The Sons – You Can Fly
The Sons – Love Of A Woman
The Sons – Boomp Boomp Chop
The Sons were a group out of the Bay Area, better known as the Sons of Champlin, after lead singer Bill Champlin. Like their contemporaries Chicago and Blood Sweat & Tears, the band played a mix of rock, soul and jazz, heavy on the horns. The group never really hit the big time, but musically they were pretty solid, particularly prior to 1970, when this their second record was released and just before the band parted ways briefly. In a lot of cases with records from this period, extended jams get boring real quick, but in this case, the extended songs are the best songs on the album.
“Boom Boom Chop” is a track that was included on a Blue Note Break beat compilations at the tail end of the 1990s. Seeing that song on this record was the main reason I got it the first time around, which was probably around 2000 or 2001. But my thinking was more along the lines of “I wonder what else is on here” since I wasn’t particularly enamored with “Boomp Boomp Chop.” When I’d first heard that track, I either didn’t have the patience or the ears for the break. I appreciate the song much more now. It’s got a very particular Bay Area vibe to it, even if The Sons didn’t sound like most Bay area rock bands.
On the other hand, “You Can Fly” has always been one of my favorite tracks, the clean break at the beginning is a no-brainer, but the rest of the song is mighty tight too, with its trademark 1960s “Open the door, and let your soul through” hippie uplift lyrics and really crisp horn lines. I especially like the little interlude in the middle of the song, where things slow down seriously, as the singer tells the listener “You Can Flyyyyy…Go!” and the band starts to build and increase the tempo until they return to original theme of the song.
“Love Of A Woman” actually leads off the album and like the other two songs here, it moves around all over the musical map, from the somewhat pastoral folk-rocky opening to uplifting horns to a bit of the blues and back to a bit pastoralness before basically blending it all together. Though I’ve seen copies of the debut “Loosen Up Naturally” I’ve never picked up a copy of it, though given the fact it has a 14 minute song titled “Freedom” it’s likely in a very similar vein.
Cheers,
Michael