Center of Six

Last updated
Center of Six
Center of Six.jpg
Studio album by Josh Clayton-Felt and Friends
Released May 6, 2003
Recorded 1996-1997, 2001, 2002
Genre Pop rock
Label Talking Cloud Records
Producer Josh Clayton-Felt, Patrick Leonard, Tony Phillips, Chad Fischer, Kevin Hunter, R. Walt Vincent, Benjamin Dowling, Sage, Colin Hay, Sean Duane
Josh Clayton-Felt and Friends chronology
Spirit Touches Ground
(2002)		Center of Six
(2003)		 Spirit Shines Through
(2013)

Center of Six is a second posthumous release of music by singer-songwriter Josh Clayton-Felt. It features previously unreleased songs by Josh Clayton-Felt and songs by Josh's friends written and recorded for him after his death.

Josh Clayton-Felt was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He co-founded the alternative rock band School of Fish and later embarked on a solo career.

Contents

Recording

The first part of the album features songs composed by Josh Clayton-Felt in the winter of 1996-97 in Kinsale, Ireland and recorded by him with his backing band in Los Angeles. [1]

Kinsale Town in Munster, Ireland

Kinsale is a historic port and fishing town in County Cork, Ireland, which also has significant military history. Located approximately 25 km south of Cork City on the southeast coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it is located at the mouth of the River Bandon. Its population was 5,281 at the 2016 census. Its population increases during the summer months, when the tourist season is at its peak and the boating fraternity and other tourist visitors arrive in numbers. Kinsale is in the Cork South-West constituency, which has three seats.

Ireland Island in north-west Europe, 20th largest in world, politically divided into the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (a part of the UK)

Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth.

Los Angeles City in California

Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L.A., is the most populous city in California and the second most populous city in the United States, after New York City. With an estimated population of four million, Los Angeles is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. The city is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, Hollywood and the entertainment industry, and its sprawling metropolis.

The second part consist of tribute songs written for Josh. The musicians that participated include Raina Lee Scott, who have previously added additional vocals to Spirit Touches Ground, former lead singer of Men at Work Colin Hay, Kevin Hunter of the former San Francisco band Wire Train, the Los Angeles-based musicians Jami Lula Washington and Sage, musician and actor Andras Jones, the Irish musician and composer Linda Buckley, Los Angeles musician Renee Stahl and actress Renee Faia.

<i>Spirit Touches Ground</i> 2002 studio album by Josh Clayton-Felt

Spirit Touches Ground is the third studio album by singer-songwriter Josh Clayton-Felt, which was released through Dreamworks Records in 2002, two years after his death from cancer.

Men at Work rock band from Australia

Men at Work were an Australian rock band formed in 1979 and best known for their 1981 hit "Down Under". Their founding mainstay was Colin Hay on lead vocals and guitar. After playing as an acoustic duo with Ron Strykert during 1978-79, he formed the group with Ron Strykert playing bass guitar, and Jerry Speiser on drums. They were soon joined by Greg Ham on flute, saxophone, and keyboards and John Rees on bass guitar, with Ron then switching to lead guitar. The group was managed by Russell Depeller, a friend of Colin Hay, whom he met at Latrobe University. This line-up achieved national and international success in the early 1980s. In January 1983, they were the first Australian artists to have a simultaneous No. 1 album and No. 1 single in the United States Billboard charts: Business as Usual and "Down Under" (1981), respectively. With the same works, they achieved the distinction of a simultaneous No. 1 album and No. 1 single on the Australian, New Zealand, and United Kingdom charts. Their second album Cargo was also No. 1 in Australia, No. 2 in New Zealand, No. 3 in the US, and No. 8 in the UK. Their third album Two Hearts reached the top 20 in Australia and top 50 in the US.

Colin Hay Australian musician and actor

Colin James Hay is a Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and actor. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist of the band Men at Work, and later also as a solo artist. Hay's music has been frequently used by actor and director Zach Braff in his work, which helped a career rebirth in the mid-2000s.

