GARY U.S. BONDS
''DEDICATION''
APRIL 1981
41:21
**********
1 Jolé Blon (with Bruce Springsteen) 03:25 (Traditional)
2 This Little Girl 03:44 (Bruce Springsteen)
3 Your Love 03:28 (Bruce Springsteen)
4 Dedication 03:11 (Bruce Springsteen)
5 Daddy's Come Home 06:26 (Steven Van Zant)
6 It's Only love 03:05 (John Lennon, Paul McCartney)
7 The Pretender 06:13 (Jackson Browne)
8 Way Back When 04:04 (Gary U.S. Bonds, George Bruno)
9 From A Buick 6 04:28 (Bob Dylan)
10 Just Like A Child 03:43 (LeRoy Anderson, John Clemente, Lou Conte)
**********
Gary U.S. Bonds - lead vocals
Bruce Springsteen - guitars, background vocals (solo "Jole Blon")
Steven Van Zandt - bass, fuzz bass, guitar, bongos, background vocals
Roy Bittan - keyboards
Clarence Clemons - saxophone, background vocals
Danny Federici - accordion, keyboards
Max Weinberg - drums
Additional musicians:
Chuck Jackson - vocals
Ben E. King - vocals
Ellie Greenwich - background vocals
Carol Williams - background vocals
John Clemente - bass
Rusty Cloud - keyboards
Luis Conte - guitar
Rick Gazda - trumpet, background vocals
Ula Hedwig - background vocals
Brenda Hilliard - background vocals
La Bamba - trombone
Eddie Manion - tenor saxophone
Mike Micara - drums
Rob Parissi - guitar
Michael Spengler - trumpet
Joey Stann - baritone saxophone, background vocals
Carole Sylvan - background vocals
Brenda Joyce Hillard - background vocals
Mikie Harris - background vocals
**********
ABOUT THE ALBUM/WIKIPEDIA
**********
REVIEW/AMG
William Ruhlmann
Bruce Springsteen played guitar, sang a duet, wrote three songs, and co-produced and co-arranged four on Gary U.S. Bonds' comeback album, recorded 20 years after his heyday. Springsteen also lent his backup group, The E Street Band, while E Street guitarist Miami Steve (Van Zandt) also contributed a song and produced the bulk of the record. The result, naturally, sounds like a Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band album with lead vocals by Gary U.S. Bonds. Bonds' elastic tenor, heard in much greater clarity than it ever was in his early years, has just enough grit to be soulful, and he puts across the pop-soul tunes Springsteen and Van Zandt have constructed for him effectively. He also tackles the Beatles' "It's Only Love" and Bob Dylan's "From a Buick 6," and sings Jackson Browne's "The Pretender" as if the lyric was devoid of irony. It's an enjoyable album that does nothing to change the notion that Bonds as a recording artist essentially conforms himself to the intentions of his producer, whether that's Frank Guida, Jerry Williams, Jr., or Bruce Springsteen.
**********
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Cub Koda
After moving to the Norfolk, VA, area in the mid-'50s, young Gary Anderson began plying his vocal wares, first in church, later with a local group called the Turks. When he was not yet 21, he was approached by local record producer Frank Guida to join his tiny Legrand label. Guida changed Anderson's name to U.S. Bonds, hoping the first release would get extra airplay by disc jockeys mistaking it for a public-service announcement. The result was the classic "New Orleans," combining rock-combo raunch with impassioned, scorched soul-singing that set the stage for all that would follow. Guida double- and triple-tracked Bonds' voice and the resulting murky production gave all the hits (including "Quarter to Three," "School Is Out," and "Dear Lady Twist") a party-in-outer-space quality all their own. Though he kept recording, making a couple of excellent solo albums in the early '80s with the help of Bruce Springsteen, Bonds is best seen today dotting the landscape of oldies shows the world over, singing the songs that made him famous.
