Sonny Bottari
Band members Related acts
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- Sonny Bottari -- vocals
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- Aesop's Fables (Sonny Bottari)
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Genre: pop Rating: 3 stars *** Title: Never Look Back Company: Guinness Catalog: GNS
36049 Country/State: US Grade (cover/record): VG+ / VG+ Comments: -- Available: 1 Catalog ID: 5692 Price: $45.00
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So here's a Guinness Records release where I actually know something about the artist ... not a great deal, but that's still miles ahead of the insight I have with respect to most Guinness acts.
Sonny Bottari was previously lead singer and one of the main writers in the Long Island-based band Aesop's Fables who recorded a couple of late 1960s singles for ATCO and a Bob Gallo-produced album for Chess' Cadet Concept label ("In Due Time"). The band also recorded a follow up album that was apparently shelved until the mid-1970s when it was released by Gallo's Mandala tax scam label ("Picking Up the Pieces").
Bottari's first solo release for Guinness, 1977's "Never Look Back" continued his long-standing partnership with Gallo who this time out was credited with producing, arranging, conduction and writing about half of the songs. As far as tax scam albums go, this one was actually pretty good. A large part of the credit went to Bottari who had a great blue-eyed soul voice capable of handling a wide variety of genres. All told a surprisingly accomplished album that got me to go back and pull out my original Aesop's Fable release.
"Never
Look Back" track listing: 1.) I'll Love This Way (Bob Gallo) - 3:30 Penned by Gallo, 'I'll Love This Way' somehow managed to successfully blend a pretty pop ballad with a slightly acid soaked vibe. ON paper it should have been a complete wipe out, but Gallo and Bottari somehow managed to pull it off, complete with weird Hari Krishna-styled chanting at the end of the track. 2.) Sader Man (N. Marchaiana) - 2:25 I've never been able to figure out if the song was really entitled 'Sader Man', or was simply a typo with the real title being 'Sadder Man'. I've listened to the song dozens of times and still don't have a clue. Irregardless this one was a great showcase for Bottari's killer soul moves. Imagine if David Clayton Thomas had really had soul and you'll get a feel for how good Bottari was ... 3.) Ghost Hall (N. Marchaiana) - 2:39 Complete with an interesting lyric and cool guitar solo, 'Ghost Town' was another mildly acid tinged ballad. Very nice ! 4.) Money / Oh Poo Pa Doo (Barrett Strong / J. Hill) - 3:30 The first real misstep, the 'Money / Oh Poo Pa Doo' wasn't bad - Bottari turned in a nice vocal performance, but the arrangements really didn't add anything to the originals. 5.) You're Losing Me (Bob Gallo) - 2:30 6.) Runnin Out (Bob Gallo) - 1:50 'You're Losing Me' and 'Running Out" were both Gallo compositions. Nice horn-propelled rockers, they both sported great hook, though to my ears both songs had a distinctive late-1960s vibe.
(side
2) Another Gallo composition, 'Only Love Can Save Me Now' had a distinctive Motown vibe, complete with ghostly female backing vocalists. As a big Motown fan, this was easily one of the standout tracks on the album ... 2.) Temptation Bound To Get Me - 2:35 The first couple of times I heard 'Temptation Bound To Get Me' I couldn't believe it wasn't a Felix Cavaliere and the Rascals track. Fantastic blue-eyed soul performance that would have been a hit had it been released nine or ten years earlier - it sure had a 1967 - 68 feel. 'Course the song was originally recorded by Aesop's Fables back in 1969. It was also released as an Aesop's fables non-LP single - 'Temptation 'Bout To Get Me' b/w 'What is Love?' (Cadet Concept catalog number 7011) 3.) Never Look Back (Bob Gallo) - 2:45 - Sliding back into his David Clayton-Thomas voice, 'Never Look Back' was kind of a mess. To my ears it sounded as if Gallo had simply taken three or four song fragments and tried to stitch them together into a coherent effort. Didn't work ... 4.) I Need Lovin (D. Miller - S. Hahn) - 2:15 ' I Need Lovin'' found Bottari going for a heavy metal sound. Not a great performance since his vocals sounded strained, but still worth hearing since it was so different. 5.) What's So Bad About Feeling Good (D. Miller - S. Hahn) - 3:09 My pick for stand out performance, 'What's So Bad About Feeling Good' boasted an insidiously catchy melody, nice pleading vocal (Bottari abandoning his blue-eyed soul phasing for a more pop-oriented delivery), and great lead guitar. 6.) Better Get Down (D. Miller - S. Hahn) - 2:45 With ' Better Get Down' the album closed with what was probably the most radio-friendly performance.
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Genre: pop Rating: 3 stars *** Title: Pickin' Up the Pieces Company: Guinness Catalog: GNS
36050 Country/State: US Grade (cover/record): VG / VG+ Comments: cut lower right corner Available: 1 Catalog ID: 5762 Price: $45.00
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Most folks don't realize that there was a second Aesop's Fables album. Featuring a front cover drawing of front man/vocalist Sonny Bottari and credited to 'Aesop's Fables Featuring Sonny Bottari', technically you could argue it was a Bottari solo effort rather than a true band release. I won't argue the point either way. Regardless 1972's "Pickin' Up the Pieces" remains largely unknown. In fact most music reference works don't even list it. Of course that's understandable given it saw an extremely limited releases in Australia, Canada, and Holland (the latter released on the Pink Elephant label).
Mandala catalog number ST 14001
For anyone interested, the Guinness release featured the same track listing, but new cover art. Purely speculation on my part, but it seems likely that the material was recorded as a planned follow-up to 1969's "In Due Time", or reflected outtakes and other miscellaneous material recorded during the debut sessions. It may have also been a quickie release by front man Bottari aimed at capitalizing on the band's reputation, though that seems unlikely given the set's limited release. Produced by Bob Gallo, unlike the debut, this album featured an all covers set of material. Lots of late-1960s FM stuff was to be found here including Blood, Sweat and Tears, a Stephen Stills song, three Dave Mason tunes, and the Gallo-penned title track. Musically the performances weren't half bad. Bottari had a nice voice with a chameleon-like quality that made it easy for him to adapt to a variety of styles including soul ('Ain't that Particular''), pop (the title track), and harder rock ('Look At Me Look At You'). To my ears he sounded a little bit like a less hyper David Clayton-Thomas (check out the BS&T cover - 'I Can't Quit Her'). The big problem with this set was that none of the covers strayed very far from the originals which made you wonder why they bothered. Standout performance - the soulful cover of Gene Barge's 'I Don't Know '. Not an essential release, but an interesting curiosity.
"Pickin'
Up the Pieces" track listing: 1.) Ain't that Particular (Tarplin - Rogers - Smokey Robinson - Moore) - 3:14 2.) Sit Yourself Down (Stephen Stills) - 2:40 3.) Shouldn't Have Took More Than You Gave (Dave Mason) - 3:40 4.) California (N. Marchiano) - 3:07 5.) Look At Me
Look At You (Dave Mason) - 5:25 (side 1) 1.) I Can't Quit Her (Al Kooper - Levine) - 2:55 2.) Pickin' Up the Pieces (Bob Gallo) - 4:00 3.) Girl I've Got New for You (R. Pucetti - Brad Shappiro) - 2:50 4.) I Don't Know (Gene Barge) - 2:54 5.) Only You Know and I Know (Dave Mason) - 3:09
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