From the ‘Free Appreciation Society’ magazine. Issue 76, October 1997

Nothing could be finer….

Cry of Love prepare – Raleigh, N.Carolina, USA. June 1997.

Come the Summer Raleigh is a pretty beautiful place to be. A place full of trees, it’s pretty much like living in the woods and not at all what a poor city boy like me is used to. I LOVE it! I flew over for a brief visit in June to catch up with the guys and to hopefully catch a few Paul Rodgers shows. Off the plane after a late night, early start and a long flight I’m pretty tired but happy to see my friend Audley at the airport. He’s looking fit and happy. Things could get to a better start though. We drive home in his newly acquired truck and turn the corner into his road only to find his ’65 Chevy Impala riding up a tree! He’s been gone from home for just an hour and somebody has got into it and left it completlty demolished. The tree incidently is in someone’s garden and two feet to the left the car would have rode straight into a rather cool wooden house! The police are already there and we go through the whole deal with them. Audley is obviously pretty freaked out.

The band’s rehearsals started a couple of day’s ago and they are preparing for the new material for the live show and Robert Mason also has to learn some of the old songs. The first show, with the Allman Brothers is at Walnut Creek in a couple of weeks. I don’t attend tonight but decide to stay at the house and get an early night. A wise decision as the next day after a long sleep I’m feeling pretty good. The sun is out, the sky is blue.

Work continues on the new album, which I now find has a proposed release of date of August 5th. Today I see the albums sleeve art for the first time. The cover has the window of a local pawn shop. It’s an interesting and slightly bizarre cover – nothing like I expected. In the shop are conga’s, with guitars and tambourines hanging up. The picture has been taken in such a way that the window glass is reflecting the trees and buildings from out on the street. Very strange. I’m rather sad to see the old logo hasn’t been used and the typeface on the cover I do find rather bland. Oh well…The back of the case has a picture of the Glam-O-Rama – the laundry right next to the studio! Inside the case, and behind the CD there’s a really cool picture of a local swamp. This is B/W and is very striking. The back of the booklet has a set of four pictures, one of Robert Mason in a pin stripe suit – a body shot only, and one of Audley’s hand and guitar. The other two are freaky animal images. The booklet itself opens out slightly differently than is usual. On opening it you are presented with the only band picturem a cool looking shot with sun spots and slightly tinted. Behind them is a lake and woods. This picture is cut into two and this opening reveals all the lyrics and credits plus a few more shots of a ‘local colour’. It’s certainly a strange sleeve but the more I think about it the more it makes sense. The cover of Brother showed the beauty of Raleigh and the surroundings. Rustic and raw. This sleeve is a little more ‘urban’ feeling and shows another side of the area. It’s certainly more ‘earthy’.

The band’s practice space is the basement of a building, it’s a small area but it is cosy and a ‘close’ environment. I’ve been down here a number of times before. The band play within arms reach of each other. I like that. They rehearse from 7:30pm until around midnight with usually one night off a week. The first thing that hit me was how good the vocals sound. Both Robert’s are singing and it really is excellent. They’ve been working together on harmonies and Mason has been teaching Kearn’s breathing techniques. The result is quite astounding. Robert Kearn’s did sing a little before but now looks MUCH more confident, and Robert Mason is superb.

