🎵 AotW AOTW: Gino Vannelli POWERFUL PEOPLE (A&M SP 3630)

[LPJim]

Gino Vannelli
POWERFUL PEOPLE
A&M SP-3630

People Gotta Move - 3:18
Lady - 3:39
Son of a New York Gun - 3:22
Jack Miraculous - 2:40
Jo Jo - 3:37
Powerful People - 6:09
Felicia - 3:02
The Work Verse - 2:50
Poor Happy Jimmy (Tribute to Jim Croce) - 3:47

All selections written by Gino Vannelli

Produced and Arranged by Gino & Joe Vannelli
Associate Producer: Herb Alpert

Gino Vannelli - Vocals
Joe Vannelli - Electric Piano, Synthesizer
Richard Baker - Organ, Organ Bass, Synthesizer
Graham Lear - Drums
John J. Mandel - Percussion
Tony Golia - Congas, Bongos
Lani Hall - Background Vocals

Engineers: Tommy Vicari and Larry Forkner
Mastering Engineer: Bernie Grundman
Art Direction: Roland Young
Design: Junie Osaki
Photography: John Rideout (front)/Jim McCrary (back)

POWERFUL PEOPLE entered the Billboard Top 200 on 9-28-74, charted for 30 weeks and peaked at #60 according to Whitburn's "Top Pop Albums."

Reissued on CD & available through Amazon

Visit:

www.ginov.com

(Additional Credits added by Capt. Bacardi)

 

[Yazmin_Salinas]

My mom used to have this recording, but she lost it in Hermosillo.

 

[Dave]

I used to have this recording, but I sold it in Hamtramck!



Dave

 

[jazzdre]

it's about TIME gino got mentioned on the corner!!!he is definitely one of the most innovative and talented musicians around!just a few weeks ago,i saw him at bb king's here in nyc,and he put on quite a show! as some of you know,he was discovered by the man himself(herb,of course!)and he had a six year stint at a&m.this a very good album(particularly like the 'suite' son of a ny gun\jack miraculous)and the jim croce tribute,and felicia(that's lani hall singing in the background)and of course the hit from the album"people gotta move". oh yeah i forgot-the title track'powerful people'---great song!! all in all,a very good album,and let's discuss gino more on the corner!

 

[Dave]

"The Work Verse" and "Powerful People" "...Come on you world, won't you give a damn; Turn on some lights and see this garbage can..." are Gino's World-Weary Outlook in an Outreaching Socialistic-Viewpoint, Look at the World...

"Son Of A New York Gun" is the real tale of "Jack Miraculous":

"...Jack my friend, he's a busy man
Trying to hustle an easy buck instead of a good man's dollar
Oh Jack my buddy he's so goddamn full of money
Workin' for a funny company for his father

He got a black satin shirt best you could buy
And a big fat straw hat to match his white tie
And a shiny thirty-eight that'll look you straight in your eye..." :bandit:

--Some Big Shot he is, eh?! "Look Out, Jack...!!"

"Poor, Happy Jimmy" is the one-and-only Jim Croce-tribute ranking along with those who miss the Late- Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Buddy Holly, among others... Very moving and sincere...!

The synthesizer-drenched, Discoesque "People Gotta Move" gets a lott'a radio play to this day, and Gino was recently performing in the Detroit-Area at our MUSIC BOX Theatre...



Dave

 

[Harry]

This is one of the few albums by *other* artists where Lani Hall is credited with background vocals.

"Powerful People", the title track, was also included on that promotional album, A&M FORGET-ME-KNOTS.

Harry

 

[LPJim]

Coincidentally, last night I was riding with a friend who popped open a new Gino disc from A&M/Universal.
It contains seven new songs plus eight best-ofs. The liner notes said he's saving more new songs for a future project.
This set is quite enjoyable & I hope he does some live shows to promote it. I've never seen Gino in concert & this would be a treat.
JB

 

[Captain Bacardi]

This was the first Vannelli LP I had bought, and it's a good one. It has a little bit of everything, even a little jazz on the title track. "Jo Jo" was a favorite cut of mine. I always thought an Alpert trumpet appearance would've been good on this song. I also loved the segue of "Son Of A NY Gun" and "Jack Miraculous", both of which have a solid, rockin' groove to it. I just picked this up on Amazon a couple of months ago pretty cheap. Definitely worth getting!



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Dave]

Should I put "Poor, Happy Jimmy (Tribute To Jim Croce)" in the "Sad Songs or Stuff that Makes Me Cry" thread...? Found the words to the song on the Web and nice that his Death, as well as his Legacy of his short life was acknowledged by Vannelli...!

"...Give him a soft guitar to play what he choose
He ain't got no fancy chords
Only got his blues
Poor, happy Jimmy..."

"...I didn't know him very well but he was with me
And I won't take a dime just to make it rhyme
Cause I cried and cried the day he died
Poor, happy Jimmy..."

"...Give him sweet melodies he sing with all he has
He got a funky paraphrase
It sound like good time jazz
Poor, happy Jimmy..."

"...I didn't know him very well but he was with me
And I won't put the blame on the aeroplane
But I boo-hoo'd on the day he flew
Poor, happy Jimmy..."

...Enough to make me get the "essential Gino Vannelli Triology"--his First, Three Albums! :|

...let's discuss gino more on the corner...!

