We All Together
Band members Related acts
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line up 1 (1971-74) - Manuel Cornejo -- drums, percussion - Saul Cornejo -- guitar - Carlos Guerrero -- vocals, rhythm guitar - Carlos Salom - keyboards - Ernesto Samame -- bass
line up 2 (1974) - Manuel Cornejo -- drums, percussion - Saul Cornejo -- guitar - Carlos Guerrero -- vocals, rhythm guitar - Ernesto Samame -- bass NEW - Felix Varvande -- keyboards (replaced Carlos Salom)
supporting musicians: - Willy Thorne -- rhythm guitar, keyboards
line up 3 (1989-2011) - Iván Cárdenas -- - Carlos Guerrero -- vocals, rhythm guitar - Carlos Pacheco --
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- Again (Carlos Guerrero) - Laghonia - The New Juggler Sound (Saúl Cornejo, Carlos Salom, and Manuel Cornejo) - Smog (Manuel Guerrero, Félix Varvarande, and Ernesto Samamé) - Sudamerica (Saul Cornejo, Manuel Cornejo, Ernesto Samamé, and Félix Varvarande)
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Genre: pop Rating: 4 stars **** Title: We All Together Company: MaG Catalog: LPN 2422 Year: 1972 Country/State: Lima, Peru Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: no insert Available: SOLD Catalog ID: SOLD 5129 Price: SOLD $100.00
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South American psych is something I'd like to explore (if I ever had the time and the money). While not exactly the psych masterpiece dealers would have you believe, 1972's "We All Together" wasn't a bad place to start.
Drummer Manuel Cornejo, brother/rhythm guitarist Saul Cornejo, keyboardist Carlos Salom, and bassist Ernesto Samame had all been members of the Peruvian band Laghonia. Following that band's breakup, with the addition of new singer Carlos Guerrero the four continued their musical collaboration in We All Together. Signed by Guerrero's independent MaG label, their self-titled 1972 debut found the quintet whole heartedly embracing their long standing Beatles fascination. Laghonia had always shown a Beatles influence, but We All Together simply made no effort to hide such influences. Curiously, while Beatles fixations normally spell creative death (it's like being labeled the 'next Dylan'), in this case the results were quite impressive. Featuring a mixture of originals and covers (including a Badfinger track, a cute Beatles snippet ('Hey Revolution') and two Paul McCartney solo tunes), all ten tracks were performed in English; Guerrero and company exhibiting little in the way of accents. Exemplified by material like 'Young People', 'Walking In the Rain' and 'The City Will Be a Country' the album was full of shimmering Beatles-esque melodies and some great group harmony work. Not to be anal, but to be totally honest a more accurate comparison would probably be early McCartney solo career, rather than Fab Four ... Very nice and quite commercial, though with the exception of the lysergic, fuzz guitar propelled 'It's a Sin To Go Away' (which appeared on the "Nuggets II" compilation) it wouldn't do much for progressive or psych fans.
back LP cover, left to right: Carlos Salom - Manuel Cornejo - Carlos Guerrero - Saul Cornejo - Ernesto Samame
My copy is the original Peruvian release with the song titles in Spanish. I've shown both the Spanish and English song titles below.
