🎵 AotW AOTW: Hoyt Axton LIFE MACHINE (A&M SP 4422)

[LPJim]

Hoyt Axton
LIFE MACHINE
A&M SP4422 and SP3604

(re-released a short time later as SP 3604 with a different cover after Axton's "Joy To The World" became a big hit for Three Dog Night)

LIFE MACHINE boasted so many guest artists that a diagram was set up on the back cover to guide the listener.

SIDE ONE

Maybelline (Berry/Freed/Fratto) Arc Music BMI -2:53
Life Machine (Axton) Lady Jane Music BMI - 3:28
That's All Right (Crudup) Hill & Range Songs Inc. BMI - 5:11
Geronimo's Cadillac (Murphy/Quato) Mystery Music Inc. BMI - 3:42
When the Morning Comes (Axton) Lady Jane Music BMI - 3:27

SIDE TWO

Good Lookin' Child (Axton) Lady Jane Music BMI - 2:49
I Dream of Highways (Axton/Armand) Lady Jane/Irving Music BMI - 2:32
Pet Parade (Axton) Lady Jane Music BMI - 3:16
Telephone Booth (Axton) Lady Jane Music BMI - 3:34
Boney Fingers (Axton/Armand) Lady Jane/Irving Music BMI - 3:05
Billy's Theme (Axton) Lady Jane Music BMI - 2:31
--from the Columbia Motion Picture "Buster & Billie"

Produced by Allan McDougall and Hoyt Axton/ Engineered by Tommy Vicari

Credit include

DRUMS - Sammy Lee Creason, Jimmie Lee Keltner
BASS - Leland Sklar, Emory Gordy, David Jackson
PIANO - Michael Utley, Loren Newkirk
CELESTE - Loren Newkirk
ACOUSTIC GUITAR - Hoyt, Bob Lind
ELECTRIC GUITAR - Terry Reid, James Burton
PEDAL STEEL - Ralph Mooney, Red Rhodes
MELODY MAKER WITH BRUSHES - Milt Holland
SLIDE - Dr. Eric Hord
DOBRO - James Burton
BANJO - Douglas Dillard
CELLO - Ann Goodman
HARP - Mark Dawson
VIBES & PERCUSSION- Milt Holland
HORNS - Tom Scott (arr.), Dick (Slyde) Hyde, Paul Hubinon, Michael Barone, Gene Cipriano, Vincent DeRosa
VOCALS - Hoyt, Clydie King (arr.), Merry Clayton, Sherlie Matthews, Flo & Eddie, Linda Ronstadt, Lee Montgomery, Bob Lind, Douglas Dillard, Mark Dawson, Skitchy Washburn, Dana Brady, Denny Brooks, David Jackson,
Renee Armand, Ronee Blakely

Asst. Engineer - Linda Tyler/ Mastering Engineer - Frank DeLuna/ Recorded at A&M Studio Hollywood, CA/ Life Machine designed by Joey Cavanaugh/ Photography - Reed Fenton/ Art Direction - Roland Young/ Album design - Chuck Beeson.

CD REISSUE: Included in THE A&M YEARS, a 2-disc compilation containing 4 complete albums, the others being LESS THAN THE SONG, SOUTHBOUND and FEARLESS (48 tracks total). Available through amazon.com

JB

 

[Dave]

SIDE ONE:

Maybelline -- Hoyt did this a lot in those West Coast bars when he was starting out and he finally got a good version on Record... Too bad he never recorded the song his mother wrote, (which maybe his pa, also a musician, did) "Heartbreak Hotel"!

Life Machine -- ...Everybody's workin' on the big ol' Life Machine... ...Eh, same with me!

That's All Right -- File this one with James Burton's BEST GUITAR SOLOS; mentioned this song to LP Jim, when we went out and "Elvis Alum in the '70's" came up, as we were on our way to see a Live Performance of some former members of his '50's & '60's band... (And probably also something else Hoyt had performed when just starting out...)

