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Light as a Feather

 
Idioms: light as a feather
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Extremely lightweight. This simile can be used to refer either to physical weight, as in This load is light as a feather, or to texture, as in This cake is light as a feather. [Mid-1500s]

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Album Review: Light as a Feather
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Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Pop Albums

Light as a Feather

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Review

Always tied to a confusing time line, the first released recording from the original configuration of Return to Forever was actually their second session. An initial studio date from the ECM label done in February of 1972 wasn't issued until after the band had changed in 1975. The Polydor/Verve recording from October of 1972 is indeed this 1973 release, featuring the same band with Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Airto Moreira, Joe Farrell, and Flora Purim. There's no need splitting hairs, as both are five-star albums, showcasing many of the keyboardist's long enduring, immediately recognizable, and highly melodic compositions. Farrell's happy flute, Purim's in-the-clouds wordless vocals, the electrifying percussion of Airto, and Clarke's deft and loping electric bass guitar lines are all wrapped in a stew of Brazilian samba and Corea's Fender Rhodes electric piano, certainly setting a tone and the highest bar for the music of peer groups to follow. "Captain Marvel" -- the seed for the band sans Farrell and Purim that was expanded into a full concept album with Stan Getz -- is here as a steamy fusion samba with Corea dancing on the keys. By now the beautiful "500 Miles High" has become Purim's signature song with Neville Potter's lyrics and Corea's stabbing chords, and unfortunately became a hippie drug anthem. Perhaps Corea's definitive song of all time, and covered ad infinitum by professional and school bands, "Spain" retains the quirky melody, handclapped interlude, up-and-down dynamics, exciting jam section, and variation in time, tempo, and colorations that always command interest despite a running time of near ten minutes. "You're Everything" is a romantic classic that surely has been heard at many weddings, with another lyric by Potter sung in heaven by Purim, while the title track is Purim's lyric in a looser musical framework with Clarke's chart coalescing with Corea and Farrell's pungent flute work. As much as the others have become icons, the extraordinary sound of Farrell on this date should never be trivialized or underestimated. The final track, "Children's Song," was a springboard for several of Corea's full-length album projects, and is heard here for the first time via a trio setting in a slow, birthlike motif. The expanded version of this recording includes many alternate takes of four of these selections, but also includes "Matrix," which was not on any RTF albums, and there are four versions of "What Game Shall We Play Today?," which was only available on the ECM release. From a historical perspective, this is the most important effort of Corea's career, quite different than his prior previous progressive or improvising efforts, and the pivotal beginning of his career as the most popular contemporary jazz keyboardist in history. ~ Michael G. Nastos, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
You're Everything Neville Potter, Chick Corea Return to Forever (5:10)
Light as a Feather (Lyrics) Flora Purim, Stanley Clarke Return to Forever (10:54)
Captain Marvel Chick Corea Return to Forever (4:52)
500 Miles High Neville Potter, Chick Corea Return to Forever (9:05)
Children's Song Chick Corea Return to Forever (2:48)
Spain Joaquín Rodrigo, Chick Corea Return to Forever (9:48)

Credits

Flora Purim (Percussion), Joe Farrell (Sax (Tenor)), Airto Moreira (Drums), Airto Moreira (Vocals), Richard Seidel (Executive Producer), Patricia Lie (Art Direction), Stanley Clarke (Bass), Hugh Jones (Engineer), Return to Forever (Performer), Ben Young (Liner Notes), Flora Purim (Vocals), Hat Nguyen (Art Direction), Flora Purim (?), Joe Farrell (Flute), Chick Corea (Piano (Electric)), Ben Young (Research), Ben Young (Supervisor), Chick Corea (Engineer), Chick Corea (Keyboards), Cynthia Sesso (Photo Research), Suzanne White (Production Manager), Joe Farrell (Sax (Soprano)), Airto Moreira (Percussion), Richard Manwaring (Engineer), Stanley Clarke (?)
Wikipedia: Light as a Feather
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Light as a Feather
Studio album by Return to Forever
Released November 1972
Recorded October 8 and October 15, 1972
Genre Jazz fusion, Latin Jazz, Post-bop
Length 45:28
Label Polydor
Producer Chick Corea
Professional reviews
Return to Forever chronology
Return to Forever
(1972)		 Light as a Feather
(1972)		 Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy
(1973)

Light as a Feather (1972) is the second studio album of fusion band Return to Forever, led by keyboardist Chick Corea.

The second and last album by the first line-up of Return to Forever was recorded in the same year eight months later. The style of the music remains mostly the same though vocal tracks have now a bit larger role than on the first album. This album has equal classic status among the listeners of electric jazz music as the first album. This time the recording company is Polydor (under which most of later Return to Forever albums are released) and Corea himself has produced the album - though this has not led in any essential change in sound. To point out some minor changes, it is notable that this time Stanley Clarke plays only an acoustic bass. Since the debut album was not released in the USA before 1975, this was the first Return to Forever album for many listeners.

First track is Corea's song, "You're Everything". Corea has claimed that this is his favorite among the vocal songs he has written. The track begins with Purim singing verses slowly, the rest of the band joining in later to create a light groove. The short solo is played by Joe Farrell on flute. The second track is the title track. It is Stanley Clarke's first major composition and the only track of the album not written by Corea. Purim sings during the theme of the track and in the end, but most of the time is taken by long solos performed by Corea, Farrell and Clarke. Farrell plays flute during the theme but switches to saxophone during his solo. The next track is "Captain Marvel", a fast Latin piece, that provided the name for Stan Getz's album released in the same year. Corea and Farrell play melodical solos throughout the song and it may be hard to see which parts are improvised and which parts are composed. Purim plays percussion and sings without words during the song's main riff. Both DC Comics and Marvel Comics have a superhero called "Captain Marvel".

B-side begins with a song called "500 Miles High". Like the title track, it is a vocal song that has long solos. This time Farrell plays his sax throughout the track. Corea has claimed that the title of the song does not refer to drug experience but to a "spirit flying high". The second last track of the album is "Children's Song". It is one of many "Children's Songs" Corea has written. They are all short haunting pieces with quite minimalistic melody. Percussion plays tick-tock pattern that resembles a clock's sound.

The albums ends with Corea's famous jazz standard, Spain. The song has been recorded many times, but this is probably its most famous appearance. Corea, Farrell and Clarke have each a long solo and Purim doubles melody with wordless singing during the theme.

Track listing

  1. "You're Everything" – 5:11
  2. "Light as a Feather" – 10:57
  3. "Captain Marvel" – 4:53
  4. "500 Miles High" – 9:07
  5. "Children's Song" – 2:47
  6. "Spain" – 9:51

All tracks composed by Corea with lyrics by Neville Porter, except "Light as a Feather" composed by Clarke with lyrics by Purim.

Bonus Disc

  1. "Matrix" – 8:10
  2. "Light as a Feather" (Alternative Take) – 10:46
  3. "500 Miles High" (Alternative Take) – 10:32
  4. "Children's Song" (Alternative Take) – 3:58
  5. "Spain" (Composite Alternative Take) – 5:33
  6. "Spain" (Alternative Take) – 9:02
  7. "What Games Shall We Play Today?" – 3:52
  8. "What Games Shall We Play Today?" (Alternative Take 1) – 4:06
  9. "What Games Shall We Play Today?" (Alternative Take 2) – 3:46
  10. "What Games Shall We Play Today?" (Alternative Take 3) – 3:49

Personnel


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Idioms. The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Light as a Feather".  Read more

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