The Asylum Choir-(Leon Russell & Marc Benno) — Asylum Choir II 1971 (USA, Psychedelic, Pop Rock)

The Asylum Choir-(Leon Russell & Marc Benno) — Asylum Choir II 1971 (USA, Psychedelic, Pop Rock)

The second and final LP by the duo known as "The Asylum Choir." Recorded from February 1967 to April 1969, it was released in November 1971. "Asylum Choir II" was more successful than "Look Inside," reaching number 70 in the charts (probably due to Leon Russell's already high profile). The song "Hello Little Friend" from this album became a hit for Joe Cocker.

For their second and final album together, Marc Benno and Leon Russell, like most of the rest of the rock firmament of the time, put up the landing gear to come back to earth after all the psychedelic high-flying of 1967, as manifested in their quirky, but highly enjoyable debut mini-album. That said, this longer set also blows with the prevailing wind, not just in the more conservative rockist musical style employed but also in the anti-war protesting contained in a number of the song lyrics.

The seeds of the loose, big-band style Russell would utilise in his productions on Dylan and Joe Cocker in particular as well as his own burgeoning solo career all of which caught fire in the early 70's, are detectable in the grooves here.

I think it's fair to say that Russell dominates proceedings. It's his keyboard work which underpins almost every track here as well as his distinctive, croaky lead vocals. Benno, I'm presuming, plays the guitars with only the occasional lead vocal to his credit and even then for sometimes only part of a song.

The best tracks for me are the solid, suitably blues-tinged "Sweet Home Chicago", which may just have helped inspire Lynyrd Skynyrd's most famous song a few years later (that and Neil Young's "Southern Man"!), "Salty Candy", which as the title suggests, effectively combines sweet psych-pop with some earthy piano-boogie and the trenchant, peacenik-themed "Ballad for a Soldier".

We also get to hear Leon's earlier, more rough-hewn version of a song he'd later give to Joe Cocker, "Hello, Little Friend" and also an insight into his creative process as he invites Benno and backing singer Rita Coolidge to choose the better intro to the next-up "Straight Brother".

Tracks:

01. Sweet Home Chicago – 0:00

02. Down On The Base – 3:21

03. Hello Little Friend – 5:39

04. Salty Candy – 8:31

05. Tryin’ To Stay ‘Live – 11:00

06. …Intro To Rita… – 13:47

07. Straight Brother – 15:54

08. Learn How To Boogie – 19:01

09. Ballad For A Soldier – 21:42

10. When You Wish Upon A Fag – 26:07

11. Lady In Waiting – 30:16

Bonuses:

12. Welcome To Hollywood - 33:55

13. Death Of The Flowers - 36:27

14. Icicle Star Tree - 39:44

15. Mr.Henri The Clown - 42:50

16. Soul Food - 45:51


Personnel:

Leon Russell – bass, guitar, keyboards, vocals, producer
Marc Benno – guitar, vocals, producer

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