- unknown 

- unknown

Genre: rock

Rating: 3 stars ***

Title:  Red Sky

Company: Guinness

Catalog: GNS 36067
Year: 1977

Country/State: US

Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+

Comments: still in shrink wrap (opened)

Available: 1 

Catalog ID: 5778

Price: $220.00

Here's another tax scam release that's a complete mystery to me.  I've never even found a review of this one ...  

In terms of scarcity 1977's "Red Sky" stands somewhere in the middle of the tax scam pile.  It occasionally shows up on dealer lists, though most copies seem to have significant ring wear.  It isn't one of the true tax scam holy grails (e.g. Stonewall), though the asking price has steadily increased over the last couple of years.  As mentioned, it's one of the tax scam genre's true mysteries.  The liner notes provide no info on writing, or performance credits so I'm not even sure if this was a real band, or reflected some anonymous singer/songwriter's demos that Guinness somehow got hold of and issued under the Red Sky name.  If pressed, I'd lean to the latter since the eight tracks seem to feature the same anonymous lead singer, but cover a massive range of genres, as if the artist was trying to display his flexibility.  In fact the only piece of bibliographical info you could score from the liner notes was that all eight tracks were produced by Dennis Ringley (good luck tracking down anything on the name).  

"Red Sky" track listing:
(side 1)

1.) She and I - 4:15   rating: ***** stars

Backed by a full band arrangement 'She and I' sported a likeable rock-cum-progressive edge.  Strong melody, good playing, and the anonymous singer was quite good - imagine David Pack and Ambrosia with a heavier edge and you'd get a feel for the track.

2.) All Night Radio - 3:16   rating: ***** stars

In contrast 'All Night Radio' was a nice slice of pop-rock.  Another strong melody with some cutesy vocals (lots of la-la-las) made it something that would appeal to Badfinger fans (including myself).  Distinctive commercial potential !!!  

3.) You Know What's Real - 2:29     rating: ** stars

The first couple of times the acoustic ballad 'You Know What's Real' didn't do much for me.  The song wasn't bad, but the flute accompaniment was a major distraction.  After a dozen spins the flute still bugged me, but not as much.   rating: ** stars

4.) Howdy Stranger  - 3:01     rating: *** stars

'Howdy Stranger' was another stark ballad - singer and piano accompaniment.  Pretty song, but this stripped down ballad  would have benefited from a fuller arrangement.    

(side 2)
1.) Later Day Saint - 3:50   rating: ***** stars

With an interesting lyric and cool mix of jazz and progressive moves (yes,  the flute solo wasn't a distraction on this one), 'Later Day Saint' was a nice way to open up side two.  In fact my only complaint here was that the song faded out just as an acoustic guitar and flute solo started to cook.  

2.) I Won't Forget You - 2:45     rating: *** stars

'I Won't Forget You' was a pretty acoustic ballad.  The first half of the song was all instrumental, giving the song kind of a new age feel.   

3.) Red Sky At Night (instrumental) - 6:35     rating: *** stars

I'm not a big jazz-rock fan, but 'Red Sky At Night' wasn't a half bad instrumental.  The fuzz guitar was down and dirty and far more interesting than the electric keyboard, or flute solos.  In fact if there'd been more guitar this would have been one of the standout performances.  Imagine something that would have been played in the background to a Starsky & Hutch episode.

4.) I Wanna Let You Know - 4:05    rating: *** stars     

A stab at southern rock, 'I Wanna Let You Know' was rather ragged, sounding like a demo that had some overdubs hastily dumped on it.   The anonymous singer came off a bit flat, though the song wasn't half bad.  Nice lead guitar and the horn charts were pretty good.  Little bit of additional work could have made it a true standout performance.

Not a lost classic, but better than about half of the Guinness catalog.  Worth looking for if you can find it at a reasonable price.