Genre:
psych
Rating: **
(2 stars)
Title: Hope
Company: A&M
Catalog: SP-4329
Year: 1972
Country/State:
Lacrosse, Wisconsin
Grade
(cover/record): VG+/VG+
Comments: gatefold
sleeve; small cut out hole top right corner; light radio station stamp on
front cover
Available: 2
Catalog number: 4810
Price: $80.00
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Okay, here's the deal on this one. I
bought this at a yard sale, slapped it on the turntable and thought it was
one of the dullest LPs I'd heard in a long time. It ended up in a pile
of stuff that was destined for Goodwill. Fast forward a couple of
years (you're right, the pile of vinyl is still waiting to be taken to
charity), and I start seeing the album pop up on several high priced sales
lists. Were my initial impressions that far off?
Formed in
Lacrosse, Wisconsin, and originally known as The Jesters III (see separate
entry), following an ill-fated 1970 single for the small Peace label, in
1972 Hope (drummer Jeff Cozy, keyboardists James Croegaert and Boyd Sibley,
guitarist Wayne McKibbin and bassist David Slug) found themselves signed to
Herb Alpert's A&M Records. Produced by Jack Richardson (of Guess Who
fame), the quintet's self-titled debut is hard to get a handle on. Four of
the five members contributed material and all five provided vocals.
Unfortunately, little of the material is remarkable. Clearly interested in
making a grand statement, material such as 'Where Do You Want To Go', 'One
Man' and 'Find Him' boasts a pseudo-Christian agenda (maybe I'm just reading
that into it). Unfortunately, for the most part the band just couldn't
deliver the goods. Exemplified by material such as Croegart's 'Deliverance',
weak vocals, pedestrian lyrics and hackneyed arrangements combined to make
the album professional, but plodding. Hard to imagine saying this, but give
me a Moody Blues album any day ... The album was originally released
with a gatefold sleeve. And one further tidbit for the truly anal
collector - virtually every copy that hits the market seems to be a white
label promotional issue. This is one of the rarer commercial brown
labels.
"Hope" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Where Do You
Want To Go? (Wayne McKibbin) - 3:41 rating:
**** stars
Probably
the album's most conventional and commercial performance, 'Where Do You Want
To Go?' had a couple of things going for it. It certainly had a decent
melody and I'll admit that Jeff Cozy's dry, raspy voice sounded pretty good
on this take. For some reason this one always makes me think of Al
Stewart. The song also benefited from underplaying the band's
religious beliefs. Sure the message was there, but at least it didn't
slap you upside the head.
2.) One Man
(Boyd Sibley) - 4:44
3.) Find Him
(Wayne McKibbin) - 4:10
4.) Deliverance
(James Croegaert ) - 4:22
5.) From Thy
Father's Hands (Boyd Sibley) - 5:05
(side
2)
1.) Walkin' Over
Hills and Valleys (Wayne McKibbin) - 4:00
2.) One of These
( James Croegaert ) - 4:12
3.) Little Things
(David Klug) - 3:05
4.) Cold Morning
( James Croegaert ) - 4:01
5.) Everyone Needs
(Wayne McKibbin) - 4:04
By the way, having
seen the album on some of those high priced sales lists, I went back and
gave it another spin. It's still boring, though the cover art is kind
of cool.
And
lo and behold one of the band members stumbled across my brief review.
I certainly won't apologize for my earlier comments. As I've always
said, they simply reflect my uneducated opinion at a given point in time and
what I like, others will find hideous and vice versa. That said, I
have no problem with someone taking me to task for an opinion. The
fact of the matter is Boyd Sibley and his crew have more musical talent than
I will ever be able to muster up. Hey
Badcat,
I read your review for the Hope album. I can only say that your taste
in what good, inspirational music differs from our dedicated HOPE fans and
the many who found their own unique spiritual path through the music of
HOPE. Although the album may not have reflected the power of the live
performance (did you ever attend a HOPE concert?) It did bring the spiritual
message to the forefront with a certain beauty that was unique for its time.