Another surprise is how much guitar Robert Mason is playing. On the new material he plays on all but one or two tracks. After putting down all the vocals he’s now learning the guitar parts and Audley is carefully working stuff out so both guitars compliment each other and so Robert’s load isn’t so hard that it compromises his singing. Work Progresses well and within a couple of days some songs are sounding very strong and new ones are being added. As is usual, some songs will be extended for the shows and this is where much of the time is taken up. REVELATION will possibly have an extended opening for example, and SUGARCANE has some new sections added to the end. SWEET MARY’S GONE has the most changes so far with a whole new piece added to the end that will allow a cover tune to be inserted at will. Various soul tunes are mentioned and they are already throwing in pieces of Sly Stone’s anthem STANDm which sounds really good. As far as I’m concerned it all soundsreally great but it’s interesting to watch them discuss each track and try a number of different approaches and styles until they find something they like. Generally at a rehearsal they’ll run through everything first then pick out bits to work upon. The bulk of the songs are fine but they have some endings and extended segments to add. I’ve heard them work through SUGARCANE and it’s new sequence took pretty much a whole evening to filter down and tighten up. Then they’ll run through the entire list one more time before departure. Over the first four evenings I audibly hear things tighten up and confidence build. During the day everybody works individually on their parts. On Tuesday Audley carefully shows Robert Mason the guitar parts for BRING ME MY BURDEN. He not only has to learn the song but adapt his singing so everything fits. Some of the chords are a stretch. For a couple of days they don’t rehearse it while Robert gets comfortable with it by himself but by Thursday they’re running through it as a band and by Friday it’s starting to sound pretty good. They work up 10 songs from the album and intend doing around four from Brother (PEACE PIPE, CARNIVAL, PRETTY AS YOU PLEASE seem definite along with maybe one more) and possibly a few cover tunes too – no tracks mentioned as yet. On Saturday they take the day off and we go check out the Rodgers/Skynyrd show. A welcome little break but by Sunday afternoon they’re back at it. With only a week or so to go now it’s a case of keeping the momentum going.

I miss Sunday’s rehearsal but attend again from Monday. The difference is noticeable and there’s now a couple of sings they don’t feel the need to run through every time. Robert Mason’s guitars have finally shown up and the Epiphone Les Paul he’s been using is replaced by a large silver sparkle Gretsch. His playing is much more confident and comfortable tonight. Audley has been trying to find interesting cover tunes most of the afternoon and has been listening through his Stax and soul stuff in the hope of finding something unusual but not so obscure that no-one will have a clue what it is. He eventually decides on YOUR GOOD THING (IS ABOUT TO END) a Stax single from 1966 by Mable John, written by Issac Hayes and David Porter, certainly a track I’ve not heard before but a great song. At the rehearsal it seems to fit into the slot in SWEET MARY’S GONE very well. They play around with it for quite a while and Robert Mason takes a cassette of the song so he can sort out the lyric and work on the vocal. Audley and Robert Kearns decide to get together in the morning to work a little more on the arrangement and chord sequences. It’s past 12:30am before we’re all on the way home tonight.

Tuesday doesn’t go quite as planned. The Black Crowes are in town and Johnny Colt rings Audley and asks him out for a chat and coffee. Auldey flies off and leaves poor old Robert waiting (he eventually falls asleep!). Rehearsal for the evening is later cancelled as Audley and Robert go out to the show to hang out and let a few more people know that their album is ready.

On Wednesday the bits of Audleys rig start to arrive and the first part is the Leslie horn. Very nice it is too. After a night off everyone is fresh and ready to go. Some of the material tonight sounds outstanding and the pieces that have been added as extensions to songs or additions to arrangements start to really come together. Robert Kearns is so excited in parts that when he’s singing he’s standing on the tips of his toes. HUNG OUT TO DRY is sounding particularly good tonight. It’s a long rehearsal this evening but the time goes by very quickly and when we next look at our watches it’s 12:30! We pack up quickly, shut down the power, lock up and head out to the Martini and cigar bar for some long cold draft Guinness. Robert Kearns goes for a Dean Martini, and I must admit I had a couple of Martini’s too. And they were very fine indeed. However, I’m developing a very, very bad toothache which has been kinda poking it’s head up a few times in the past couple of days, but this evening is pretty much making me sweat. Alcohol is, and has always been, a proved pain killer. I sleep quite well but wake with the ache!

Thursday sees the final pieces fit. I don’t remember much from the afternoon except toothache, toothache and more toothache. I believe I must have an abscess. Bummer! I feel like the elephant man! Bob Davies returns from working with the Squirrel Nut Zippers (yea I know, what a name but jeez they’ve sold some albums in the USA!). He’s now back in the Cry of Love employ, and loving it. I must admit it’s always real good to see him. Also Audley’s ‘King of Rigs’ arrives. Basically it’s just a huge midi-switching system but it keeps his pedals safely out of the way and is programmable, so he won’t be doing the ‘pedal dance’ in the future. It’s a beast – and we all admire it’s flashing lights and impressive array of footswitches. I must admit to just a hint of jealousy here. I mean the Leslie knocked me out last night but now all this! I want one and I want it NOW!

