The We Five
Band members Related acts
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line up 1 (1964-67) - Beverly Bivens -- vocals, rhythm guitar - Jerry Burgan -- vocals, guitar - Pete Fullerton -- bass, backing vocals - Bob Jones -- lead guitar, backing vocals - Michael Stewart (RIP 2002) -- vocals, bass, guitar, banjo
line up 2 (1967-71) - Jerry Burgan -- vocals, guitar NEW - Debbie Graf Burgan -- vocals (replaced Beverly Bivens) - Pete Fullerton -- bass, backing vocals - Mick Gillespie -- drums, backing vocals - Michael Stewart (RIP 2002) -- vocals, bass, guitar, banjo
backing musicians (1970) - Byron Berline -- fiddle - Doug Dillar -- banjo
line up 3 (1971-77) - Jerry Burgan -- vocals, guitar - Debbie Graf Burgan -- vocals NEW - Mike Lewis -- keyboards NEW - Terry Rangno -- bass (replaced Peter Fullerton) NEW - Clifford Ray Scantlin -- keyboards NEW - Dennis Wood -- drums (replaced Mick Gillespie)
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- Debbie Burgan (solo efforts) - The Lengendaires (Debbie Graf Burgan) - The Tricycle (Debbie Burgan, Jerry Burgan and Peter Fullerton) - West (Bob Jones and Michael Stewart)
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Genre: pop Rating: 2 stars ** Title: Catch the Wind Company: Vault Catalog: SLP
136 Country/State: San Francisco, California Grade (cover/record): NM/NM Comments: sealed copy Available: 1 Catalog ID: 2187 Price: $30.00
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It's rare and it's not very good - perhaps there's a correlation between the two ...
Produced by band member Michael Stewart, 1970's "Catch the Wind" found the group recording for Vault Records. They were clearly aware popular tastes had moved on from their earlier folk moves, but judging by this mixture of styles, they weren't quite sure how to react. The end result was a little bit of everything. You can see that approach in Stewart's liner notes: "When we first talked about recoding again, we wanted music that was simple, alive, and most of all had feeling. This album is the end result of that wish. We picked songs the group loves to sing and their performances show it. And speaking of the group, Pete & Debbie's voices together and individually are beautiful to hear, and Jerry, writing some great songs. "One Last Time' and 'Belong Beside You' for instance. There's not much more to say except this album is intended to make you feel good. So if you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making it, we'll all be happy."
The good news included the fact Debbie Graf-Burgan had a dynamite voice. I know, everyone missed original singer Beverly Bivens, but if you gave Graf-Burgan a chance, she could really belt it out. Had she been given better material ... well you can only wonder. There was also one really good song on the album - the Jerry Burgan original 'Belong Beside You'. The rest ranged from middling, to downright awful, much of it straddling a country-rock, bluesy vibe that was seldom very inspiring.
Sales proved slow and shortly after the album was released bassist Pete Fullerton, drummer Mick Gillespie, and guitarist Stewart quit, effecting spelling the end of the group.
"Take Each
day As It Comes" track listing: 1.) Here Comes the Sun (George Harrison) - 2:23 Congratulations to the group for turning Harrison's classic tune into a slice of forgettable MOR sludge. Complete with xylophone, the result was hopelessly upbeat and smiley. Geez, they could have been selling toothpaste for all it mattered. This could be one of the worst Beatles covers I've heard in a long time. rating: * star 2.) Early Mornin' Rain (Gordon Lightfoot) - 3:06 Never liked the Lightfoot original and this one didn't improve on the original. rating: ** stars 3.) Belong Beside You (Jerry Burgan) - 2:46 One of two Burgan originals, 'Belong Beside You' was a surprisingly engaging slice of top-40 pop. Abandoning their folkie tendencies, this one had a full rock arrangement, complete with horns, a sax solo, and Mamas and Papas-styled vocals. The song also served to show how good Debbie's voice was. Shame there wasn't more of this stuff. rating: **** stars 4.) Catch the Wind (Donovan) - 3:44 I'll readily admit Debbie had a nice voice, but there simply wasn't a great deal she could do to salvage this dull cover of Donovan's well known song. This one's always reminded me of something you might have heard at one of those Catholic folk masses ... Vault also tapped it as a single:
- 1970's 'Catch The Wind' b/w 'Oh Lonesome Me' (Vault catalog number V 969) rating: ** stars 5.) One Last Time (Jerry Burgan) - 3:00 6.) Oh Lonesome Me (Don Gibson) - 2:38 I guess they were trying to sound down and funky, but the group vocals actually sounded like something James Last might have recorded with his cast of US expatriates. I guess nobody bothered to tell them that pointless shouting and screeching vocals really didn't help a song. rating: ** stars
(side
2) To be honest, guest Doug Dillard's banjo provided the highlight on this one, though it was tapped as the leadoff single:
- 1970's 'Never Goin' Back' b/w 'Here Comes The Sun' (Vault catalog number V 964) rating: *** stars 2.) For Lovin' Me (Gordon Lightfoot) 3.) Come and Sit Down Beside Me (J. Kahn - B. Jones - L. Jones ) - 3:08 With Debbie and the men sharing vocals, this one wasn't a fair fight - Debbie slaughtered the competition. Shame the song wasn't very memorable. rating: *** stars 4.) Tomorrow Is a Long Time (Bob Dylan) - 4:00 I guess in the early-'70s there was a standard clause in recording contracts that required at least one Dylan song be on every album ... This wasn't the best, or worst Dylan cover you'll ever come across. Debbie had the chops, but seemed to be trying out her Joplin impression. Burgan simply sounded like he was in pain. rating: *** stars 5.) Milkcow Blues (Kokomo Arnold) - 4:18 Interesting choice of material and while Debbie had a voice that could easily handle the song's dynamics, I'm not sure this arrangement was a good fit for her. To my ears the results were just kind of plodding. It got better as it went along, but you had to sit through the first half ... Byron Berline provided the fiddle. rating: ** stars
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Genre: pop Rating: 3 stars *** Title: Take Each Day As It Comes Company: AVI Catalog: AVL
6016 Country/State: San Francisco, California Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: -- Available: 1 Catalog ID: 2220 Price: $25.00
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I've been collecting records since I was a teenager and even though I own several LPs from The We Five's earlier catalog, I have to admit I never knew this album existed. I'm apparently not alone since there is scant information out there on this collection ...