Geronimo's Cadillac -- "Don't just take $800 for THIS one, Mr. Axton!" Actually, this was originally written and performed by another once-A&M Recording Artist, Michael Martin Murphey... Witness covers by Cher, and quite a few others...

When the Morning Comes -- ...When the Morning Comes and you gotta get up, how you gonna find your shoes? With an empty bed and an aching head, you know it's gonna give you The Blues... ...Good cameo-appearance by Linda Ronstadt on this rousing duet! Think this was what was "What made a Hit, a Hit, with the back-then, approximately 40-Million Listeners of Country Radio!" Also, trading on the newfound birth of the "Cross-Over Hit": on The Charts in both the Pop and Country field! ...I'll show you around Side 2...

SIDE TWO:

Good Lookin' Child -- ...Well...If...A...Good lookin' woman has a good-lookin' child, then, your mama must'a been a beauty... ...The Horn-Charts really make this number irrestible!

I Dream of Highways -- ...When I was young, I Dreamed of Highways... ...The things that inspire a Musical Career--wanting to "See The World"! Good song to "fall asleep to", too...!

Pet Parade -- ...Winnie The Pooh was there and so was Teddy Bear, all of your friends were at the Pet Parade; Elephants, kangaroos, monkeys and gi-raffes, too, everyone was down at the Pet Parade; they gave out free lemonade, cotton candy and apples, too; the music was so fine, we had a real good time, everyone down at the Pet Parade; it was a great day, it was a fun day "just couldn't wait day, it was just One-Day...!"; All of the pets and all of their brothers, danced in the streets and loved one another... Flo & Eddie Collectors, take note:...! :goofygrin: These two make yet, just ONE post-Frank Zappa appearance; more to follow, such as Tim Moore's "Little Bo's Peep Show" (A, to me, Steely Dan sound-alike) and Blondie's "T-Birds"--the pristine, high-gloss filler on her 1980 album, Auto American...

Telephone Booth -- Another great James Burton guest-appearance and stomping on a wah-wah pedal, like he did on a few Live Elvis Presley Numbers, including "Coming Home, Baby", where The King introduced 'the band...' ...And why a phone booth...?! Doesn't Axton's tour bus have a PHONE?!

Boney Fingers -- Duet with fellow-A&M Recording Artist, Reneé Armand and probably tried to be a hit for both of the two... ...Maybe things will be a little better in the morning, maybe things will be a little better...

Billy's Theme (...from the Columbia Motion Picture, BUSTER & BILLIE) -- Slow ballad, complete with John Stewart's alumni, Loren Newkirk on celeste (a bell-like piano, also heard on The Association's "Cherish"--which I heard was pronounced, Ce-Lest) --and another attempt to make The Charts--with another guest-vocal-shot by Reneé Armand, which ends the album on a good note!

Country Goes To The City on The A&M Lot! Long a recording artist for the Vee-Jay label, before moving to a couple of other small labels and having a good tenure with Capitol and Columbia, Hoyt makes his Second-A&M outing with a good slew of Guest-Session-Musicians, including Tom Scott who created those good horn-arrangements, Clydie King, Merry Clayton, Sherlie Matthews, who supply the background vocals, heard on songs like "Maybelline", the back-then and now, currently Missing-In-Action, Bob Lind on "Geronimo's Cadillac", which also features Doug Dillard (another A&M alumni) on banjo, Roneé Blakely, who recorded for Elektra, and who did a song, Hoyt would do later himself on MCA, "Bluebird", and Mark Dawson, not playing a HARP, (the big thing with strings) but actually a HARMONICA!--just to name a few... The Best (And my favorite!) Hoyt Axton outing I ever owned! --Along with the other two albums, equally-good, that followed! The "diagram on the back-cover" contributes to the "machine-theme", much like the "pinball-like machine" up-front... Don't just get "a few of these songs" on Hoyt's Road Songs Compilation--get 'em all HERE! :bandit:



Dave