It is still a treasured find to many as is the pearl of great price that
this album points to in its underlining truth that the Son of Man is still
with us and loves us all in spite of ourselves. ... and Badcat, by the way,
you must have really been bored and half asleep when you listed the song
contents. You neglected to include one of my written songs: Valley of Hope.
Perhaps it is this HOPE that you really need to find since HE is never
boring. (and you may quote me).
Warm regards
Boyd Sibley
November, 2010
Mr.
Sibley was also kind enough to provide a band history: Hope
began in early 1969 when two members from the Jesters III, Wayne McKibbin
and Jim Croegaert got together with me (Boyd Sibley) and Jeff Cozy from the
Bobby Lee Every Day People Band and also along with Dave Klug from Admiral
Cranberry, decided to do a jam session together one night after hours at a
club we were playing at called The Purple Haze in Wisconsin Dells,
near Madison.
We began our jam at 1 AM and as the sun came up in late July we were still
jamming. Afterwards we all said respectively, we are going to leave our
present
bands and form an alliance together. We did. We all gathered together at the
McKibbin farmhouse in Esofea, Wisconsin which is an enchanted area and park
known for its beauty and mysterious glow in the dark tree bark (that we
subsequently discovered to be a rare fungus which illuminated the nigh)t.
We were a jam band and for the next 12 months after having a meal of rice or
soup, began the jam around 6:30 PM and like the first jam, we would go all
night until sunrise. Then we'd sleep, walk together to Esofea Park in the
warm sunshine, come back late afternoon and begin the evening meal and the
Jam once again.
This was our life for the whole first year. During our free time we read
books, we loved C.S. Lewis and J.R. Tokein. we also studied ancient
scriptures from the east such as the Tibetan Book of the Dead and various
forms of Yoga and Zen. In 1970, we were all initiated into Transcendental
Meditation and began an inward inquiry that began our spiritual walk
together.
But that in itself wasn't enough. One day an old dirt farmer drove up to our
farm house in his old pickup truck with the words written on the back,
"No man cometh to the Father but by Me", John 14:6. Ol'
Hank Green was just a smilin' at us and invited us to the Westby Theater
that night where he was going to share 'the Good News". We all laughed
at old Hank, us being hard core rockers, him being a confused old man with
visions of grandeur. But somehow, we all found ourselves jamming
into Wayne's 1960 Ford Fairlane heading for the Westby Theatre.
I will never forget that night. The theater was old, the screen had a giant
slit torn from one end to the other. There was a stage in front of it. We
waited for the show. But it was only ol' Hank and his even older mechanic
friend, Milo, who walk out from the side of the stage and stood in
front of us as we sat in the front row, the five of us and Wayne's brother,
Michael, caretaker for Esofea Park. Hank's face had a mysterious glow
to it that night, thought maybe he had eaten some of that glowing fungus
(just kidding). Hank began to tell us the story of God's love for mankind,
then made it up close and personal as he spoke about God's love for each one
of us and how He came to this world as a man so we could relate to Him. Hank
never stopped smiling for a half an hour as he spoke about this One who was
still with us in spiritual form. When he was finished, it was Michael that
first spoke. "Hank, would you pray for one as lowly as me?" Old
Hank walked over to Michael and put his hands on Michael's shoulders and
began to pray. Then he came over to each one of us and did the same.
When he touched my shoulders and began his prayer, I felt something. I
really felt something! I felt as if it was just me, alone with another
presence. My whole body felt warmed by Hank's touch. There as a warm wind
blowing, blowing softly through my Soul.
Afterwards our days took on a different note and we put aside the texts of
the east and began reading little by little the pages of the Bible we had
all once
jeered at. Slowly, not over night, but over time, perhaps three to four
months, we received the blessings of those destined words to change the
hearts of men, even hard core rock and rollers.
Our music began to change, more gentle, more melodic, with our eyes always
closed allowing a new spirit to take us to a new place as we jammed each
night. It was a place of bliss, of love, of Hope. We began to
incorporate lyrics into our music. And the new obvious name for the band
became HOPE.