"We All
Together" track listing: 1.) Niños "Children" (Manuel Cornejo - Saul Cornejo - Carlos Guerrero - Carlos Salom - Ernesto Samame) - rating: **** stars I'd suggest 'Children' wasn't so much Beatle-esque as if was Lennon-esque. In addition to the 'Imagine' styled optimism, lead singer Carlos Guerrero's vocals just exhibited a Lennon edge on this one. A very pretty ballad, I was certainly surprised at how English these guys sounded. 2.) Gente Joven "Young People" (Manuel Cornejo - Saul Cornejo - Carlos Guerrero - Carlos Salom - Ernesto Samame) - rating: **** stars Nice, lightweight mid-'70s pop song that combined a breezy Wings-styled melody with Saul Cornejo's George Harrison-styled slide guitar. Shimmering Badfinger-styled harmonies were icing on the cake. My only complaint with this tune was that it was simply too short. 3.) Llévalo Hacia El Futuro "Carry On Until Tomorrow" (Badfinger) - rating; *** stars Their cover of Badfinger's 'Carry On Until Tomorrow' was certainly attractive, but it really didn't add anything of note to the original. I will admit it served to showcase their nice group harmonies, but if I wanted to hear this tune I'd probably dig out the original version (recorded for "The Magic Christian" LP). That didn't stop MaG from releasing the track as a single. 4.)Es Triste Alejarse "It's a Sin To Go Away" (Manuel Cornejo - Saul Cornejo - Carlos Guerrero - Carlos Salom - Ernesto Samame) - rating: **** stars ' It's a Sin To Go Away' is kind of a mystery to me. The tune was originally released as a 1967 single, though I know nothing about it's history. Kicked along by some nice fuzz guitar and bass, backwards guitar, and treated vocals, it was simultaneously the album's heaviest and most psych-flavored tune. Completely atypical for the band and one of the album highlights. As mentioned above, this track was included on the "Nuggets II" compilation. 5.) Mañana "Tomorrow" (Paul McCartney - Linda McCartney) - rating; *** stars So why not turn to your true inspiration ? Originally recorded by McCartney and company on the "Wildlife", I always thought 'Tomorrow' was one of the album's hidden gems. This cover was certainly true to the original, but that kind of begged the question why they bothered ? Interestingly, YouTube has a clip of Guerreror performing the tune at a 2003 concert. The live version is actually far better than their original studio cover. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t84cZrglukY
(side
2) Another atypical hard rocker that served to showcase Ernesto Samame melodic bass and how good these guys could be when they abandoned their Beatles fixation. Yes, it was ironic the tune included a sly nod to The Fab Four's 'Revolution''. I don't know a lot about Peruvian history, but I believe the country was governed by a right wing military junta during the early-'70s, so these guys were probably flirting with some real personal danger by even flirting with a politically motivated lyric. 2.) Caminando En La Lluvia "Walking In the Rain" (Pete Hamm) - rating; *** stars I always thought the Badfinger tune was entitled 'Walk Out In the Rain' ... pretty, but another rote copy that failed to eclipse the original. 3.) Porque "Why" (Manuel Cornejo - Saul Cornejo - Carlos Guerrero - Carlos Salom - Ernesto Samame) - rating; *** stars Pretty enough band-penned original, but the ballad was a bit on the fey side. 4.) Algunas Personas Nunca Saben "Some People Never Know" (Paul McCartney - Linda McCartney) - rating: ** stars Another song copped from Wings' "Wildlife" album (probably the only band that can make such a claim). If you've heard the original, their cover wasn't much different. Always wondered why the track was tapped as a single. 5.) El Regreso Al Campo "The City Will Be a Country" (Manuel Cornejo - Saul Cornejo - Carlos Guerrero - Carlos Salom - Ernesto Samame) - rating; *** stars Imagine Wings doing a country tune (something along the lines of 'Sally G') and you'd get a feel for this one's pastoral sound. Relaxing, but hardly earth shattering. I did like the horn arrangement.
