to see a collection like that! Sure, the context helped tremendously, but if the fish doesn’t want to swim, it sinks. So, there’s also what you did with what you were given 😉
Pretty impressive Mariah backing vocal track via that link, Andy! Could she be listening, in the cans, her already-recorded lead vocal while laying down her multiple backing harmonies? How could she otherwise get the timing for coming in, not to mention the key, etec? Not being contrarian, I just can't imagine doing the harmonies before the lead!😱
Glad you enjoyed! So, this is how I understand she works *most* of the time:
1. She comes up with a melody. Then, with the help of whichever piano player she is collaborating with, they structure it, and the piano player records a rough instrumental for her to take away.
2. She writes the lyrics (lead) by herself (very rarely does she collaborate on lyrics).
3. She goes to the studio and records what she calls “the base layer”, which is the most basic, usually low-register, light-touch background vocals. She may add a thing or two but on the light side.
4. She records the lead.
5. She adds the more complex background vocals (involving all sorts of complex harmonies, whistles, etc.).
6. If needs be (which is usually the case at least for some sections), she re-records the lead to match the background vocals better (this is what drives her engineers insane).
I think she does this because of her strong background and experience as a back-up vocalist. Ironically enough she considers herself a background singer first and foremost, and is a lot more confident with the whole “choir” and “harmonies” side of things than with the actual lead-singing process. She will often scrap whatever lead she did for the climax to then improve it based on the background vocals she’s settled on.
....and, like most artists, there's the new things she might think of to add as a "twist" during concerts! Your #6....yeah, I can see that. Her challenge is finding a producer/engineer/mixer, even, that thinks similarly! As artists, "you do you" has to be the byword! Your #s 1 & 3 help me see the process!
While being accessible enough to her ear to carry on (while being seemingly counter-intuitive to us mortals), I bet she also enjoys this process as being challenging enough to excite her, while not being impossible to carry out! I'm trying to get inside La Mimi's cabeza!!! Es muy impressivo!!!
Thanks for all this, Andy....I feel like I now have a mental/visual schematic as to her process! Her "people" should read you!! Hell, they've MET you, already!!!😉
Thank you, Brad! It’s all the million interviews I’ve watched over the years, plus yes, having met her and her people, and also getting a sense of when she exaggerates or embellishes things. When she says “I record background before lead”, she often means the definitive version of the background vocals we hear was recorded before the definitive version of the lead.
Which raises a question which I don't think I ever knew the answer.....Does Mariah (ever) have a co-composer? And, even if so, I reckon any vocal lead melody could be written/altered by her....the singer. As for Celine (and, this is just a guess), I perceive her as being more of "just" an artiste, and not a composer/writer. Mariah, of course, is both, as I'm learning more about her creative input to her output! That video clip is a pretty stark and quite evident snapshot of what she does and how she does it! Again, muy impressivo!!
Cheers, Brad! Glad you enjoyed! Yes, she always has a co-composer because she can’t read or write music. Her main co-composer has changed over the years (Ben Margulies, Walter Afanassief and Babyface have been her main ones). She now has a musical director who helps put into musical theory language all the crazy melodies she comes up with.
Completely agree with what you say about Celine. The irony is that many people (and predominantly people outside the US) see them as very similar. I think in the States you guys are more aware of the difference between them.
I think Kenny Everett played every track from Looking Over My Shoulder on his Capital Radio shows and raved about them all, especially the superb stereo production. No idea why none of the tracks caught on.
Well, at least Rainbow GOT radio play in the UK, as my collaber, Mark, mentioned, and as my stunning (to me) find of the pack o' jingles also reflects! Aside from the fairly "hidden" Parsons tracks (and whatever he did on U.S.-released Camel albums), it's truly a mystery why he never got any solo love from domestic labels, Stateside! For (mostly) FM stations who may have played some Parsons album tracks, did they announce the lead singer....at all?
