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Ride Like the Wind: "California Groove IV" Box Set Captures Sounds of Summer

July 27, 2018 By Joe Marchese 5 Comments

BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COM

Warner Music France is providing a breezy soundtrack for summer with the fourth installment of California Groove.  Arriving seven years after Volume 3, this impressive 6-CD box set is a little bit country, a little bit-rock-and-roll - not to mention filled with pop, lounge, jazz, dance, R&B, soul, and beyond.  It's too eclectic to be filed under "yacht rock," though many of that so-called genre's bright lights are here, including Christopher Cross and Steely Dan.  What it is, however, is a collection of sleek, chill, California-inspired sounds that will "tune out all the nasty weather," as the opening track from Rai Thistlethwayte goes.

What sets California Groove Volume IV apart from similarly-styled sets is that its breezy and soft but not exclusively retro.  There's a modern sheen to these tracks (118 total), whether the remixes of Cross ("Ride Like the Wind") and Nicolette Larson ("Lotta Love") or the brand-new tracks in a vintage spirit from artists like Young Gun Silver Fox.  Multi-instrumentalist Geyster, based out of France, has provided the connective tissue for the disparate assortment of tracks with brief, evocative musical interludes.

Crate-diggers will appreciate the deep tracks peppered throughout California Groove IV from familiar but perhaps unexpected names including Chris Hillman ("Clear Sailin'"), Burt Bacharach ("Pacific Coast Highway," "Touch"), James Taylor ("Woman's Gotta Have It"), J.D. Souther ("Something in the Dark"), The Dwight Twilley Band ("Sleepin'"), Randy Crawford ("In Real Life"), Air Supply ("We the People"), Eddie Rabbitt ("Suspicions"), ABBA's Agnetha Faltskog ("Let It Shine"), and Elton John lyricist Bernie Taupin with a cadre of LA's finest musicians ("Monkey on My Back (The Last Run))."  Christopher Cross is heard on multiple tracks including the non-LP B-side "Mary Ann."  Bacharach, already on hand with the lithe, sax-led instrumental "Touch" and captivating "Pacific Coast Highway," teams up with David Foster for Al Jarreau's boisterous and catchy "Girls Know How" from the original soundtrack to director Ron Howard's comedy Night Shift.  Among the true surprises is Queen Latifah's engaging take on 10cc's "I'm Not in Love."  A handful of obvious choices are here, like Foreigner's "Waiting for a Girl Like You" or The Ozark Mountain Daredevils' "Jackie Blue," but by and large, the songs make for fresh (re)discoveries.

Cult favorites are on hand, too, such as Alessi (New York-born twins Bobby and Billy) or Rob Mehl, a purveyor of what might be described as contemporary Christian yacht rock.  Like Mehl, the music of Mike Lundy was recently unearthed by the Aloha Got Soul label and is reprised here for further enjoyment.  Aura's soulful 1979 "Let's Go, It's Over" melds Chicago-esque horns with ethereal vocals.  Louise Goffin, daughter of Carole King and Gerry Goffin and an accomplished singer-songwriter in her own right, delivers effervescent pop with 1988's "In the Mood."  Of a more recent vintage, Louis Lake offers smooth, languid, dream-pop on "Tropical Nights," and the torch of melodic rock is carried on Work Drugs' AOR-oriented "Miami Nights."  Zervas and Pepper (2017's "Class of '96") and Byrne and Barnes (2016's "Never Gonna Stop Lovin' You") snugly fit into the "I can't believe it's not the '70s" groove.  This set might also make instant fans for bands like Monkey House, whose moody, brass-infused "It's Already Dark in New York" might be the best Steely Dan song that Donald Fagen and Walter Becker never wrote.

America kicked off the original volume of California Groove in 2009 with their timeless "Ventura Highway."  Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell make an appearance here, backing their longtime pal and collaborator, singer/songwriter Jeff Larson, on a previously unreleased 2018 remix of his "Rain Soaked Cloud." The atmospheric, beautifully-produced and sung track evokes the best of the West Coast pop-rock sound which America defined.  Larson also offers the invigorating "You Remind Me of the Sun" with Jeffrey Foskett, culled from the duo's sensational 2018 album Elua Aloha.

This transporting collection is handsomely packaged in a sturdy lift-off slipcase.  Each disc is housed in its own illustrated sleeve and contains an insert with credits for each track.  A separate eight-page color booklet has the credits for the set.  Compilation producer David Dutreuil has assembled a top-notch assortment of refreshing summer sounds that just might, a few months from now, prove the perfect antidote for the winter blues.  California Groove IV is available now from Warner Music France via Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada!

Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD Genre: Pop Tags: America, Burt Bacharach, Christopher Cross, James Taylor, Jeff Larson, Nicolette Larson, Steely Dan, Various Artists

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Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with Real Gone Music, has released newly-curated collections produced by Joe from iconic artists such as Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Chet Atkins, and many others. He has contributed liner notes to reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, B.J. Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, and Andy Williams, and has compiled releases for talents including Robert Goulet and Keith Allison of Paul Revere and the Raiders. Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray. Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

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Comments

  1. Tim says

    July 27, 2018 at 12:34 pm

    Your Amazon US link takes you to another page within this site.

    Reply
  2. Shawn says

    July 27, 2018 at 3:44 pm

    Sounds good but outrageous price

    Reply
  3. RichD says

    July 27, 2018 at 8:32 pm

    I ordered mine from Amazon France a few months back and it was relatively cheap - its a beautifully package set with great tracks on it !! Lots of out of the ordinary Westcoast tracks in the box set that make it a must have !!!

    Reply
  4. Rob Maurer says

    July 27, 2018 at 9:35 pm

    I pre-ordered it and received it from Amazon France last month for about $15 cheaper, and it was worth every penny to me. A worthy sequel to an excellent series that died off too soon.

    Hopefully we don’t have to wait another 7 years for the next entry. I do hope the next one skews closer to the “found classics” and Yacht Rock end of the scale, more like the the first 3 volumes, but this has introduced me to many new faves.

    Reply
  5. Earl Cambron says

    July 28, 2018 at 12:21 pm

    Are the first three out of print?

    Reply

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