Spare Change Band


Band members                             Related acts

  line up 1 (1977)

- Frankie Carr (aka Frankie Carretta)-- vocals, lead guitar

- Mike Lassandro -- drums, percussion

- John Vancho -- bass

- Al Vertucci -- rhythm guitar

 

 

 

Frankie Carr All Natural Band

- Missing Links (Al Vertucci)

- The Naturals

- Tea Company

 

 

 


 

Genre: rock

Rating: 3 stars ***

Title:  Spare Change Band

Company: Tribute

Catalog: LR 1002
Year:
 1977

Country/State: Queens, New York

Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+

Comments: --

Available: 1

Catalog ID: 6304

Price: $200.00

 

So the Tribute label was one of those mysterious, short-lived mid-1970s tax scam labels.  I've never spent much time researching it, but singer/guitarist Frankie Carr (of Tea Party fame) seems to have been a major player with respect to the label.  Why would I say that ?  Well the first record release on Tribute was credited to The Frankie Carr All Natural Band, while the second release was ...  yes, another Frankie Carr product - The Spare Change Band.   Equally interesting, not only did The Spare Change Band feature Carr,  but the three other members (drummer Mike Lassandro, bassist  John Vancho, and rhythm guitarist Al Vertucci) had all been members of The Tea Party.

 

So here's what the liner notes had to say about the band: "Once just a group of studio musicians and friends, they have banded together now to form The Spare Change Band.  Though all the personnel played on different club dates, recording sessions, etc., the central magnetism of Carr, Vertucci, Vancho, and Lassandro drew closer and closer until they became a unit.  Opening for such bands as Thin Lizzy, Mott and others they literally "knocked the people's socks off."

 

And what's this baby sound like ?   Well, diverse and haphazard come to mind.  Musically the nine tracks (no writing credits) were all over the road map giving the set a strange, demo-like quality.  It was almost as if Carr and company had decided to record a bunch of material to showcase just how diverse their repertoire was ...  "yeah we can play everything from cowboy roadhouses to Club 54 ..."  and rounded the collection out by digging up some archival material from The Naturals/The Tea Company vaults. And guess what ?  Those archival tracks simply wiped the floor with the newer numbers.   Check out the Byrds-styled 'One Kiss Goodnight', the secular folk number 'Stations of the Cross', or the extended jam 'I Want You To Know'.    

 

"Spare Change Band" track listing:
(side 1)

1.) Peace of Mind - 3:08

'Peace of Mind' opened the album with a goofy '50s-styled rocker that's always reminded me of something caught between Frank Zappa's affection for the genre and Roy Wood's oddball sense of humor.  Can't say the track did much for me.   rating: ** stars

2.) Georgia - 4:40

I've heard tens of thousands of white bands trying to sound funky and have to tell you that 'Georgia' may be the worst of the lot.  Other than some nice Carr lead guitar, this one was simply horrific.  Where are Wild Cherry when you need them ?   rating: * star

3.) Can't Take It with You - 3:30

'Can't Take It with You' found the group taking a stab at bar band rock.  This one was interesting, not so much for the tune (which didn't have a single original note), rather for the funny pseudo Dylan-esque lead vocal.  Imagine Dylan fronting 38 Special ...   rating: *** stars

4.) Take Me To Your Garden - 3:55

With its quaint title 'Take Me To Your Garden' sounded like something Carr and company might have dug out of The Tea Company archives.  To my ears it actually sounded a bit like a Donovan knockoff though with better harmony vocals... I'm not a big Donovan fan so it had limited appeal for me.   rating: ** stars

5.) One Kiss Goodnight - 4:10

I'm an admitted sucker for jangle rock, so The Byrds-styled 'One Kiss Goodnight' had me from the opening Rickenbacher chords.  Another one that sounds like it might have been pulled from the old Tea Seat archives and it features the best guitar work on the entire album.   rating: **** stars

 

(side 2)
1.) Shout It - 6:15

As bad as 'Georgia' was, 'Shout It' served to make up for some of it.  You weren't going to mistake Carr for Wilson Pickett, but his vocal wasn't bad (shame you couldn't say the same thing about the shrill backing vocals, for the painful sax solo) and the song had a decent, supper-club soul sheen to it.  rating: *** stars

2.) Stations of the Cross - 3:40

Given they were a bunch of Catholic kids from the Queens, it shouldn't come as a surprise to see their repertoire included a secular, folk-rock number.  The interesting thing about this one is how good 'Stations of the Cross' was.  Just Carr and company strumming a couple of acoustic guitars and it beat 90% of the other material in terms of quality ...  I'd love to know when it was recorded ?  1965 ?   rating: **** stars

3.) I Want You To Know - 

The sound quality is muddy and low-fi so this could well be another early demo.  Again, it's actually far more interesting than much of the latter stuff with Carr turning in some tasty pseudo-jazzy runs on lead guitar.   Shame the song faded out as the band started to find a hot groove.   rating: *** stars

4.) Tourin (instrumental) - 

The instrumental 'Tourin' found the band dipping their collective toes into pseudo-progressive territory.   In spite of some cheesy synthesizers, it wasn't going make you forget about your ELP albums.   rating: ** stars

 

Not a great album by any stretch of the imagination, but quite rare and it is another one that shows up in Hans Pokora's Record Collectors Dreams series.

 

 

 

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