I'm pretty sure I played tracks from at least the first Parsons album on one of the two (if not both) commercial FM stations I was on (I would've been 20 or 21, mid-'70s), and don't think it ever occurred to me to break down the players on-air! But, then, to give myself a break, it took a few albums (and maybe reading a few rock mag reviews) to get the drift of what Parsons was doing (and how!) on each album! Such a unique strategy and approach! It seemed "enough" to just say "That was the Alan Parsons Project" with this song or that!
Thanks for reading, Mark, and, too, for commenting!
My collabber on this, Mark, is hip to Chris White, too (and, we might dive into a collab on him!)....as I mentioned in the piece, I had two of Rainbow's "import" albums and White's, as well! I was well plugged in to the hip'n'happenin' that decade....thanks, in part, to a lot of the rock mags of the day, and Greg Shaw's BOMP! mag....he and I had virtually identical musical tastes....plus, if it was Beach Boys or adjacent, I was all over it!
From what little I know about Kenny (which I learned in just the last 24 hours or so!!!), I'm willing to bet he did! Mad props to "my" Mark for reminding me about White! BTW, I hid an Easter egg, Mark, linked to Brian Wilson's name in the piece.....an article (with playlist) of artists who recorded songs ala The Beach Boys (not parodies or, even, covers)! I'm enjoying keeping you busy!😁
Fascinating article. I never listened to Alan Parsons Project before. Chris Rainbow was never on my radar. Almost a bubble gum pop sounding of his early days.
Certainly pop-leaning, Lori....but Rainbow's biggest problem, at least Stateside, was never having his product released in the U.S. (apart from being all but buried and anonymous on half-a-dozen Parsons albums, and one track on each, at that)! But, as a BBs/Brian Wilson fan, it's really cool to hear someone who was so unabashedly influenced by him/them!
And, we hope your listening is as enjoyable as we know it will be hummable! As Mark (whom I was so proud to work with on this) said in the article....Rainbow has been criminally underheard in the span of rock history!
His vocal prowess, technique, and vocal inspirations deserve to be heard by those whose only exposure to "popular music" has been through the suckling of the withered teat of Top 40 radio.
Wow, top notch as always Brad! Another fascinating expose on an under appreciated vocalist, one I’d never heard of. I enjoyed everything I heard here and am realizing that I need to spend some time with the Alan Parsons Project as I only really know their hits and I’m clearly missing out.
Thanks, Mark! The MER Mark and I are planning a similar dive on the similarly Beach Boys-inspired Chris White (mentioned briefly in the piece)! I know you've been all over the planet, Mark, but for us Statesiders, as we mentioned, American labels were hands-off on Rainbow (except, of course, sort of buried within Parsons' albums)!
Here's a similar cat.....another Pilot member (you know Parsons used Pilot-ers singer, David Paton, and guitarist, Ian Bairnson, on his albums) was Billy Lyall, keyboardist and singer. While he wasn't on any Parsons albums, he too, released a mid-'70s solo album, "Solo Casting," released--you guessed it--only on import, i.e. NOT in the States! Yet another import, though, I was all over at the time! Here's my fave track by Billy on his album..."Us" (Phil Collins is on drums!):
Also, Mark, as you listen to Alan Parsons Project albums, you'll find it helpful to "check the program"! Here's Discogs' discography list of their albums. As you click on each one, they'll list the musicians and singers on each! https://www.discogs.com/artist/66916-The-Alan-Parsons-Project
Parsons' vocalists were, for the most part, a rotation of Rainbow, Lenny Zakatek, and Dave Paton. All have gorgeous, clear tenors! Thanks again, and enjoy!!!
Great post, as I didn't know much about the Alan Parsons Project. Love the Friendly Card tune, gorgeous singing by Rainbow.
It's impressive how Parsons hand-picked his musicians and vocalists for the albums. He ended up with a pretty regular rotation for each album....his regulars. I was told once that he toured early on, but, not unlike Steely Dan, quickly became a steady studio-only group, and prior commitments/other dates kept many of the players from being free to tour.
