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ARTIST
TITLE
Life Is a Constant Journey Home
FORMAT
CD
LABEL
CATALOG #
ESPDISK 1061CD
ESPDISK 1061CD
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
5/12/2015
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Originally released in 1968. Jerry Moore was working as a folksinger in Greenwich Village when ESP-Disk' artist Randy Burns brought him to the label's attention. Recorded in August 1967 at Impact Studios, NYC, the soulful Life Is a Constant Journey Home (also issued at one point as Ballad of Birmingham, acknowledging its most famous and important song) is so legendary that we'll just let the press quotation below describe it. But please also consider this: that's a heckuva band Mr. Moore's backed by. Eric Gale, who had the chops to play with both jazz and soul legends, was an elite session guitarist until his premature demise of lung cancer. By the time Warren Smith played this date, he'd already recorded with Miles Davis, Gil Evans, and Charles Mingus, and he has gone on to a legendary career as a jazz drummer, composer, and bandleader. Bill Salter, if less famous, still boasts credits with everyone from Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Herbie Mann to ESP-Disk's own Pearls Before Swine. Ralph McDonald would go on to be one of the busiest studio percussionists of the '70s and '80s while recording many albums as a leader. Moore, however, never released another album. This is the first authorized remastered CD reissue of Life Is a Constant Journey Home in the United States. "Here's a classic case of a great release coming from a most unexpected source. Moore did a number of reasonably effective soul and blues singles on regional labels, then recorded this seven-track concept work for the legendary bohemian New York label ESP Disk, best known for '60s underground rock bands like the Fugs, the Godz and Pearls Before Swine. Life Is a Constant Journey Home contains several remarkable protest and topical tunes, each sung with grit and conviction. 'The Ballad of Birmingham' revisits the horrible bombing incident in 1963 that killed four little girls, while 'Winds of Change' offers hope and inspiration to those battling for justice, and 'Life Is a Constant Journey' takes almost a folkie musical approach while discussing the impact of fate and personal decisions.... [T]his... still stands as a fine piece of singer/songwriter commentary and vocal polemic" -- Ron Wynn, AllMusic. Jerry Moore, vocals, guitar; Eric Gale, guitar; Bill Salter, bass; Warren Smith, drums; Ralph MacDonald, congas. RIYL: Tim Buckley, Bill Withers, Terry Callier.
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