The Candlestickmaker
The Candlestickmaker | |
---|---|
Warner Bros. | |
Producer | Gary Downey, Ron Elliott |
The Candlestickmaker is the lone solo album by American musician
Background and composition
After the Beau Brummels released Bradley's Barn in 1968, singer Sal Valentino joined another band, Stoneground, leaving Ron Elliott on his own for the first time as a Warner Bros. recording artist.[1] Elliott assembled a team of West Coast musicians including Chris Ethridge (bass), Bud Shank (woodwinds), Leon Russell (brass arrangements), Ry Cooder (guitar), Lyle Ritz (bass), Paul Humphrey (drums) and Dennis Dragon (drums) and recorded The Candlestickmaker, Eliott's lone solo album. Valentino also participated, playing tambourine on some of the tracks.[2]
The first side of the album contains five standalone songs, while the second side is made up entirely of "The Candlestickmaker Suite", a 15-minute piece consisting of two segments.[3] "It's a story about the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker and I," Elliott said of the two-part suite in a 1999 interview. "All of these forces around this guy going through this madness. It has a healing quality to it."[1]
Release and reception
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [2] |
Upon its release in early 1970, The Candlestickmaker received generally positive reviews from music critics. A review in Billboard magazine said, "Elliott's songwriting style makes excellent use of nature's elements and his singing is just right for his songs: natural, masculine and especially casual."[3] The Village Voice called the album "an auspicious debut if we ever heard one."[4]
Elliott recalled, "Years later, I had some guy walk up to me after a gig. He said he was in Vietnam, and he played that album every day, and it saved his life. And that's the kind of album it is. I always thought it should have been in a documentary of Vietnam or something for vets. It was fun doing. But hardly popular."[1]
Contemporary critics have also given the album mostly favorable reviews.
Track listing
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Molly in the Middle" | Gary Downey, Ron Elliott | 4:09 |
2. | "Lazy Day" | Downey, Elliott | 2:41 |
3. | "All Time Green" | Elliott | 2:51 |
4. | "To the City, To the Sea" | Elliott | 2:59 |
5. | "Deep River Runs Blue" | Downey, Elliott | 2:48 |
6. | "The Candlestickmaker Suite (Pt. 1: Dark into Dawn/Pt. 2: Questions)" | Elliott | 14:51 |
Personnel
|
References
- ^ a b c Unterberger, Richie (2003). The Candlestickmaker (CD booklet). Ron Elliott.
- ^ Rovi Corporation). Retrieved June 21, 2011.
- ^ a b
"Special Merit Picks". ISSN 0006-2510.
- ISSN 0042-6180.
- Rovi Corporation). Retrieved June 21, 2011.
External links
- The Candlestickmaker at Discogs (list of releases)