As mentioned, the album included a series of four singles:
- 1967's 'It's a Sin to Go Away' b/w 'Young People' (Mag catalog number 3637) - 1972's 'Some People Never Know' b/w 'Tomorrow' (MaG catalog number 3287 A/B) - 1972's 'Carry On Till Tomorrow' b/w 'Walking In The Rain' (MaG catalog number 3299 A/B) - 1972's 'The City Will Be A Country' b/w 'Children' (MaG catalog number 3397 A/B)
In 1997 the California-based Lazarus Audio Products acquired rights to the album from Carlos Guerrero, reissued the collection in vinyl and CD formats (Lazarus catalog number LP 2422 and CD-2001). The reissue included four bonus tracks lifted from the group's rare 1975 EP:
1.) Rock of Ages (Mike Gibbins - Pete Ham - Tom Evans) - 3:41 2.) Band On the Run (Paul McCartney) - 5:23 3.) Nadie me ama como tu (Saul Cornejo - Manuel Cornejo - 3:17 4.) Together Forever ( Carlos Guerrero) -
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Genre: pop Rating: 4 stars **** Title: Volumen II Company: MaG Catalog: LP-2454 Year: 1974 Country/State: Lima, Peru Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: -- Available: 1 Catalog ID: 5129 Price: $120.00
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With bassist Felix Varvande replacing Carlos Salom, Peru's We All Together released their sophomore LP in 1974. Cleverly titled "Volumen II", the album wasn't a major change in direction from their debut collection which meant lots of Beatle-esque tunes. If you liked the debut album, then chances were high that you'd find this one equally appealing. So I'll come out and say I'm 50/50 with respect to the sophomore set. The Beatles wannabe numbers weren't nearly as appealing this time around, sounding a bit tired and frayed to my ears. Okay, with a distinctive '60s psych vibe 'Silly Roadman' was an exception to the rule. That said, there were sparks of originality, or at least other influences on the second album. Penned by the Cornejo brothers, 'Beautiful People' mixed sensitive singer/songwriter moves with conventional rock to great effect - the kind of song you might have expected from top form Badfinger. Even better, 'Follow Me If You Can' sounded like the group had borrowed a neighbor's Yes albums and figured out how to stir some progressive elements into their repertoire without losing their overarching commercial edge. Too inconsistent to be a great album, but always interesting and full of promise. Makes you wonder what they could have done if given a third shot. Always loved the Manuel Guerrero cover photo.
left to right: Ernesto Samamé - Saúl Cornejo - Manuel Cornejo - Carlos Guerrero - Felix Varvande
"Volumen II" track listing: (side 1) 1.) Persons and Faces (Saul Cornejo - Manuel Cornejo) - 2:25 rating: ** stars One of three tracks penned by the Cornejo brothers, 'Persons and Faces' found the band pursuing what sounded like mid-60s 'Merseybeat, or perhaps a sub-par Gilbert O'Sullivan tune. Way too cute and fey and nowhere near as good as anything on the debut album. 2.) Who Knows (Mike Thorne) - 3:00 rating: *** stars Interesting tune that showcased Carlos Guerrero's likeable voice and Saul Cornejo's first-rate lead guitar. Melodic enough (the harmony vocals were wonderful), but the song ultimately had too many twists and turns to be considered top-40ish. 3.) Little Boy - 3:10 rating: **** stars Showcasing new member Felix Varvande, 'Little Boy' was a nice keyboard propelled tune that quickly shifted into mid-tempo rocker with a pleasant Badfinger vibe. Super commercial, it was one of the best tunes on the album. YouTube has a 2014 reunion performance of the song at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46pl7QXaqVk 4.) Silly Roadman (Ernesto Samame) - 2:40 rating: **** stars Even though something seemed to have been lost in the translation, 'Silly Roadman' had a cool, mildly lysergic, mid-'60s flavor that I find fascinating. Love the segment about halfway through where the song shifted into heavy rock mode with Guerrero toughening up his voice while guitarist Cornejo and keyboardist Varvande got a chance to briefly stretch out. 5.) Cloudy Night (Carlos Guerrero) - rating: *** stars It opened up sounding like a 'Rocky Raccoon' outtake with nods to 'Mother Nature's Song'. Just when I thought I didn't like it that much Cornejo kicked in a tasty lead guitar solo and the track went off in a totally different direction before returning to an orchestrated 'Rocky Raccoon' feel. Strange, strange, strange ...