I tried that little Rainbow "hiccup" on those two words, and found it became easier if I relaxed my throat/vocal cords, and didn't try to "tighten" those mid-word dips!
Touring does not sound like much fun after a while, especially if you want to have any semblance of a normal life. So not surprised that he decided to go studio only.
Now you'll have to do it in karaoke!
The club where I did karaoke a decade ago just might actually have "Turn of a Friendly Card"! They had some 65,000 songs in their database, as I recall, so they just might! They had "Calling All the Heroes" by It Bites, which stunned me, so I had to sing it (on more than one occasion)!
They also had Canada's These Kids Wear Crowns' kinda punk/pop cover of "I Just Wanna Dance with Somebody," which I learned and sang quite often!👉 https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/audio-autopsy-2011-canadas-these?utm_source=publication-search
As for touring, many acts not only "HAD" to to sell the new album, but many built their following by trundling coast to coast.....just ask Head East, REO Speedwagon, and the Michael Stanley Band! Middlin' to no airplay, they all built fanbases thru touring religiously in the '70s! Then, those same fans went home and pestered their local FM-ers to play album tracks, and that's how some bands did it!
Great read guys !
Many thanks, Pe! Mad props to young Master MER!
Thank You!
What a great deep dive! I was unfamiliar with Chris Rainbow and his work. As a big fan of vocals and singing, I find it fascinating to discover what a versatile and agile singer he was. What an ear, for crying out loud! The way he stacked his harmonies is heavenly, there really is no other word for it.
Unfortunately many talented singers never manage to break free from their "session singer" hats. Not that there's anything wrong with being a session singer but it would be foolish to pretend this is what people envision when they say they want to become a singer. Still, I am glad he managed to find so many different ways to show his talent (bands, solo, jingles etc.).
I also feel that there is not enough appreciation for this kind of talent, in general and, particularly, in rock music. I feel it's a bit different in soul/pop/R&B. For example, Mariah Carey (there he goes! 🤣) was a session singer and back-up vocalist (for, among others, Brenda K. Starr). While of course she was thrilled to make it as a solo artist and enjoy the colossal success that ensued, she never lost her love and appreciation for session/background singing work. She's known for recording her own background vocals before recording her lead vocals, and for stacking/layering her own harmonies in a way not too dissimilar to what Chris Rainbow was doing (this is one of many examples: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFv6G9vDlT4).
She also works with other background singers (both in the studio and on tour) and she has always given them a shot in the same way Brenda did with her. For example, Mariah was instrumental in developing Cindy Mizelle's and Trey Lorenz's careers and getting them record deals. Unfortunately, like Chris, I don't think either of them really "made it" commercially.
My point is that it sometimes takes an influential artist who is aware and appreciative of this kind of talent to let the session singer shine. I am glad Chris crossed paths with someone like Alan Parsons who was musically intuitive and gracious enough to understand the value he could bring.
Thanks so much, Andy....so much good to unpack! 👏Mark was a major inspiration for me getting off my tuneful duff to honor Chris with this! As for Mariah (there he goes going after Andy going on about Mimi!)😉, I can't even imagine laying down backing vocals BEFORE having a lead track! But, that's just me...............mi.😊But, with doing both, she can, likely, here her lead in her head as she lays down her harmonies!
My big bugaboo about Chris is Stateside....and, how his EU/UK releases never even saw the light of day "over here"! I mean, at least give him a shot at radio turning their collective noses up at him! I'm just happy I was reading the rock rags as voraciously to not only discover Rainbow (through articles and, mostly, reviews), but the other Chris we mentioned here....White. Another fab singer/artist whose slim recorded output never even had a chance at a stateside ray of sunshine!
