Mother Lode by Loggins and Messina (Vinyl record album review)

Album name: Mother Lode

Group name: Loggins and Messina

Year: 1974

Number of discs: one

Label: Columbia Records

Collection: Selman

Distinguishing characteristics:

Top right corner of album is clipped

Sticker on front of album: track list with “Columbia Records / Demonstration / Not For Sale”

Printed on both sides of LP: “DEMONSTRATION / NOT FOR SALE”

Buy it on Amazon: $95.55

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never heard this record before, but I’ve previously reviewed three from Loggins and Messina:

Kenny Loggins with Jim Messina Sittin’ In (1971): 3/5

Loggins and Messina (1972): 2/5

On Stage (1974): 4/5

What I expected

Country, rock, maybe blues.

What it was actually like

This was pretty bad!

Growin’ was country, with a tiny bit of disco, but also horns.

Be Free had kind of a folk or traditional sound, with flute, and some jingle bells, and country fiddle.

Changes was a solid country rock song, and probably the best on the record, but the verses were far better than the chorus.

Brighter Days and Fever Dream were both easy listening, with the latter squeezing in all kinds of other genres and instruments.

Time to Space had a terrible saxophone part, and actually I almost stopped listening right at that moment, but then it started with the funk bass and bongo drums, which was so weird.

Lately My Love sounded like it had steel drums and was trying to evoke a Caribbean sound, but did a really awful job at it. By the way, what was it with lots of bands all trying to do that around the mid 1970s? Were they just responding to the popularity of reggae?

Move On had a horrible saxophone solo.

Grade

2/5: bad, but I was able to listen to the whole thing