Marc Benno: Minnows (1971)

Hey, remember when I used to write up a different album in my collection each day, until I got kinda bored and started writing about individual songs? Anyway, I'm reverting to the old-style today, largely 'cuz I've been listening to a lot of Marc Benno lately and just need to kvell.

Benno, a long-running blues-based rock & roller, started off in the late 60s as half of The Asylum Choir. Their terrific and underappreciated (albeit way too short) 1968 LP, Look Inside The Asylum Choir, is a fascinating blend of psychedelia, blues, and roots rock, while their 1971 follow-up dropped most of the psychedelic artifacts and went with a more straightforward blues/R&B-based rock approach. If that band is remembered today, it's largely for the other half of the duo, Leon Russell. Russell went on to become a highly esteemed solo artist, while also collaborating with and producing records for everyone from the Stones to Dylan to Elton John.

And, yeah, Russell's music was great. But Benno is no less deserving of attention. He released a below-the-radar trio of records between 1970 and 1972, working in the same vein of rock and blues and Americana as the Asylum Choir and Russell's solo work. All three are of a piece, though I particularly like the middle one, 1971's Minnows. I'm not a blues guy myself, and don't necessarily adore the straighter blues pieces here, but the balance of the record is really great (backed up by various ringers, including Byrds guitarist Clarence White, Rita Coolidge on backing vocals, etc.). Think The Band and early Elton John, stripped down roots rock full of blue-eyed soul. Opener "Franny" is a lovely ballad and could pass for a great lost Faces track; "Speak Your Mind" is infused with gospel, moving and epic; "Good Times" is a Band-styled down-home ballad, while "Back Down Home" offers a more rollicking flip side of the same coin. 

Anyway, if you're not familiar with Benno's work, give it a spin.