Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Bread, Love & Dreams - Bread, Love & Dreams (1969)

Bread, Love & Dreams - Bread, Love & Dreams (1969)

1969 debut, released by London in the US and Decca elsewhere, from this UK folk trio with two female vocalists. Surreal, flower-power lyrics and simple melodies are highlighted by delicate instrumentation and occasional string arrangements. The group would go on to release two further albums and band member David McNiven also helped out label mates The Human Beast by contributing lyrics to their Volume One LP.

1969 dreamy folk from the UK. every now and then I take a chance on an album i know nothing about. and of course sometimes i'm really disappointed, but often I'm pleasantly suprised and just downright thrilled. something about the cover of this record just drew me in. the first time I listened to it, I was heading uptown on a cold, quiet Sunday morning. the subway was nearly empty and had that old deserted ghost-town feel it rarely has. it was the perfect listening experience for this album. my fellow C train riders were probably a bit confused by the obnoxiously loud folk music emanating from my headphones and my watery eyes. but with the gorgeous string arrangements, the haunting female vocals, and the overall atmosphere, i was somewhere beautiful...walking alone along the ocean, on a cold, sunny morning. it was glorious.

This was a folk-rock duo augmented by some talented session musicians including Terry Cox and Danny Thompson who were in Pentangle at that time. All three albums are now collectables. On the third they were supplemented by a number of session musicians. Musically the albums comprise 'flower-power' influenced folk. They are pleasant but lacking in innovation. Amaryllis is notable for its ambitious title track which accounted for one side of the whole album.

McNiven also wrote the lyrics to Human Beast's Volume One album and has continued to record in the nineties. Carolyn Davis was later in Looking Glass.
1. Switch Out The Sun 3:21
2. Virgin Kiss 3:43
3. The Least Said 3:44
4. Falling Over Backwards 5:46
5. Lady Of The Night 3:13
6. Main Street 2:14
7. Artificial Light 3:40
8. Until She Needs You 3:43
9. Mirrors 5:34
10. Poet's Song 2:53
11. The Yellow-bellied Redback 2:16
12. 95 Octane Gravy 3:15

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