Tonight we pick up Greg, the guy who’s going to look after Audley’s guitars and the rig. Until tonight I hadn’t realised that we’d already met, at the Kiss show last year! Within a few minutes we’ve got it all up and running. Audley is lit up like a kid at Christmas, and why not. Slowly he works out what songs use which effects and the rehearsal begins. It’s all a bit slow as he sorts out what is what and what goes to where – and does what – BUT, now the songs really do take on a life. SUNDAY MORNING FLOOD now has Deja Vibe and becomes thick and muddy. A real wash of sound and a fat tone coming from a Strat. Other songs benefit too as Chorus effects and echos are added to certain parts. It’s just like Christmas and everyone is happy. By midnight a number of friends drop by to check out the sounds and to his the Martini bar. It’s my final evening in Raleigh and I get a fine send-off. Much Guinness is consumed.

Friday is a rush. One of Audley’s old room mates LJ is kind enough to drive me around to do some shopping after a final session at Taco Bell (I hardly eat anything because it feels like my head will explode!). I grab a number of computer games at about a 3rd of the price they’d be in the UK. After heading back to pack all my stuff I finally get to say goodbye to Robert Kearns and Audley – who are busy working on more cover tunes! We then swing by Jag Studios where Dag have started work on their new record. Kenny is skating around on roller blades while Byron fixes a speaker (again!). I had hoped to catch Custer but he’s not very well and won’t be at the studio today. Kenny happily plays me one of the grooves they have down. It’s very good and well FUNKY. They’ll be in here for pretty much the whole summer or, as Kenny put it “until someone at Columbia pulls the plug!” I wish them luck and look forward to hearing some results. Finally, we drive over to see Bob, who immediately loads me up with various tour shirts and a really nice Epiphone jacket. What a guy! By now I’ve taken enough pain-killers to stop a horse but I’ve still got toothache. Time is getting on and we make a move to the airport. I thank LJ for all the driving and rather sadly make my way to the check-in. Now I don’t want to go on about it but if you’ve got an abscess DON’T get on a plane. The pressure difference whilst in the air is a KILLER and I swear the lady next to me only just emerged without having her head torn completely from her shoulders. I felt like a coiled spring just ready to completely FREAK OUT! The movie was the same one I got in the plane going, no relief there – tho’ I did watch it again anyway (My Fellow American with Jack Lemmon and James Garner, not bad). Eight hours feels like 80 but finally we land at Gatwick, having circled for 39 minutes! It’s cold and raining. I don’t care!

On Monday at 08:30am I’m in the dentist’s having an X-ray. Yup, I have an abscess and now I have penicillin. The tooth is removed some two weeks later, I won’t describe that to you if you don’t mind. ‘ouch’ kinda covers it! Since then the guys have done two Allmna shows, and by all accounts did very well. They’ve also done a couple of other shows and, as I type this, are out doing two weeks of stuff for radio stations across America. In the meantime the song SUGARCANE is the second most added tune to radio playlists in the USA. Welcome back boys! I’m sad I didn’t get to see the shows but feel very lucky to have seen the build up to them going back out on the road. I know that people rarely see the amount of work that goes into getting a band up and running, or the amount of stress and strain that can be involved. It’s not just getting the songs sorted but also dealing with the record company, the managers, the accountants, radio people, journalists and all the other things that ‘go with the job’. I must admit that I learnt a fair bit over those two weeks and I’ve played in bands for years!. Soon enough you’ll be able to make your own minds up about the album.My opinion hasn’t changed since I wrote the review. It’s superb, and as I watch my friends step onto the merry-go-round that is the ‘road’ once again I can do nothing but wish them every success and a smooth ride. I’ll be watching…….

You might be interested to know that Cry of Love’s first meeting with Robert Mason was on March 20th 1995! The first jam featured PRETTY AS YOU PLEASE, BAD THING, HAND ME DOWN and GOTTA LOVE ME from the Brother album. Also GOOD LOVIN’ GONE BADand ROCK STEADY from Bad Company and FIRE AND WATER by Free. Other things included SUPERSTITION by Stevie Wonder and titbits of things by Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Grand Funk etc