Sage
Band members Related acts
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line up 1 () - Rodger Stephan -- vocals, drums, percussion - Hilda Williers (aka Hilda de Villiers) -- bass, keyboards, backing vocals - Ray Williers (aka Ray de Villiers) -- lead guitar, bass, backing vocals
line up 2 () - John Cameron -- vocals, lead guitar NEW - Mike Eagan -- drums, percussion (replaced Rodger Stephan) - Hilda Williers (aka Hilda de Villiers) -- bass, keyboards, backing vocals - Ray Williers (aka Ray de Villiers) -- lead guitar, bass, backing vocals
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- The Marty Balin Band (Rodger Stephan) - Blues Cycle (Rodger Stephan) - The Mods (Rodger Stephan) - Co Co Ca Choo (Rodger Stephan) - Shepherd's View (John Cameron)
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Genre: rock Rating: 2 stars ** Title: Rock It Out Company: Illusion Catalog: CM
1047 Country/State: Tampa Bay, Florida Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: still in shrink wrap (opened) Available: 1 Catalog ID: 189 Price: $150.00 |
Tampa, Florida's Sage is an interesting story. The band was a family affair built around the talents of mother Hilda Williers, son Ray Williers, adopted son John Cameron, and ex-The Mods/Blues Cycle drummer Rodger Stephan. According to Williers' daughter, while in their teens, Ray and John wanted to start a band, but couldn't find a bassist and somehow convinced their classically trained keyboard playing mother to join in on bass.
left to right: Ray Williers - Hilda Williers - Rodger Stephens - John Cameron
Starting in the early-1970s Sage began playing local dances and clubs which eventually brought the band to the attention of Blues Image's Mike Pinera who signed them to his small Illusion label. They'd apparently recorded quite a bit of demo material over the years, which might have been one of the reasons Pinera was interested in signing them to a recording contract with his Illusion label. As a tax scam imprint, the fact Sage already had material in the can, would have saved a tremendous amount of recording time and costs, while allowing maximum benefit from exist7ign tax write-off rules. Yes, its all speculation on my part. Regardless of your view of Sage's artist merit, the fact Illusion was a tax scam label made the Sage LPs quite rare and desired by collectors.
If you believe the reference materials, 1978's "Rock It Out" was their fourth studio set (they ultimately released seven sets for Illusion). From a musical standpoint that mid-'70s date sounds about right. The cheesy synthesizers that decorate some of the songs certainly had a mid-'70s vibe. Anyhow, with Cameron and Stephan sharing writing responsibilities, the self-produced album was basically divided between Southern-rockers that sounded a bit like a mash-up of The Allman Brothers and The Marshall Tucker Band, and far less appealing top-40 commercial moves, In the former category were rockers like 'Stop & Listen', while 'Lavender Lady' and 'Summertime' offering up sappy top-40 pop moves (way to many ballads for my tastes). Cameron was apparently a major Allman Brothers fan and actually learned some of his lead guitar technique from the late Duane Allman.
"Rock It
Out" track listing: 1.) Stop & Listen (Roger Stephan) - 4:30 rating: **** stars Showcasing a slinky melody, some nice vocals, and the album's best guitar work, 'Stop & Listen' was the album's hardest rocking number and my pick for the standout performance. Shame the rest of the album wasn't as impressive. 2.) Never Go Home (Roger Stephan) - 5:40 rating: *** stars Even though drummer Stephen wrote it, given the lyrical content, I'm guessing 'Never Go Home' had something to do with Cameron's early life. The album's most ambitious number, this one's always reminded me of The Marshall Tucker Band. Cameron's guitar work is awesome. 3.) Strange Visit (Roger Stephan) - 5:08 rating: *** stars Another rocker, probably no big surprise, but the highlight on 'Strange Visit' came in the form of Cameron's wah-wah guitar.
