SONG OF JOY - The Captain & Tennille

YEAR: 1976

LABEL: A&M

TRACK LISTING: Song of Joy, Lonely Night (Angel Face), Mind Your Love, Smile For Me One More Time, Shop Around, Going Bananas, Butterscotch Castle, Muskrat Love, Thank You Baby, Wedding Song (There Is Love), 1954 Boogie Blues

IMPRESSIONS: Here's another one that reminds me of summer in Egg Harbor with my second girlfriend; what exactly is this sudden gravitation towards memories of Kelly Ann??? I would only see her on summer vacations at my father's house in Egg Harbor and this is when I bought and played the hell out of this album. I was all of 10 years old and we both loved this album. At the time, "Lonely Night (Angel Face)" was my favourite song. Then there's the soaring gospel of the opening title track which still manages to thrill me to this day. Jerry Reed Hubbard's "Mind Your Love" is another barnstormer which should've been recorded by Ray Charles. And the side concludes with the deliriously (and deliberately) silly pseudo-instrumental "Going Bananas" which sounds like exactly that! While side one can still be listened to without any apology, side two is where all the embarrassment resides. However, I've reached an age when the unbelieveable saccharine kitsch of "Muskrat Love" (a tune I didn't like back then) and "Butterscotch Castle" can be enjoyed for this very quality. There's also that "Wedding Song (There Is Love)" squirmer which it seems every wedding during the mid-to-late 70's was required by law to play as the unlucky couple staggered down the aisle.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Song of Joy, Lonely Night (Angel Face), Mind Your Love, Shop Around, Going Bananas, Butterscotch Castle, Muskrat Love

FACT SHEET: SONG OF JOY is the Captain & Tennille's second album which proved equally as successful as their debut album and produced three top 5 hits. The title song was written by Reginald Rasputin Boutte and Billy Preston. "Lonely Night (Angel Face)" is another cover of a Neil Sedaka song who continued to be their patron saint after their megahit debut with Sedaka's "Love Will Keep Us Together". "Shop Around" is a cover of the original Smokey Robinson & the Miracles #2 hit which took the Captain & Tennille to #4 on the charts. Finally, their third hit single was a cover of W.A. Ramsey's "Muskrat Candlelight" which they released as "Muskrat Love". The Captain & Tennille was basically a trio on album with Tennille on vocals and Daryl Dragon on bass and synthesizers while Hal Blaine played drums. Backup vocals were by Toni Tennille with her sisters Louise and Melissa.