We put together 11 songs and began doing concerts in the area. Then one
night we took a trip to southern Wisconsin to see the last performance by
The Buckinghams. They had top hits like, 'Kind of a Drag' and 'Have Mercy on
Me' and several others. But the band was burned out and this was to be their
last performance. Wayne was introduced to their drummer, John Polos. John
came to hear our band and loved us. Yes, his open Greek heart was soft and
tender. He became our Manager. ... and he had connections.
First, he flew us to New York to audition for Columbia Records. In the
studio, we were all separated. We were used to jamming together; now we were
all put into different rooms with head phones. It wasn't our vibe and soon
we were on our way back to Wisconsin.
Several weeks later, John called. He said there is a talent agent he had
spoken with from A&M Records who was interested in hearing the band. We
said, "no way" unless he comes here! And he did. Allen from
A&M trraveled from California all the way out and through the pastures
and farmlands to our farm house in Esofea. He was intending to stay
the night and fly back the next day from Madison. He ended up staying
for two weeks and didn't want to leave. We had found a new company
interested in our "live" sound and our message of
Hope.
The rest is history, we signed contracts with A&M Records. They found us
a producer in the form of Jack Richardson who had just finished
producing The Guess Who. We made the trip to Toronto, Canada, and got to
work at Manta Studio which had just installed a brand new 24 track studio..
Manta Sound became our home for the next six weeks. Richardson's assistant,
David Green was largely responsible for 'sweetening' the album after we'd
finished recording the basic tracks.
We offered up 13 songs, Jack chose 11 and we began the recording.
What you get with the Hope album was not a polished heavy rocking band. The
jam had been put aside and in its place a warmth of lyric and melodies that
came from a place much deeper than we could ever know emerged.
It may not be fit for all, but for the some who received it with openness,
there were changed lives. A warm wind began blowing for others. I remember a
concert in Chicago put on by Campus Crusade for Christ where they brought in
portable Bapistries. After we played and Wayne spoke about the love of God,
over 200 people made the plunge into the baptismal waters of faith. We
stayed with some of these people talking for hours which turned into days.
These souls became our family and soon we would go on tour and meet many
more souls as John Polos got a touring contract with the William and Morris
Agency.
Our first official tour started at the McCormick Place in Chicago opening
for Three Dog Night. We would then tour with The James Gang, Chase, The
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and even Alice Cooper as their opening act. The band
played on for 2 more years before Wayne felt the calling to leave the band
and join the ministry.
Our last concert was in Esofea Park, July of 1972 for several hundred
family, friends and people from all over the region who came to bid Hope
farewell.
Today, hope is still alive. My recording studio in Alto, New Mexico is
called HOPE Universal Recording Studio. I
would welcome you to visit me on line at:
http://www.hopeuniversalrecordingstudio.com
My life has never been the same since that night at the Westby theater when
ol' Hank put his hands on my shoulders. The warm wind blowin' back then is
still blowin' now and will be my hope and inspiration the rest of my days on
Earth. In that moment, I had found myself, my faith, my true identity, I had
come Home.
Where are they now?
-
Jeff Cozy, who owns Brite ideas recording in LaCrosse, Wisconsin is
practicing healing arts and sound therapy and much the same way that I do as
well here in Alto, New Mexico. -
Jim Croegaert is Pastor of Reba Place in Evansville, Indiana -
Tom Eisenman, who replaced original drummer, Jeff Cozy in early 1972 is the
Christian educational director of a large church near Oakland, CA -
Dave Klug is a pastor in Lincoln Illinois.
- Wayne McKibbin passed in 2007 from a cancerous brain tumor, he was the
Chaplain of the state prison in California.
Jeff and I remained close. We ventured our first CD together in 2004 called
the Drums of Peace. It is a journey into Soul and Vision Quest with Earth
drums, percussion, Native American flutes, keyboards and even a little
spirit filled chanting.
I send you blessings and thank you for this opportunity to meet another who
was touched in one way or another by the legacy of Hope.
Boyd Sibley
My web sites music:
http://www.sedonasoulsongs.com
http://www.hopeuniversalrecordingstudio.com
My web site for healing;
http://www.thehealermethod.com
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