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Tracklist
A1 Ease On Down The Road
Written-By – Charles Small*
5:40
West Side Story (Medley) (11:50)
A2.1 Fanfare
A2.2 America
A2.3 Maria
A2.4 Somewhere Interlude A2.5 Tonight
B1 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Written-By – John Lennon - Paul McCartney*
2:50
Fiddler On The Roof (Medley) (12:25)
B2.1 Fiddler On The Roof
B2.2 Matchmaker
B2.3 Sherele
Written-By – Vincent Montana, Jr.
B2.4 Sunrise, Sunset
B2.5 If I Were A Richman
B2.6 Havah Nagila
Arranged By – Vincent Montana, Jr.
B2.7 Theme From "Exodus"
Written-By – Ernest Gold
B3 Evergreen (Love Theme From "A Star Is Born")
Written-By – Barbra Streisand, Paul Williams (2)
4:57
Companies, etc.
Manufactured By – Salsoul Records
Recorded At – Sigma Sound Studios
Mixed At – Sigma Sound Studios
Mastered At – Frankford/Wayne Mastering Labs
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Salsoul Record Corp.
Copyright (c) – Salsoul Record Corp.
Manufactured By – Caytronics Corporation
Marketed By – Caytronics Corporation
Pressed By – Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Terre Haute
Credits
Alto Saxophone – John Bonnie
Art Direction [Art Director] – Stan Hochstadt
Baritone Saxophone – William P. Zaccagni
Bass – Gordon Edwards
Cello – Richard Amoroso
Congas, Timbales, Bongos – James Walker, Larry Washington
Copyist – Jack Faith, Renée Farber, Tina Silverman
Design – Lori L. Lambert
Design [Graphics Supervisor] – Lloyd Gelassen
Drums – Earl Young, Keith Benson (tracks: A2), Keith Benson (tracks: B2)
Engineer [Mixing Engineer] – Arthur Stoppe
Engineer [Recording Engineer] – Arthur Stoppe, Dirk Devlin, Jim Gallagher, Ken Present*
Executive-Producer – Joe Cayre, Ken Cayre, Stan Cayre
Flute, Piccolo Flute – Jack Faith
French Horn – Joseph "One And Only Lips" De Angelis*
Guitar – Bobby "Electronic" Eli*, Ronnie "The Hawk" James*, T.J. Tindall*
Keyboards – "Cotton" Kent*, Eddie Green (3)
Mastered By – Jose Rodriguez*
Mixed By – Tom Moulton
Other [Stylist] – David Carrington
Photography By – Don Hunstein
Producer, Arranged By, Conductor, Timpani [Tympani], Bells, Chimes, Vibraphone [Vibraharp] – Vincent Montana, Jr.
Soloist, Clarinet – George Shaw (tracks: B2)
Synthesizer – Bill O'Brien
Technician [Recording Technician] – Darrell Rogers, Jim Dougherty, Judy Stewart, Peter Humphreys, Rocky Schnaars
Trombone – Edward Cascarella, Fred C. Linge*, Richard Genovese, Robert Moore, Roger De Lillo*
Trumpet – Evan Solot, Joseph Cataldo, Rocco Bene
Viola – Anthony Sinagoga, Davis Barnett
Violin – Americus Mungiole*, Charles Apollonia, Christine Reeves, Diane Barnett, Don Renaldo, Rudolph Malizia, Vito J. Casiello*
Vocals – Barbara Ingram, Carla Benson, Evette Benton, The Sweethearts Of Sigma*
Written-By – Jerry Bock (tracks: B2), Leonard Bernstein (tracks: A2), Sheldon Harnick (tracks: B2), Stephen Sondheim (tracks: A2)
Come on and
Ease on down, ease on down the road
Come on, ease on down
Ease on down the road
Don't you carry nothing
That might be a load
Come on, ease on down
Ease on down the road
Come on, ease on down, ease on down the road
Come on, ease on down, ease on down the road
Don't you carry nothing
That might be a load
Come on, ease on down, ease on down, down the road
Pick your left foot up
When your right foot's down
Come on legs keep movin'
Don't you lose no ground
You just keep on keepin'
On the road that you choose
Don't you give up walkin'
Cause you gave up shoes, no
Ease on down, ease on down the road
Come on, ease on down
Ease on down the road
Don't you carry nothing
That might be a load
Come on, ease on down
Ease on down the road
Cause there maybe times
When you think you lost your mind
And the steps you're takin'
Leave you three, four steps behind
But the road you're walking
Might be long sometimes
You just keep on steppin'
And you'll just be fine, yeah
Ease on down, ease on down the road
Come on, ease on down
Ease on down the road
Don't you carry nothing
That might be a load
Come on, ease on down
Ease on down the road
Well there maybe times
When you wish you weren't born
And you wake one morning
Just to find your courage's gone
But just know that feeling
Only last a little while
You stick with us
And we'll show you how to smile, yeah
Get 'em up, goin' down, ease on down
Get 'em up, goin' down, ease on down
