Close (Sean Bonniwell album)

Last updated
Close
Close album.jpg
Studio album by Sean Bonniwell
Released August 4, 1969
Recorded May - July 1969, Capitol Records Studios
Genre
Length34:53
Label Capitol
Producer Vic Briggs
Sean Bonniwell chronology
The Bonniwell Music Machine
(1968)		Close
(1969)
Singles from Close
  1. "Where Am I to Go"
    Released: May 15, 1969

Close is a solo album by American rock musician Sean Bonniwell, credited under the moniker T. S. Bonniwell, who had been the creative force behind the innovative garage rock band The Music Machine. The album was released on August 4, 1969, by Capitol Records (see 1969 in music). [1] It marked a total departure from Bonniwell's rebellious protopunk period with The Music Machine, to a soft rock crooning style. In addition, the album blended folk rock and orchestrated influences, and was inspired by Bonniwell's stints in the pre-Music Machine groups, the Wayfarers and the Ragamuffins, along with his desire to be more poetically inclined. The song,"Where Am I to Go", was released as a single ahead of the album, but failed to chart. Like its attendant single, Close was also somewhat commercially unsuccessful, and was the last recording by Bonniwell for the next 20 years. [1] [2]

Album collection of recorded music, words, sounds

An album is a collection of audio recordings issued as a collection on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium. Albums of recorded music were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78-rpm records collected in a bound book resembling a photograph album; this format evolved after 1948 into single vinyl LP records played at ​33 1⁄3 rpm. Vinyl LPs are still issued, though album sales in the 21st-century have mostly focused on CD and MP3 formats. The audio cassette was a format used alongside vinyl from the 1970s into the first decade of the 2000s.

Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as "rock and roll" in the United States in the early 1950s, and developed into a range of different styles in the 1960s and later, particularly in the United Kingdom and in the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, a style which drew heavily on the genres of blues, rhythm and blues, and from country music. Rock music also drew strongly on a number of other genres such as electric blues and folk, and incorporated influences from jazz, classical and other musical styles. Musically, rock has centered on the electric guitar, usually as part of a rock group with electric bass, drums, and one or more singers. Usually, rock is song-based music usually with a 4/4 time signature using a verse–chorus form, but the genre has become extremely diverse. Like pop music, lyrics often stress romantic love but also address a wide variety of other themes that are frequently social or political.

Sean Bonniwell American singer-songwriter

Thomas Harvey "Sean" Bonniwell was an American singer-songwriter/guitarist, who was known as the creative force behind the 1960s garage rock band, The Music Machine.

Contents

Background

Recording sessions for the album began in mid-1969, and took place in Capitol Recording Studios in Los Angeles, with former guitarist of Eric Burdon and the Animals, Vic Briggs, producing and Paul Buff engineering. Sean Bonniwell was occupied with selling the rights to his former band, The Music Machine, to get out of his recording contract with Warner Bros. Records in the early part of 1969 and, consequently, there was a lack of properly arranged new material for the album. [3] Bonniwell's departure was marked by the limitations to song selections and managerial conflicts. Through a producer from his previous recording company, Bonniwell was signed to Capitol Records under the assertion he was given total control of the album's output. As a result, he was given time to improvise and arrange in the studio, with Briggs playing a pivotal role in enabling Bonniwell to complete the recording sessions under his own terms. [4] Briggs was also instrumental in arranging the orchestrations that complimented much of Bonniwell's lyrical content. The project's only credited songwriter, Bonniwell, recalled the importance of Briggs's contributions to Close during an interview with music historian, Peter Sjoblom: "Vic was a God-send; he insisted I sing and play the songs live for him, two or three at a time, in the late afternoon, near dusk, at his hillside cottage in the Canyon. Basically, he took it from there. As we progressed so did our collaboration.... When the basic tracks were satisfactory he added the orchestration: To say we were on the same page is an understatement." [2] The two songs, "Where Am I to Go" and "Something to Be", were the only exceptions as they were arranged by Bonniwell with session musicians during his time with The Music Machine. [5]

Vic Briggs British musician

Victor Harvey Briggs III is a former blues and rock musician, best known as the lead guitarist with Eric Burdon and The Animals during the 1966-1968 period. Briggs, a convert to Sikhism, currently plays classical Indian and Hawaiian music.

The Music Machine band that plays garage rock

The Music Machine was an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1966. Fronted by chief songwriter and lead vocalist Sean Bonniwell, the band cultivated a characteristically dark and rebellious image reflected in an untamed musical approach. Sometimes it made use of distorted guitar lines and hallucinogenic organ parts, punctuated by Bonniwell's distinctively throaty vocals. Although they managed to attain national chart success only briefly with two singles, the Music Machine is today considered by many critics to be one of the groundbreaking acts of the 1960s. Their style is now recognized as a pioneering force in proto-punk; yet within a relatively short period of time, they began to employ more complex lyrical and instrumental arrangements that went beyond the typical garage band format.

Warner Bros. Records American record label

Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1958 as the recorded music division of the American film studio Warner Bros., and was one of a group of labels owned and operated by larger parent corporations for much of its existence. The sequence of companies that controlled Warner Bros. and its allied labels evolved through a convoluted series of corporate mergers and acquisitions from the early 1960s to the early 2000s. Over this period, Warner Bros. Records grew from a struggling minor player in the music industry to one of the top record labels in the world.