Working separately with producers W. Michael Lewis (side 1) and Ed Cobb (side 2), 1977's "Take Each Day As It Comes" has been kind of a puzzle to me. The collection was released by the Los Angeles-based AVI label which was better know for quickie releases by disco and Latin acts. The liner notes didn't provide much information leaving the impression this was a late-inning project by original We Five singer/guitarist John Burgan and his wife Debbie Burgan (who replaced original singer Beverly Bivens in 1967). (Based on information on The We Five website the actual line up was the Burgans, plus keyboardist Mike Lewis, keyboardist Ray Scantlin, bassist Terry Rangno, and drummer Dennis Wood.) So what's this thing sound like? Anyone expecting to hear something along the lines of their earlier folk-rock moves was probably going to be a little disappointed. To my ears the collection had an early-1970s sound and feel - imagine Brotherhood of Man had they been American rather than English. Musically it was quite varied including stabs at pop, lots of ballads, and an occasional up tempo rock number. While it wasn't particularly focused and had kind of a dated sound (the material may have been recorded several years earlier), as lead singer Debbie Burgan had a great voice that was more than capable of handling the broad spectrum of material. On their cover of Albert Hammond's 'Funny' she somehow managed to sound like ABBA, while on 'Let Me Stand' her performance bore an uncanny resemblance to Dusty Springfield. By the way those comments weren't meant as criticisms. IN case anyone cared, John Burgan handled lead vocals on the first part of 'Lonely Afternoon'. Highlights included the title track, Jerry Burgan's epic over-the-top ballad 'Seven Day Change' and their fantastic cover of Steely Dan's 'I Mean To Shine'. Bonus points to any band willing to cover a Becker-Fagen composition. One other thing to mention - the collection was kind of curious in that a number of songs including the title track and 'Rejoice' had a religious edge to them. That's not to say this was an overtly religious collection - it wasn't, but there was a subtle religious flavor to the album. Nothing but speculation on my part, but the album may have been a late-inning attempt to tap into the public's growing interest in Christian rock. Like I said earlier, totally unlike their previous releases, but certainly enjoyable even though in an era of disco madness and punk aggression it never had a commercial chance.
"Take Each
day As It Comes" track listing: 1.) Take Each Day As It Comes (Jerry Burgan) - 3:49 Debbie Burgan really had a nice voice and on the breezy, uplifting 'Take Each Day As It Comes' she reminded me a little bit of Merilee Rush. Add in the sweet backing vocals and Clifford Ray Scantlin's cheesy '70s synthesizers and this was a nice way to start the album. rating: *** stars 2.) Rejoice (Michael Lewis) - 3:40 I never associated The We Five with having a religious agenda, but 'Rejoice' seemed to tread in that area. Pretty melody and once again Burgan's powerful voice was impressive. rating: *** stars 3.) Bandstand Dancer (Terry Rangno - Dennis Wood) - 2:51 Showcasing a mixture of hard rock moves and '50s influences, 'Bandstand Dancer' came off as a throwaway. Add in some shrill Burgan vocals and this one was forgettable. rating: ** stars 4.) The Natural Way (Michael Lewis - Ed Cobb) - 3:00 'The Natural Way' was one of the nicer pop tunes they recorded with the backing vocals providing the hook that made the song above average. rating: *** stars 5.) Funny (Albert Hammond) - 3:07 With her voice double tracked, the group's cover of Albert Hammond's 'Funny' was given an arrangement that's always reminded me of something out of the ABBA catalog. In someone else's hands the results probably would have come off as camp, but here the song was somehow endearing. rating: **** stars
(side
2) The classically influenced intro was a nice touch to this sweet, if slightly overdramatic pop tune. Nice backing vocals. rating: *** stars 2.) Let Me Stand (Clifford Ray Scantini) - 3:23 Kicked along by Dennis Wood's drums, 'Let me Stand' was about as rocking as these guys every got/]. Shame they didn't do more in this vein since the results were quite likeable. rating: *** stars 3.) I Mean To Shine (Walter Becker - Donald Fagen) - 3:08 Any band willing to take on a Steely Dan cover deserves notice and Burgan's vocals on this were fantastic. One of the nicest Dan covers ever. rating: **** stars 4.) Lonely Afternoon (Jerry Burgan) - 3:23 With Jerry Burgan on lead vocals it was easy to see why the focus was on his attractive and talented wife. Slow, plodding ballad that never kicked into gear. rating:** stars 5.) Does Anybody Love Me (Reneva Armond) - 3:19 The album ended with another pretty, but forgettable keyboard-powered ballad. rating: *** stars
The Burgans have kept the band nameplate alive as The We Five Folk Rock Revival and have a nice website at: http://www.officialwefive.com/
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