**********
BIOGRAPHY/WIKIPEDIA
**********
WEBSITE
**********
TO THE TOP
**********
''DEDICATION''
APRIL 1981
41:21
**********
1 Jolé Blon (with Bruce Springsteen) 03:25 (Traditional)
2 This Little Girl 03:44 (Bruce Springsteen)
3 Your Love 03:28 (Bruce Springsteen)
4 Dedication 03:11 (Bruce Springsteen)
5 Daddy's Come Home 06:26 (Steven Van Zant)
6 It's Only love 03:05 (John Lennon, Paul McCartney)
7 The Pretender 06:13 (Jackson Browne)
8 Way Back When 04:04 (Gary U.S. Bonds, George Bruno)
9 From A Buick 6 04:28 (Bob Dylan)
10 Just Like A Child 03:43 (LeRoy Anderson, John Clemente, Lou Conte)
**********
Gary U.S. Bonds - lead vocals
Bruce Springsteen - guitars, background vocals (solo "Jole Blon")
Steven Van Zandt - bass, fuzz bass, guitar, bongos, background vocals
Roy Bittan - keyboards
Clarence Clemons - saxophone, background vocals
Danny Federici - accordion, keyboards
Max Weinberg - drums
Additional musicians:
Chuck Jackson - vocals
Ben E. King - vocals
Ellie Greenwich - background vocals
Carol Williams - background vocals
John Clemente - bass
Rusty Cloud - keyboards
Luis Conte - guitar
Rick Gazda - trumpet, background vocals
Ula Hedwig - background vocals
Brenda Hilliard - background vocals
La Bamba - trombone
Eddie Manion - tenor saxophone
Mike Micara - drums
Rob Parissi - guitar
Michael Spengler - trumpet
Joey Stann - baritone saxophone, background vocals
Carole Sylvan - background vocals
Brenda Joyce Hillard - background vocals
Mikie Harris - background vocals
**********
ABOUT THE ALBUM/WIKIPEDIA
**********
REVIEW/AMG
William Ruhlmann
Bruce Springsteen played guitar, sang a duet, wrote three songs, and co-produced and co-arranged four on Gary U.S. Bonds' comeback album, recorded 20 years after his heyday. Springsteen also lent his backup group, The E Street Band, while E Street guitarist Miami Steve (Van Zandt) also contributed a song and produced the bulk of the record. The result, naturally, sounds like a Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band album with lead vocals by Gary U.S. Bonds. Bonds' elastic tenor, heard in much greater clarity than it ever was in his early years, has just enough grit to be soulful, and he puts across the pop-soul tunes Springsteen and Van Zandt have constructed for him effectively. He also tackles the Beatles' "It's Only Love" and Bob Dylan's "From a Buick 6," and sings Jackson Browne's "The Pretender" as if the lyric was devoid of irony. It's an enjoyable album that does nothing to change the notion that Bonds as a recording artist essentially conforms himself to the intentions of his producer, whether that's Frank Guida, Jerry Williams, Jr., or Bruce Springsteen.
**********
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Cub Koda
After moving to the Norfolk, VA, area in the mid-'50s, young Gary Anderson began plying his vocal wares, first in church, later with a local group called the Turks. When he was not yet 21, he was approached by local record producer Frank Guida to join his tiny Legrand label. Guida changed Anderson's name to U.S. Bonds, hoping the first release would get extra airplay by disc jockeys mistaking it for a public-service announcement. The result was the classic "New Orleans," combining rock-combo raunch with impassioned, scorched soul-singing that set the stage for all that would follow. Guida double- and triple-tracked Bonds' voice and the resulting murky production gave all the hits (including "Quarter to Three," "School Is Out," and "Dear Lady Twist") a party-in-outer-space quality all their own. Though he kept recording, making a couple of excellent solo albums in the early '80s with the help of Bruce Springsteen, Bonds is best seen today dotting the landscape of oldies shows the world over, singing the songs that made him famous.
**********
BIOGRAPHY/WIKIPEDIA
**********
WEBSITE
**********
TO THE TOP
**********