Mark and I are planning a dive into White's career, as well...which may be more challenging. Not only are there a small handful of "other" Chris Whites in rock history (and confusion may reign along the way as some before us may have confused one CW with another regarding, say, pix and captions!) And, for our CW, there may be precious little info out there....far less than Rainbow, who had his higher visibility with Parsons that White didn't! We shall persist, though, as we must!🎵
I'm glad we were able to shed some light on Master Rainbow...I was thinking of you when we were composing this, knowing the vocal fan and champion you are! I knew he'd be right up your alley!🎙🎶
Thank you, Brad! Yes, reading Mark’s perspective was great as it complimented yours very well. You guys made/make such a great team!
Crazy that Rainbow’s records didn’t get a US release. And it’s impressive you knew about him but then again this shouldn’t come as a surprise anymore!
Looking forward to seeing/reading what else you and Mark have in store!
I’ll explain Mariah’s process as a reply to your other comment 😊
Thanks Andy! 😀
As a regular reader of the rock press (starting with 16, Tiger Beat and Flip in the mid- and late-'60s!), I quickly discovered in mags like Creem, Circus, Hit Parader, BOMP!, Phonograph Record Magazine (PRM), Crawdaddy, Stereo Review (with Steve Simels' reviews), Canada's Beetle, and others, the preponderance of "an international market" ("you mean, records are released in countries OTHER than the U.S.??!?"), which made me "extend my antennae" to watch for "import" vinyl I'd read about! Hence, the Rainbow and White discs!
A sudden realization (I was 15 in '70 for perspective) that "this record thing" was, indeed, a planet-wide thing was key, too!
That hugeness never intimidated me....discovering Bellaire News (stand) in SW Houston, and the fact that they carried UK's Melody Maker, NME, and Sounds, only aided my obsession and compulsion to know it all (if it was printed, and about rock, I could think of no reason it can't (or shouldn't) also be in my head)!!!😁
The fact you were doing all of this decades before the internet was even “a project” is mind-blowing. Also, I can now see where that curiosity stems from. It is not very common for you guys in the States to have that international mindset (this is not entirely American citizens’ fault, though, as the western world of entertainment revolves around you guys most of the time). It’s because of all of this that I think your POV and perspective, from such a young age, is so unique.
To round out the picture (and all of what you say is accurate!).....consider that I grew up surrounded by 20,000 LPs and 78s...Dad's jazz collection. So, getting a full picture of the industry called records was instilled early on...that, and learning about so many pre-pop/Beatles artists! I developed my love and appreciation for Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra, and so many more from his collection!😊
I would KILL to see a collection like that! Sure, the context helped tremendously, but if the fish doesn’t want to swim, it sinks. So, there’s also what you did with what you were given 😉
Pretty impressive Mariah backing vocal track via that link, Andy! Could she be listening, in the cans, her already-recorded lead vocal while laying down her multiple backing harmonies? How could she otherwise get the timing for coming in, not to mention the key, etec? Not being contrarian, I just can't imagine doing the harmonies before the lead!😱
Glad you enjoyed! So, this is how I understand she works *most* of the time:
1. She comes up with a melody. Then, with the help of whichever piano player she is collaborating with, they structure it, and the piano player records a rough instrumental for her to take away.
2. She writes the lyrics (lead) by herself (very rarely does she collaborate on lyrics).
3. She goes to the studio and records what she calls “the base layer”, which is the most basic, usually low-register, light-touch background vocals. She may add a thing or two but on the light side.
4. She records the lead.
5. She adds the more complex background vocals (involving all sorts of complex harmonies, whistles, etc.).
6. If needs be (which is usually the case at least for some sections), she re-records the lead to match the background vocals better (this is what drives her engineers insane).
I think she does this because of her strong background and experience as a back-up vocalist. Ironically enough she considers herself a background singer first and foremost, and is a lot more confident with the whole “choir” and “harmonies” side of things than with the actual lead-singing process. She will often scrap whatever lead she did for the climax to then improve it based on the background vocals she’s settled on.
Method to the madness, if you ask me!