If we can get the "Topics and Traffic" here, then maybe we will!



Dave

 

[Yazmin_Salinas]

This is one of the few albums by *other* artists where Lani Hall is credited with background vocals.

WOW!!!! I can't believe that Lani did the background vocals on this Gino Vannelli's album!!!!

 

[Dave]

Lani is actually heard on "Felicia", which to me, has the same writing-style as "Crazy Life" did...



Dave

 

[Steven J. Gross]

This is one of my favorite albums, Gino's best, imho.

 

[Ed Bishop]

Vannelli is one of those guys who had the looks to be a star, and for all the world, could have been the frontman of a rock band. Certainly had ambition--maybe too much, pretension crept into everything he did--but never quite took off, despite a few hits. I thought when the tempo was upbeat he was a good listen, but ballads...not so good, and fairly rote. Kind of an enigma, because in '74 and "People Gotta Move" becoming a hit, he seemed like the next big thing, as it were....

 

[alonely bull in paradise]

Coincidentally, last night I was riding with a friend who popped open a new Gino disc from A&M/Universal.
It contains seven new songs plus eight best-ofs. The liner notes said he's saving more new songs for a future project.
This set is quite enjoyable & I hope he does some live shows to promote it. I've never seen Gino in concert & this would be a treat.
JB

I want the new Gino CD. Gino will be performing on The Early Show on CBS on Saturday, October 7. Juist wanted to notify you.

 

[Rudy]

I missed this AOTW when it was originally posted, but wanted to note that the best version I've heard of this album is the early Mobile Fidelity LP pressing--the standard A&M LP and CD don't capture the sound of this recording all that well. Gino's catalog has needed a good remastering for well over a decade now...

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I think this was the A&M album where I finally realized I wouldn't fall in love with everything A&M ever produced. I'd heard Herb, Sergio, Carpenters, Sandpipers, Cat Stevens, Lani, Pablo Cruise and a few others and figured anything on A&M would HAVE to be great, but this one didn't grab me. I did really like the hit single though....great 70s rock.

 

[Rudy]

This one sort of grows on you--I couldn't get into it very much when I bought the vinyl and then the CD. Mainly, "People Gotta Move" was the only thing I'd listen to. It was only when I got the Mobile Fidelity LP that I started to listen more in depth, and wound up liking a lot of this album.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

It's probably another in the list of ones I'd like more if I heard it now with my older ears.

 

[Rudy]

It's probably another in the list of ones I'd like more if I heard it now with my older ears.

You might indeed. I've come 180 degrees on a lot of recordings I normally wouldn't have listened to 10 or 20 years ago. One thing I notice more now is how much work Joe Vannelli put into the music backing Gino--he's somewhat the unsung hero on Gino's many recordings. Even if some of it sounds dated (see below), there's no doubt that Gino owes a lot of his success to his brother's hard work in arranging and orchestrating his albums.

I admit to not warming to some of Gino's other albums, but others I really like are Storm at Sunup and Brother To Brother on A&M, and Nightwalker on Arista. (In fact, our jazz station used to play tracks from Storm at Sunup--that's where I first heard his recordings.) One thing that sticks out on his earlier A&M albums are the synthesizers. They sound dated today. He had a more "organic" approach on Brother To Brother, using more acoustic instruments which IMHO gave it a warmer sound, and that pretty much carried over to Nightwalker.

A very nice, rare track worth tracking down is Gino's re-recording of "Living Inside Myself". Yellowjackets had him record the track for their album Club Nocturne; at the last minute, they decided it did not fit the theme of the disc, and left it off. It was only released as a bonus on the Japanese version of the CD. It is a 7-1/2 minute long opus here, complete with both orchestral and jazz breaks in it. (Sad thing is, this one track probably would have sold more than double the number of CDs...Gino's fans were clamoring for it when they found out it wasn't going to be released!)

 

[alonely bull in paradise]

I heard that rendition of "Living Inside Myself" not too long ago when I was searching Gino in the new audio section of Yahoo. It is a very interesting version, not to mention very awesome version. It is sad it was left off the US version of the disc. Just tragic.

 

[JMK]

In the strange but true department, this album was being offered free to people who applied to work at an ice cream parlor in SLC. That's how I got it. I've always liked Gino a lot, though agree that he can be a little "precious." Some of you probably know he lives outside of Portland now and his touring band is made up of some really stellar Portland musicians. I think some of his best work has been released over the past few years on Verve.

 

[alonely bull in paradise]

That's cool you got the album by applying at the ice cream shop.

 

[Mr Bill]

I just read that Gino is working with Fabrice Morvan (the surviving member of Milli Vanilli) and Robert Van Winkle (aka Vanilla Ice) on a new project tentatively entitled Milli Vanelli Ice...

--Mr Bill
sorry.... I couldn't resist

 

[alonely bull in paradise]

I just read that Gino is working with Fabrice Morvan (the surviving member of Milli Vanilli) and Robert Van Winkle (aka Vanilla Ice) on a new project tentatively entitled Milli Vanelli Ice...

--Mr Bill
sorry.... I couldn't resist

ha.....funny......cute!!

 

[alonely bull in paradise]

I'm just so excited about seeing Gino perform on CBS Early Show Saturday, October 7. I know about one of the stellar musicians he's working with, bassist Sandin Wilson who has his own CD and a page on MySpace. I would love to get my hands when I can.