(side
2) Penned by Cameron, 'I Need You' was a conventional bar rocker with some of the lamest lyrics you've heard in a long time. On the other hand, the track had interesting descending guitar segment and a nice guitar solo that probably sounded even better after a couple of cold beers. 2.) Lavender Lady (Roger Stephan - John Cameron) - 4:06 rating: * star With Ray handling lead vocals, 'Lavender Lady' was a truly painful ballad, made even worse by awful lyrics, a barely in-tune vocal, and some of the cheesiest synthesizers you've ever heard. I have no idea what Hilda was playing, but it sounded horrible (the same effect as chalk on a blackboard - my fillings literally vibrated) and all but drown out Ray's already weak vocal. Actually given the song's one-night-stand theme, perhaps Hilda's motherly instincts led her to try to cover up the embarrassing lyric ... The song also seemed to go on way beyond the listed four minute running time. Yech! 3.) Summertime (Roger Stephan - John Cameron) - 6:12 rating: ** stars Co written by Cameron and Stephan, 'Summertime' offered up another overly sentimental, martial paced ballad. Basically the title was repeated over and over and over with more tacky synthesizer accompaniment. The only thing this one had going for it was Cameron's nice lead guitar. Other than that it was over six minutes of aural agony.
Are you really going to pay $150 for this one? Well, if you can find a copy, you will. Personally I wouldn't bother, but that's just my opinion.
At the time I'm writing this Hilda was in her 80s and had only recently stopped performing.
Cameron was fronting a Christian band Shepherd's Way:
After dropping out of music for years, Stephens was playing in the pick-up band Coo Coo Ca Choo. (great name for a group). http://www.coocoocachooband.com
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Genre: rock Rating: 2 stars ** Title: Skyscraper Company: Illusion Catalog: CM
1049 Country/State: Tampa Bay, Florida Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: -- Available: 1 Catalog ID: 2850 Price: $200.00
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I'm certainly no Sage scholar, but the fact their seven studio albums came out within a two year period goes a long way to explaining why the albums have a similar, interchangeable sound. And like all the other Sage albums I've owned and heard, the results tend to be middling. Mind you, as a family run operation these folks certainly had some talent, but then you could say that about virtually any house band you come across on a Saturday evening at a local club.
As far as I can tell, 1978's "Skyscraper" was the band's seventh studio set. Self-produced, it didn't sound all that different from the rest of their catalog. Largely penned by singer/guitarist John Cameron, the majority of the album bounced between bar band and country-rock efforts. To be honest, there wasn't anything particular original across these sides. Tracks like the opening country-rock ballad 'I Feel the Love' and the Southern rocker 'Ain't What I Want To Hear' were professional and competent, but hardly exciting and certainly not the kind of stuff that you were going to wake up craving to hear. Highlights included Cameron's Duane Allman-ish slide work on the slinky 'Won't You Take Me Home', 'Shine On', 'We Can Fly' and the Santana flavored 'Why'. Anyhow, if you're paying the big bucks for an original Sage album, you already know what to expect.
"Skyscraper" track listing: 1.) I Feel the Love (John Cameron) - 4:40 rating: *** stars Cameron's 'I Feel the Love' wasn't going to win any awards for insightful lyrics, or musical originality, but it was one of the prettier songs in their catalog. Nice country-rock ballad with pretty harmonies and some nice lead guitar. 2.) Won't You Take Me Home (John Cameron - Rodger Stephen) - 4:47 rating: *** stars A slinky rocker, 'Won't You Take Me Home' featured some blazing Duane Allman-styled slide guitar from Cameron, but also suffered from his flat, wannabe Greg Allman lead vocal. 3.) I Never Dreamed (Stevie Wonder - Syreeta Wright) - 3:21 rating: ** stars Stevie Wonder's 'I Never Dreamed' gets reworked as a country-rock ballad. Pretty, but once again Cameron's slightly flat delivery detracted from the overall results. 4.) Shine On (John Cameron - Hilda Willers) - 3:18 rating: *** stars With a shiny, upbeat melody, 'Shine On' was one of the album's most commercially feasible tune. Like so much of the album, the song's basic roots were quite good, but the combination of flat, uninspired production and Roger Stephen's rote drumming served to sap much of the energy out of the performance. Shame.