Music and lyrics

Josh Clayton-Felt's songs on the album are in search of the self and the journey inward. The title song refers to finding a center in the six Native American directions: North, South, East, West, Up (All Father/Heavens), and Down (Grandmother Earth), and speaks of memory of "when the wind blew... when the sky knew.... when the earth told me not to forget" while on the song "Sacred Mountain" Josh imagines his future. [1] The songs “Forever Self”, “Two Sides”, and “Intermission” head into the direction of Clayton-Felt’s funk-pop interests. [2]

Native Americans in the United States Indigenous peoples of the United States (except Hawaii)

Native Americans, also known as American Indians, Indigenous Americans and other terms, are the indigenous peoples of the United States, except Hawaii. There are over 500 federally recognized tribes within the US, about half of which are associated with Indian reservations. The term "American Indian" excludes Native Hawaiians and some Alaska Natives, while Native Americans are American Indians, plus Alaska Natives of all ethnicities. Native Hawaiians are not counted as Native Americans by the US Census, instead being included in the Census grouping of "Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander".

Release

Center of Six was originally intended to be the title of the follow up record to Josh's debut solo album Inarticulate Nature Boy but during the final stages of work on the album that eventually was released as Spirit Touches Ground both the title Center of Six and the song had been set aside by Josh for a possible future. [2]

<i>Inarticulate Nature Boy</i> 1996 studio album by Josh Clayton-Felt

Inarticulate Nature Boy is the debut solo album by School of Fish singer Josh Clayton-Felt. It was released on May 19, 1996 through A&M Records.

After the release of Spirit Touches Ground more tracks by Josh Clayton-Felt were prepared for release. The co-executive producer for the album as well as producer of several tracks was Chad Fischer who previously played with Josh Clayton-Felt in School of Fish and did mixing of Spirit Touches Ground album.

Chad Fischer is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer from Santa Monica, California, also known as a frontman of the band Lazlo Bane.

School of Fish band that plays alternative rock

School of Fish was an alternative rock band which formed in 1989 and disbanded in 1994. The core members were Josh Clayton-Felt and Michael Ward (guitar). School of Fish released two albums and are remembered for the hit single "3 Strange Days" (1991).

The album was released only on CD with proceeds from sales donated to Descendants of the Earth, a non-profit Native American organization to which Clayton-Felt was dedicated. [1]

Several songs by Josh's friends that were included on the album have been previously released. The song "Complicated O" by andras Jones have been released on his EP Complicated '00 in 2001. [3] The song "Dear J" by Colin Hay was previously released on his 2002 studio album Company of Strangers .

Reception

Patrick Schabe in the PopMatters review wrote that "Center of Six is what a true tribute album really should be all about: celebrating the life of the artist" with "a small but tasty dose of Josh’s own work" and "some wonderfully touching, almost gut-wrenching, eulogies to the man himself". [2]

Track listing

No. Title Performer Writer Producer Length
1. "Center of Six" Josh Clayton-Felt Josh Clayton-Felt Patrick Leonard 4:35
2. "Flute" Josh Clayton-Felt Clayton-Felt Josh Clayton-Felt and Tony Phillips 0:42
3. "Forever Self" Josh Clayton-Felt Clayton-Felt Clayton-Felt and Phillips 3:58
4. "Two Sides" Josh Clayton-Felt Clayton-Felt Clayton-Felt and Phillips 4:23
5. "Sacred Mountain" Josh Clayton-Felt Clayton-Felt Clayton-Felt and Phillips 4:48
6. "Intermission" Josh Clayton-Felt Clayton-Felt Clayton-Felt and Phillips 2:48
7. "You Have Been Freed" Raina Lee Scott Raina Lee Scott Chad Fischer 3:27
8. "Taking You with Me" Kevin Hunter Kevin Hunter Kevin Hunter 4:35
9. "Complicated O" Andras Jones Andras Jones Fischer and R. Walt Vincent 4:26
10. "Waving" Jami Lula Jami Lula Benjamin Dowling 4:29
11. "Only Love" Renee Faia and Renee Stahl Renee Faia and Renee Stahl Fischer 4:22
12. "Monday Afternoon" Sage Sage Fischer and Sage 4:32
13. "Dear J" Colin Hay Colin Hay Colin Hay 2:42
14. "Anam Cara" Linda Buckley Linda Buckley Linda Buckley 3:40
15. "Sense of Humor" Josh Clayton-Felt Clayton-Felt Clayton-Felt 0:33

Personnel

Josh Claytin-Felt

Friends

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Center of Six at cdbaby". cdbaby.com. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
  2. 1 2 3 "Josh Clayton-Felt and Friends - Center of Six". popmatters.com. Retrieved 2016-06-23.
  3. ↑ "Complicated '00". bandcamp.com. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
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