Among the tracks that were recorded for the album were Bonniwell's compositions "She Is" and "Black Snow", which had been recorded by The Music Machine, but had not been released at the time because of their somber contrast to the band's hard-edge sound. "Black Snow" saw an appearance among others of the band's rarities on the 2000 album Ignition. [6] Bonniwell moved away from the gritty psychedelic rock experimentation, in the group in favor of melancholy folk rock songs, reminiscent of his time as a folk musician, and influenced by lounge music, bossa nova, and flamenco. [7] Richie Unterberger, writing for the Allmusic website, described the album as "...quite subdued, orchestrated singer/songwriter pop, verging on easy listening at times in its arrangements. The gravel-growl that Bonniwell employed for the likes of 'Talk Talk' was totally absent, as he concentrated solely on the sweet, delicate, crooning aspects of his voice." [8] The tracks "Who Remembers" and "Temporary Knife" featured contributions from voice artist Sharon Hicks, who possessed uniquely high vocals. [4]

Psychedelic rock style of rock music

Psychedelic rock is a diverse style of rock music inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelic culture, which is centred around perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music is intended to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs, most notably LSD. Many psychedelic groups differ in style, and the label is often applied spuriously.

Folk rock is a hybrid music genre combining elements of folk music and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival and the influence that the Beatles and other British Invasion bands had on members of that movement. Performers such as Bob Dylan and the Byrds—several of whose members had earlier played in folk ensembles—attempted to blend the sounds of rock with their preexisting folk repertoire, adopting the use of electric instrumentation and drums in a way previously discouraged in the U.S. folk community. The term "folk rock" was initially used in the U.S. music press in June 1965 to describe the Byrds' music.

Lounge music is a type of easy listening music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It may be meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place, usually with a tranquil theme, such as a jungle, an island paradise or outer space. The range of lounge music encompasses beautiful music–influenced instrumentals, modern electronica, while remaining thematically focused on its retro-space-age cultural elements. The earliest type of lounge music appeared during the 1920s and 1930s, and was known as light music. In the 21st century, the term lounge music may also be used to describe the types of music played in hotels, casinos, supermarkets, several restaurants, and piano bars.

Close was released on August 4, 1969, but its distribution suffered from only being issued to California and from lack of promotion. Nonetheless, it successfully expanded Bonniwell's musical prowess, and displayed his versatility as a vocalist. However, feeling disillusioned with the music industry, Bonniwell took a long hiatus from recording, and lived a nomadic lifestyle, or as Bonniwell said, "my transcendentalized western guru period", which made Close his last album for the next 20 years. [9] Although it, and its single "What Am I to Do", failed to chart and had gone out of print by the early 1970s, the album's reputation has grown over the years. By the mid-1980s, a revival of interest in Bonniwell's music with The Music Machine had begun, and accordingly Close was met with intrigue. Finally, in 2000 the album was first reissued by Collectables Records, and was rereleased by Real Gone Records in 2012. [5] [8]

An out of print (OOP) item, typically a book, is something that is no longer being published. It can also include any print or visual medium or sound recording, or video recording such as DVD or Blu-Ray.

Collectables Records

Collectables is a reissue record label founded in 1980 by Jerry Greene. Greene was previously associated with New York City's Times Square Record Shop, Philadelphia's Record Museum retail chain, and the Lost Nite and Crimson record labels.

Track listing

All tracks were composed by Sean Bonniwell.

Side one

  1. "Where Am I to Go" - 2:52
  2. "Love Is Such a Simple Word" - 3:12
  3. "Who Remembers" - 2:40
  4. "Something to Be" - 3:07
  5. "Black Snow" - 4:00

Side two

  1. "She Is" - 3:06
  2. "Temporary Knife" - 2:50
  3. "Continue" - 2:57
  4. "Where It Belongs" - 2:11
  5. "But Not with My Heart " - 2:57
  6. "Sleep" - 4:17

Personnel

Acoustic guitar type of guitar

An acoustic guitar is a guitar that produces sound acoustically by transmitting the vibration of the strings to the air—as opposed to relying on electronic amplification (see electric guitar). The sound waves from the strings of an acoustic guitar resonate through the guitar's body, creating sound. This typically involves the use of a sound board and a sound box to strengthen the vibrations of the strings. In standard tuning the guitar's six strings are tuned (low to high) E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4.

Bass guitar Electric bass instrument

The bass guitar is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric guitar, except with a longer neck and scale length, and four to six strings or courses.

Lyle Joseph Ritz was an American jazz ukulele musician who was a key part of the Hawaii ukulele genre. As part of the Wrecking Crew, Ritz contributed to many American pop hits from the mid 1960s to the early 1980s. He was inducted to the Ukulele Hall of Fame Museum in 2007 and the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2007.

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References

  1. 1 2 "The Bonniwell Music Machine: Bottom of the Soul". seanbonniwell.com. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Close". bonniwellmusicmachine.com. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  3. ↑ Unterberger, Richie. "T. S. Bonniwell - Biography". allmusic.com. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  4. 1 2 Unterberger, Richie. "LINER NOTES FOR T.S. BONNIWELL'S CLOSE". richieunterberger.com. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  5. 1 2 Unterberger, Richie (2000). "Close (CD booklet)". Collectables Records.
  6. ↑ "Ignition". bonniwellmusicmachine.com. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
  7. ↑ Unterberger, Richie. "Sean Bonniwell - Biography". allmusic.com. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
  8. 1 2 Unterberger, Richie. "Close - Review". allmusic.com. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Sean Bonniwell dies at 71; lead singer of the Music Machine". latimes.com. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
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