You know the album you’re listening to is WAY left of the dial when even www.allmusic.com doesn’t feature any substantial information about it beyond listing its initial release date (1972). In addition, Wikipedia, which seems to have an entry on just about everything, doesn’t even have a stub for this album, or the artists who created it. I have a hard time understanding why such little information exists about this album, because it – Bored Civilians by Keith Cross and Peter Ross – is one of the best albums I’ve heard in the last several years.
Perhaps one reason why no one has heard of this album is because the names of the artists are so hard to remember. For several days after hearing the album for the first time, I accidentally attributed it either to Christopher Cross (another – but very different – artist), or Bob Ross and David Cross (now THAT would have been an interesting collaboration). Truth be told, Bored Civilians is perhaps an appropriate name for the album, as the songwriting duo of Cross and Ross were too “bored” to come up with a better name for themselves.
But therein, perhaps, lies the strength of this album. One gets the impression, in listening to it, that it was recorded by two songwriting friends who had written several songs over the years, whether together or separately, and had come together to record them. That theory is a bit misleading, however, because the album is perfectly polished. The songs are layered with multiple stringed instruments and are tastefully and carefully arranged. In other words, a lot of thought went into the music, just not the marketing of it, I suppose.
I should also mention that Keith Cross did play with T2, a sort of cult rock band hailing from Britain in the early ’70s. I imagine that at some point he was more well known, such that he would deem it fit to record an album under his own name. His cohort Peter Ross seems to be slightly more unknown, even back then.
Anyway, the album first came to my attention when my pal and local filmmaker Kyle McKinnon played it for me. The album had been electronically sent to him by a friend of his, who had stumbled across it God-knows-where. As far as I know, the album currently is not even available on compact disc. It was originally released in 1972, and I think may have been re-issued on compact disc by a Korean record label.
Now onto the music. The album is classic ’70s rock, replete with folk influences and soft-around-the-edges production value. The album is reminiscent of many other artists from that decade, but keep in mind that this album was released in 1972 … Cross and Ross were not exactly following trends in recording this, their only album. Highlights on the album are the songs “Dead Salute” and a sublime cover of Fotheringay’s “Peace in the End.”
Of course, I don’t mean to frustrate any readers by mentioning this album in this Blog, because I have no idea how you’d find a copy of it. Maybe you’ll get lucky, like I did, and someone will burn you a copy. Otherwise, I suppose you could always pick one up the next time you’re in Seoul.
– John Seay
May 29th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
Boom!
http://rapidshare.com/files/29452783/newsun.zip.html
May 29th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
I couldn’t agree more. This album is truly a lost classic, it anticipated in many ways what the legacy of 70’s rock was to be, and I find it hard to believe that with such a substantial community of record diggers out there that this one hasn’t been rediscovered (i.e. remastered on compact disc, written about in the back pages of MOJO, etc.), at least on any mass level.
Incidentally, there is an entry for the album on Amazon.com. It’s a Korean reissue that was put on very limited release, so of course they don’t have any copies available.
June 2nd, 2007 at 1:49 pm
you know an album is way left of the dial, when you are still searching for it on vinyl, you google it, and one of the only hits you get refers to you yourself giving said item to your own friend kyle. that was me, indeed, that hit kyle with it. FUCK! where the HELL is my 12″ vinyl copy?!?! beautiful review my friend. it is one of the best albums i have ever come across either. now you need to start searching for downloads by “happy end,” the great japanese counterpart to these guys… the filth goes on forever. tell kyle that i’m still hung over from last saturday night.
June 5th, 2007 at 11:34 am
I think you can still pick up this gem at various places on the net and on ebay, til they release it here.
June 25th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
Playing as I type. Discovered it blogged somewhere about a month ago, and it’s been in pretty constant rotation (or equivalent) on my hard drive ever since. Stupid thing is, I remember passing this up SO many times back in the day I could have picked it up for nothing in the second-hand racks. TOTALLY inappropriate cover for such blissful, sunny music. Bad cover, bad name, bad title, FANTAAAAAAAAAASTIC music. One of those very few examples of Brits absolutely doing the Left Coast thing at least as well as the Merkins.
My vote for THE lost classic of all time. No contest.
June 27th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
Just got a copy last night from my friend Greg (via Kyle, actually)–yeah, this record is a lost classic. Beautifully recorded, Dee Murray (in particular) really shines, and the songs are layered, fresh and sound like (really) they could have been written yesterday. In places, it’s got that sorta hermetically-sealed Richard Dashut style of production, in other places it has the same atmostpherics as Sister/Lovers or Paris 1919. I only stumbled onto this blog because I was rooting around for info on the album. Obviously, there’s not a lot out there.
For another lost classic, anyone ever heard Billy Nichols’ Would You Believe?
July 14th, 2007 at 12:34 am
Jeez guys, it’s a small world in here. Same thing happened to me as did Rob. Was trying to find info about this, got here and saw reference to Kyle and the unamed rob. What a beautiful record this is.
July 14th, 2007 at 12:40 am
I guess I failed to mention that Kyle is one of my closest man-friends in the world. Proof? He’s got a tattoo of Elvin Bishop on his left inner thigh. He’s also the best guitar player I know (Kyle, not Elvin).