....and, like most artists, there's the new things she might think of to add as a "twist" during concerts! Your #6....yeah, I can see that. Her challenge is finding a producer/engineer/mixer, even, that thinks similarly! As artists, "you do you" has to be the byword! Your #s 1 & 3 help me see the process!
While being accessible enough to her ear to carry on (while being seemingly counter-intuitive to us mortals), I bet she also enjoys this process as being challenging enough to excite her, while not being impossible to carry out! I'm trying to get inside La Mimi's cabeza!!! Es muy impressivo!!!
Thanks for all this, Andy....I feel like I now have a mental/visual schematic as to her process! Her "people" should read you!! Hell, they've MET you, already!!!😉
Thank you, Brad! It’s all the million interviews I’ve watched over the years, plus yes, having met her and her people, and also getting a sense of when she exaggerates or embellishes things. When she says “I record background before lead”, she often means the definitive version of the background vocals we hear was recorded before the definitive version of the lead.
Sometimes she mixes it all up and can’t really decide what is lead and what is background, as she did in this short clip: https://youtube.com/shorts/AIgFIQ_Z5Kg?si=mlt7ztgCY0drYoBb
(All studio vocals, which the uploader matched with relevant live performances).
This is why when some people compare her with Celine Dion I’m like… really? 🤣
Which raises a question which I don't think I ever knew the answer.....Does Mariah (ever) have a co-composer? And, even if so, I reckon any vocal lead melody could be written/altered by her....the singer. As for Celine (and, this is just a guess), I perceive her as being more of "just" an artiste, and not a composer/writer. Mariah, of course, is both, as I'm learning more about her creative input to her output! That video clip is a pretty stark and quite evident snapshot of what she does and how she does it! Again, muy impressivo!!
Cheers, Brad! Glad you enjoyed! Yes, she always has a co-composer because she can’t read or write music. Her main co-composer has changed over the years (Ben Margulies, Walter Afanassief and Babyface have been her main ones). She now has a musical director who helps put into musical theory language all the crazy melodies she comes up with.
Completely agree with what you say about Celine. The irony is that many people (and predominantly people outside the US) see them as very similar. I think in the States you guys are more aware of the difference between them.
I think Kenny Everett played every track from Looking Over My Shoulder on his Capital Radio shows and raved about them all, especially the superb stereo production. No idea why none of the tracks caught on.
Well, at least Rainbow GOT radio play in the UK, as my collaber, Mark, mentioned, and as my stunning (to me) find of the pack o' jingles also reflects! Aside from the fairly "hidden" Parsons tracks (and whatever he did on U.S.-released Camel albums), it's truly a mystery why he never got any solo love from domestic labels, Stateside! For (mostly) FM stations who may have played some Parsons album tracks, did they announce the lead singer....at all?
I'm pretty sure I played tracks from at least the first Parsons album on one of the two (if not both) commercial FM stations I was on (I would've been 20 or 21, mid-'70s), and don't think it ever occurred to me to break down the players on-air! But, then, to give myself a break, it took a few albums (and maybe reading a few rock mag reviews) to get the drift of what Parsons was doing (and how!) on each album! Such a unique strategy and approach! It seemed "enough" to just say "That was the Alan Parsons Project" with this song or that!
Thanks for reading, Mark, and, too, for commenting!
I thought I’d heard everything Chris recorded, but you’ve given me some fresh leads. Thank you!
Been listening to his early stuff for decades and it was a real shock when I read the news he’d gone.
Kenny played his jingles a lot too! At the time (the 1970s), Capital Radio was the only pop music station broadcasting in stereo!
My collabber on this, Mark, is hip to Chris White, too (and, we might dive into a collab on him!)....as I mentioned in the piece, I had two of Rainbow's "import" albums and White's, as well! I was well plugged in to the hip'n'happenin' that decade....thanks, in part, to a lot of the rock mags of the day, and Greg Shaw's BOMP! mag....he and I had virtually identical musical tastes....plus, if it was Beach Boys or adjacent, I was all over it!