(side 2) 1.) Ozzy (Carlos Guerrero) - 2:40 rating: **** stars Probably the album's most straightforwardly commercial tune, 'Ozzy' sounded a bit like a Paul McCartney and Wings rocker, complete with what sounded like Linda McCartney-styled backing vocals. The song highlight came in the form of Saul Cornejo's George Harrison-styled slide guitar. Shame he didn't get more spotlight time on the album. The tune was also released as a single:
-- 1974's 'Ozzy' b/w 'Silly Roadman' (MaG catalog number 3409)
2.) Beautiful People (Saul Cornejo - Manuel Cornejo) - 3:10 rating: **** stars Penned by the Cornejo brothers, 'Beautiful People' started out as a stark acoustic ballad before briefly morphing into a guitar crunching rock powered tune. One of the few tracks on the album that showed off the band's originality and a collection highlight. Shame it wasn't longer. 3.) Follow Me If You Can (Saul Cornejo - Manuel Cornejo) - 3:55 rating: **** stars Beatles meet Yes ? Maybe not the most accurate description you'll come across, but 'Follow Me If You Can' managed to blend a commercial melody with a progressive-tinged Saul Cornejo guitar solo that would have made Steve Howe smile. The album's standout performance and served to make you wonder what they might have done with a bit more encouragement and financial resources. 4.) I'd Like Her To Be Mine (Carlos Guerrero) - 4:00 rating: *** stars Pretty, highly commercial keyboard-powered ballad with a slight lysergic edge. A touch on the Left Banke side of the spectrum ? 5.) It's Us Who Say Goodbye - 1:05 rating: ** stars Autobiographical ? The band broke up shortly after the album was released ... 'It's Us Who Say Goodbye' featured an 'Eleanor Rigby' flavored string arrangement. More of a song fragment than anything.
full album sleeve
In 1997 the US Lazarus Audio Products reissued the collection in CD (Lazarus catalog number CD-2004). The reissue included five bonus tracks, including the previously unreleased 'She's So Sweet':
1.) She's So Sweet (Carlos Guerrero) - 4:01 2.) Rock of All Ages (Mike Gibbins - Pete Ham - Tom Evans) - 3:41 3.) Band On the Run (Paul McCartney) - 5:23 4.) Nadie me ama como tu (Saul Cornejo - Manuel Cornejo - 3:17 5.) Together Forever (Carlos Guerrero) -
There's also at least one extremely sappy non-LP 45:
- 1973's 'Together Forever (Unidos Para Siempre)' b/w 'Nadie Me Ama Como Tu?' (MaG catalog number 3529)
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Genre: pop Rating: 4 stars **** Title: We All Together Company: MaG Catalog: ?? Year: 1974 Country/State: Lima, Peru Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: 10" EP Available: -- Catalog ID: -- Price: --
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I've never seen a copy, but the band also released a six track, 1974 EP.
"We All Together" track listing: (side 1) 1.) Band On the Run (Paul McCartney) - 5:23 rating: ** stars Interesting choice for a cover given the original's complex structure and the fact it was so well known. About all I can say is they did an okay job, though I doubt many folks will pull this one before going to the original. 2.) Nadie me ama como tu (Saul Cornejo - Manuel Cornejo) - 3:17 rating: ** stars A pretty, acoustic ballad, as far as I know, this was the only tune they recorded in their native Spanish. Nice, but nothing you had to own. 3.) Dear Sally - 3:13 rating: **** stars Well, other than sounding uncomfortably like 'Oh Darling' (right down to a Lennon-esque whine and the production sound), 'Dear Sally' was actually a pretty good rocker showcasing Saul Cornejo first-rate guitar work
(side 2) 1.) Bluebird (Paul McCartney) - 3:22 rating: ** stars Another 'Band On the Run' cover ... rote and functional, but nothing special. Wonder how much time they spent nailing this one. 2.) She's So Sweet (Carlos Guerrero) - 4:01 rating: ** stars Pretty, dreamy, and slightly lysergic ballad that with the exception of Saul Cornejo slinky guitar solo, faded from your memory the minute it's over. 3.) Rock of All Ages (Mike Gibbins - Pete Ham - Tom Evans) - 3:41 rating: ** stars Nice rockin' cover of the Badfinger classic. One of the hardest rocking tunes the band ever recorded.
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