Get 'em up, goin' down, ease on down
Get 'em up, get 'em up ease on down
Having already reached the apex of orchestral soul on their marvelous self-titled 1975 debut, the Salsoul Orchestra found themselves cookie cutter-ing themselves to death across subsequent releases. Keeping their hooky blend of Latin soul, disco beats, and big instrumental arrangements, the band soared, then foundered, as the decade progressed. A pairing with Charo on the lackluster Cuchi-Cuchi didn't put the Salsoul Orchestra in the best space to regale a tired audience. That said, the band dusted off their boots, pulled them up, and tackled Broadway across 1978's Up the Yellow Brick Road -- a collection of movie and musical hits titled to tie in with that year's Broadway smash The Wiz, whose "Ease On Down the Road," Salsoul style, serves as the LP opener. The instrumentation is tight and punchy and textually interesting, creating a perfect foil for the vocal hijinks of the Sweethearts of Sigma -- Barbara Ingram, Evette Benton, and Carla Benson. Their vocals, though, are best heard on the chunky "West Side Story (Medley)," which pretty much packed it all in across snips of "Fanfare," "America," "Maria," "Somewhere," and more. Elsewhere, the band repeats the feat to cringing effect with their salsa-fied "Fiddler on the Roof." The antics continue with a take on the title track from the Bee Gees/Peter Frampton movie Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which keeps the boogie-woogie piano and brass, but just doesn't measure up as a disco song. Overall, Up the Yellow Brick Road is sweet in hindsight. Unfortunately, by 1978, fans had already heard it all before, and Broadway moms and dads wouldn't really have given this any more than a passing glance. And even now, the Salsoul Orchestra's own early output is a far better bet.
credits
released April 1, 1978
Companies, etc.
Manufactured By – Salsoul Records
Recorded At – Sigma Sound Studios
Mixed At – Sigma Sound Studios
Mastered At – Frankford/Wayne Mastering Labs
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Salsoul Record Corp.
Copyright (c) – Salsoul Record Corp.
Manufactured By – Caytronics Corporation
Marketed By – Caytronics Corporation
Pressed By – Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Terre Haute
Credits
Alto Saxophone – John Bonnie
Art Direction [Art Director] – Stan Hochstadt
Baritone Saxophone – William P. Zaccagni
Bass – Gordon Edwards
Cello – Richard Amoroso
Congas, Timbales, Bongos – James Walker, Larry Washington
Copyist – Jack Faith, Renée Farber, Tina Silverman
Design – Lori L. Lambert
Design [Graphics Supervisor] – Lloyd Gelassen
Drums – Earl Young, Keith Benson (tracks: A2), Keith Benson (tracks: B2)
Engineer [Mixing Engineer] – Arthur Stoppe
Engineer [Recording Engineer] – Arthur Stoppe, Dirk Devlin, Jim Gallagher, Ken Present*
Executive-Producer – Joe Cayre, Ken Cayre, Stan Cayre
Flute, Piccolo Flute – Jack Faith
French Horn – Joseph "One And Only Lips" De Angelis*
Guitar – Bobby "Electronic" Eli*, Ronnie "The Hawk" James*, T.J. Tindall*
Keyboards – "Cotton" Kent*, Eddie Green (3)
Mastered By – Jose Rodriguez*
Mixed By – Tom Moulton
Other [Stylist] – David Carrington
Photography By – Don Hunstein
Producer, Arranged By, Conductor, Timpani [Tympani], Bells, Chimes, Vibraphone [Vibraharp] – Vincent Montana, Jr.
Soloist, Clarinet – George Shaw (tracks: B2)
Synthesizer – Bill O'Brien
Technician [Recording Technician] – Darrell Rogers, Jim Dougherty, Judy Stewart, Peter Humphreys, Rocky Schnaars
Trombone – Edward Cascarella, Fred C. Linge*, Richard Genovese, Robert Moore, Roger De Lillo*
Trumpet – Evan Solot, Joseph Cataldo, Rocco Bene
Viola – Anthony Sinagoga, Davis Barnett
Violin – Americus Mungiole*, Charles Apollonia, Christine Reeves, Diane Barnett, Don Renaldo, Rudolph Malizia, Vito J. Casiello*
Vocals – Barbara Ingram, Carla Benson, Evette Benton, The Sweethearts Of Sigma*
Written-By – Jerry Bock (tracks: B2), Leonard Bernstein (tracks: A2), Sheldon Harnick (tracks: B2), Stephen Sondheim (tracks: A2)
The Salsoul Orchestra was the backing band of session musicians for many acts on the New York City label Salsoul Records and, under its own name, recorded several hit singles and albums between 1975 and 1982.
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