(side
2) Drummer Stephen's lone contribution, 'Ain't What I Want To Hear' found the band taking a decent stab at Southern rock. 2.) Why (John Cameron) - 3:43 rating; **** stars Kicked along by tasty Latin percussion and some Santana-styled lead guitar, the percolating 'Why' was easily the album's best performance. The only drawback on this one was the fact the lead vocal was buried in the mix to the point where you could barely hear it. 3.) We Can Fly (John Cameron) - 4:00 rating: ** stars 'We Can Fly' found the band returning to Pure Prairie League-styled county-rock. Again, Cameron's slide guitar provided the song's highlight. 4.) Promise of the Past (instrumental) (John Cameron) - 3:06 rating; **** stars 'Promise of the Past' closed the album with an odd instrumental that served to highlight Cameron's excellent lead guitar on a mash-up of jazz, Latin, and Southern rock moves. This one's always reminded me of something off an early Allman Brothers album. Shame it faded out so early.
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Genre: rock Rating: 3 stars ** Title: Rockin' Company: Illusion Catalog: CM
1099 Country/State: Tampa Bay, Florida Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: -- Available: 1 Catalog ID: 344 Price: $150.00
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The band’s fourth studio set, like earlier
releases 1978’s cleverly-titled “Sage” featured a collection of mostly
original material penned separately and collaboratively by drummer Rodger
Stephen and guitarist John Cameron. Musically the results were
drastically different from earlier releases, but in at least one respect the
self-produced collection was almost schizophrenic. Side one found the
band working their way through a rather faceless mixture of country (‘Sing
To Me’), jazz-funk (‘Singing River’), pop (‘We Can See Now’), and
rock moves (‘Finding the Time’). The performances were
professional enough, but seldom particularly inspiring. You were left
with the impression of someone turning on a recording tape and saying
“give me two hours” of material.” In contrast, side two found
the band showing off a much more enjoyable and focused collection of
rock-oriented material. ‘High Voltage’, ‘Please Believe I Love
You’, and ‘Give the People’ were all enjoyable up-tempo numbers that
somehow managed to overcome a myriad of creative and production problems
including hideously recorded vocals (‘High Voltage’), flat production,
and lame lyrics (‘Get Down and Rock and Roll’). (side 1) 1.) Finding the Time (Roger Stephen) – rating: *** stars Giving credit where due, Stephen was a decent enough songwriter and when coupled with John Cameron’s pseudo-Allman Brothers-styled lead guitar, the results weren’t half bad. The breezy rockin’ opener ‘Finding the Time’ was probably the album’s best overall performance, showcasing some nice twin lead guitar from Cameron and Ray Williers and with a slightly more energetic vocal and arrangement, might even have had some commercial potential. 2.) We Can See Now (Mike Pinera) – rating: *** stars The album’s lone non-original, ‘We Can See Now’ was penned by Blues Image front man and Illusion label owner Mike Pinera. Built on a catchy melody, some nice vocals, and a good lead guitar solo, it was one of the album’s best pop numbers. 3.) Singing River (Roger Stephen) – rating: ** stars Backed by some flat and borderline in-tune horns, ‘Singing River’ found the band taking a stab at getting funky … for better or worse the results came off as being almost cocktail jazzy with the falsetto vocals simply painful to listen to. Yeah, probably not a direction they should have pursued. Give Hilda Williers credit for some nice poppin’ bass moves on the song. 4.) Sing To Me (Roger Stephen) – rating: ** stars ‘Sing To Me’ was a pretty enough acoustic country-tinged ballad, but suffered from a painful Stephen’s lead vocal. The poor guy sounded extremely uncomfortable with the song’s high pitch.
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