BTW, Mark....if you've not heard Mark Eric, I did a deep dive on him....he's incredibly fascinating, as well, and a bright light that burned all too briefly: https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/audio-autopsy-1969-mark-eric-and?utm_source=publication-search
Which would also accurately describe Brian's OTHER good friend, Tandyn Almer, another rare and talented artist who just amazes me! https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/toytown-psychedelia-songwriter-tandyn?utm_source=publication-search
Enjoy!🎵
I’ll check all these out. Pretty sure Kenny played some Chris White as well!
From what little I know about Kenny (which I learned in just the last 24 hours or so!!!), I'm willing to bet he did! Mad props to "my" Mark for reminding me about White! BTW, I hid an Easter egg, Mark, linked to Brian Wilson's name in the piece.....an article (with playlist) of artists who recorded songs ala The Beach Boys (not parodies or, even, covers)! I'm enjoying keeping you busy!😁
Fascinating article. I never listened to Alan Parsons Project before. Chris Rainbow was never on my radar. Almost a bubble gum pop sounding of his early days.
Certainly pop-leaning, Lori....but Rainbow's biggest problem, at least Stateside, was never having his product released in the U.S. (apart from being all but buried and anonymous on half-a-dozen Parsons albums, and one track on each, at that)! But, as a BBs/Brian Wilson fan, it's really cool to hear someone who was so unabashedly influenced by him/them!
So much talent. Is he still alive? I may have missed that if you mentioned it. Been sick 🤢
Thank you for the deep dive! I’ve got some listening to do.
And, we hope your listening is as enjoyable as we know it will be hummable! As Mark (whom I was so proud to work with on this) said in the article....Rainbow has been criminally underheard in the span of rock history!
His vocal prowess, technique, and vocal inspirations deserve to be heard by those whose only exposure to "popular music" has been through the suckling of the withered teat of Top 40 radio.
I feel like a hum along will happen!
He's got some really catchy tunes!
Would love to hear some reactions from you after you drop the needle on some/all of the tracks above, Chris!
Wow, top notch as always Brad! Another fascinating expose on an under appreciated vocalist, one I’d never heard of. I enjoyed everything I heard here and am realizing that I need to spend some time with the Alan Parsons Project as I only really know their hits and I’m clearly missing out.
Thanks, Mark! The MER Mark and I are planning a similar dive on the similarly Beach Boys-inspired Chris White (mentioned briefly in the piece)! I know you've been all over the planet, Mark, but for us Statesiders, as we mentioned, American labels were hands-off on Rainbow (except, of course, sort of buried within Parsons' albums)!
Here's a similar cat.....another Pilot member (you know Parsons used Pilot-ers singer, David Paton, and guitarist, Ian Bairnson, on his albums) was Billy Lyall, keyboardist and singer. While he wasn't on any Parsons albums, he too, released a mid-'70s solo album, "Solo Casting," released--you guessed it--only on import, i.e. NOT in the States! Yet another import, though, I was all over at the time! Here's my fave track by Billy on his album..."Us" (Phil Collins is on drums!):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYwNX5HyI4o
It's not out of the realm of possibility that HE might receive a deep-dive article here, too! Billy, BTW, was in the Bay City Rollers at one point! You know they've always been a fave (besides that insipid "Saturday Night"!): https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/inside-tracks-2-tim-moore-rock-and?utm_source=publication-search
Also, Mark, as you listen to Alan Parsons Project albums, you'll find it helpful to "check the program"! Here's Discogs' discography list of their albums. As you click on each one, they'll list the musicians and singers on each! https://www.discogs.com/artist/66916-The-Alan-Parsons-Project
Parsons' vocalists were, for the most part, a rotation of Rainbow, Lenny Zakatek, and Dave Paton. All have gorgeous, clear tenors! Thanks again, and enjoy!!!