line-up 1 (1970)

- Fred Cacciotti -- guitar

- John Finley -- vocals

- Bill King -- keyboards

- Blackstone (John Finley)

- The Checkmates (John Finley

- China (Bill King)

- Jon-Lee Group (John Finley)

- Janis Joplin (Bill King)

- Bill King (solo efforts)

- Rhinoceros (John Finley)

- The Tote Family

Genre: pop

Rating: *** (3 stars)

Title:  Every Living Thing Has a Place In God's Heart ...

Company: Nimbus 9 

Catalog: NNS-104

Year: 1970

Country/State: Toronto, Canada

Grade (cover/record): VG/VG+

Comments: minor ring wear

Available: 1

Catalog ID: 4586

Price: $30.00

Cost: $66.00

This one's a complete unknown to me, having caught my attention for the label ...  I recognized Nimbus 9 as Guess Who producer Jack Richardson's imprint.

Can't tell you anything about this short lived Canadian band other than the sleeve showed them as a quartet, but Bill King wrote all eight tracks and played keyboards. Fred Cacciotti handled led guitar.  I also know John Finley had previously been a member of the John-Lee Group and recorded with Elektra's pseudo-super group Rhinoceros.  Richardson was also responsible for producing their sole album, 1969's cleverly titled "Homestead".  So what's it sound like?  Well, the first time I played the set it simply didn't make much of an impression on me.  Conventional folk-ish duo yawn ...   Well the good news is that it really isn't a folk set and I don't know why I thought it was.  While Finely and King are the only two folks credited, most of the eight tracks sport conventional rock backings and there's little in the way of typical folkie acoustic moves.  Whoever he was, Finley had a nice voice and King was quite a diverse writer, capable of handling all kinds of genres including catchy rock (the blazing 'Woman'), and even fusion-meets-Santana jazz (the instrumental 'St. Mark's Place').  Best of the lot were the lead off track 'Anthem' (sporting a church choir that actually works) and the pretty instrumental suite aptly titled 'Suite'.  Mind you, the activist lyrics haven't aged too well and the chorus on the ecology-message 'Every Living Thing' sucks. There's no way this album will change your life (or even your afternoon), but then I've heard lots of heavily hyped stuff that's far worse.

"Every Living Thing Has a Place In God's Heart" track listing:
(side 1)

1.) Anthem (Bill King) - 3:05

- 1970's 'Anthem' b/w 'New York City' (Nimbus catalog number 9-9012)

2.) Whistle Stop (Bill King) - 3:27

3.) St. Mark's Place (instrumental) (Bill King) - 7:04

4.) Sadness (Bill King) - 7:16

(side 2)
1.) Every Living Thing (Bill King) - 5:06

- 1970's 'Every Living Thing' b/w 'Sadness' (Nimbus catalog number 9-9018)

2.) Suite (Bill King) - 5:03

     Greenwood Spring (instrumental)

     Afternoon Daze (instrumental)

     Blue Mountain Scene (instrumental)

3.) Woman (Bill King) - 3:00

4.) Rainbow Freighter (Bill King) - 3:38

King was briefly a member of Janis Joplin's Kosmic Blues Band followed by a stint with Rick James (thanks to Nick Warburton for the additional comments).