| | Dave Mason Alone Together CD Dave Mason Discography of CDs
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Personnel includes: Dave Mason, Carl Radle. Personnel includes: Dave Mason (guitar, vocals); Don Preston (keyboards); Carl Radle (bass); John Barbata (drums); John Simon, Larry Knechtel, Chris Ethridge, Leon Russell, Jim Keltner, Jim Capaldi, Jim Gordon, Rita Coolidge, Delaney & Bonnie Bramlett. Personnel: Dave Mason (vocals, guitar); Delaney Bramlett (vocals, guitar); Rita Coolidge, Claudia Lennear, Bonnie Bramlett (vocals); Michael DeTemple (guitar); Don Preston , Leon Russell, John Simon (keyboards); Jim Capaldi, Jim Gordon , Jim Keltner, John Barbata (drums). Audio Mixer: Al Schmitt. Recording information: Elektra Recording Studio; Sunset sound. Photographers: Tom Wilkes; Barry Feinstein. Unknown Contributor Roles: Chris Ethridge; Jack Storti; Mike Coolidge; Lou Cooper; Bob Norwood; Larry Knechtel. Dave Mason's first solo album was one of several recordings to come out of the Leon Russell/Delaney & Bonnie axis in 1970. (Other notables included Eric Clapton's solo debut and Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs & Englishmen.) Alone Together contains an excellent batch of melodically pleasing songs, built on a fat bed of strumming acoustic guitars with tasteful electric guitar accents and leads. Mason's vocals are embellished with harmonies from Rita Coolidge, Claudia Lennear, and Delaney & Bonnie. Besides the well-known semi-hit "Only You Know and I Know," and which was also a number 20 hit for Delaney & Bonnie, highlights include the bouncy gospel-inflected "Waitin' on You" and the banjo-bejeweled "Just a Song." "Look at You Look at Me" and the wonderfully wah-wahed "Shouldn't Have Took More Than You Gave" are reminiscent of Mason's former band, Traffic, whose drummer, Jim Capaldi is among the all-star cast assembled here. Alone Together represents Dave Mason at his peak. Later releases would betray lyrical shallowness, forced rhymes, and clichéd guitar licks. But here, everything comes together perfectly. The original vinyl release of Alone Together was also noteworthy for the marble grain of the record itself -- as the record played on the turntable, the tone arm appeared to be floating through the clouds. ~ Jim Newsom As with so many artists, Dave Mason's first solo album is probably his best. Perhaps it's because he had a backlog of songs that Traffic had never recorded, but 1970's ALONE TOGETHER is chock full of great songs. On the other hand, it's easy to see why Mason left Traffic even before that group's (temporary) breakup in 1969; the soft rock sound of ALONE TOGETHER is hard to place in the context of the jazz-pop experiments Traffic would explore when they reunited in 1971. The eight lengthy songs take time to unfold, and the peerless musicianship, with Mason's lyrical guitar and Leon Russell's inimitable boogie-soul piano in the center, treads the line between chops and soul with nary a misstep. The classic single "Only You Know and I Know" is the clear highlight, but every song is a winner.Rolling Stone (9/3/70, p.42) - "...the music is vintage Mason...Mason's singing is simply superb..." Dave Mason Alone Together Songs Alone Together Music Review Average Rating: (4.9 out of 5 stars)    List All Reviews Still Stands Tall Lo These 36 Years Later I remember this as an absolutely magical album when it first came out, and the first piece of colored/marble vinyl I'd ever seen. Here was a record that managed to act as a counter-balance to the large (possibly excessive) doses of hard rock my school mates and I ingested at the time. "Alone Together" delivered a less intense, more contemplative form of rocking, without crossing over into the dreadful James Taylor-Carol King- Carpenters school of easy rock that was creeping onto the airwaves and threatening to undo the revolution started by Led Zeppelin. I wore out something like five copies of Dave's first solo LP over the coming decade.
Like many of my contemporaries, I embraced the band Traffic during this era (1969 through 1973), but grew weary of the limitations of Stevie Winwood's voice. Dave's LP provided a richer, more accessible tone sung in the lower register, that we could all relate to, backed by supporting musicians and singers well suited to filling-out the sound when necessary.
That record stands tall today as it did then.
One last thing: regarding the wild imaginings of the New York reviewer below, how very typical and how grossly irresponsible for a representative of the gay community to engage in an act of identity theft and "out" poor Dave when he is not here to defend himself. Armed with nothing more than wishful thinking, it seems the homosexual cannot resist the urge to take credit for every high profile contributor to the performing arts, whether the artist in question cares to come along voluntarily or not. Looking back over the entire period of the 1970s, not once during my record collecting, party-going career do I ever recall hearing any rumor, any discussion among my cronies, any murmuring, whispering, or snickering about Dave along those lines. Listen if you will, privately draw whatever absurd conjectures you must, but leave him—and the legacy of this great album—alone.
Submitted by Alek Hidel (Snakewater, WY) Was This Review Helpful? Yes No 2 of 3 found this helpful.
A MUST HAVE FOR YOUR CLASSIC ROCK COLLECTION!!! I WAS A JUNIOR OR SENIOR IN HIGH SCHOOL IN 1970 WHEN A BUDDY 'TURNED ME ON' TO DAVE ON A TURNTABLE IN HIS FOLKS GARAGE.....THE SONGS, MUSIC, LYRICS,AND OF COURSE DAVE'S GUITAR WORK ARE TRULY A WORK OF MEANINGFUL AND ENJOYABLE ART.....SOMEHOW THIS ALBUM DID NOT GET THE RECOGNITION IT WELL DESERVED!!! AND, AFTER ALL THESE YEARS I CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF THIS FINE COLLECTION OF SONGS, WHICH OF COURSE SOUND EVEN BETTER ON CD !!! Submitted by donovan.patrick (HOUSTON, TEXAS)  Was This Review Helpful? Yes No
hearkens back to an earlier era when there was actually a standard of excellence to which artists aspired. Submitted by mrhoward10 (Phila., PA, USA)  Was This Review Helpful? Yes No
Dave Mason's Shining Moment I'm another listener who has owned multiple copies of the original vinyl LP. I even bought it on 8-track! Although I continued to buy Dave's releases up to "Split Coconut" those are all disposable.
After trying on various personas in his Traffic days, one day borrowing from George Harrison and the next from the Band, here he finally came into his own.
Why he was never able to recapture the magic heard here has always perplexed me, but at least this album is still around for new listners to enjoy and at a budget price too. Submitted by Brian (Worcester, MA) Was This Review Helpful? Yes No
simply the best If you take this cd, along with Headkeeper, and the Mason/Cass cd and throw in the cd titled Dave Mason, you have some of the best rock music recorded.
I have followed Dave's concerts and music for a long time and I would suggest you go see him in concert. He is still rocking and is better than ever -- We love Dave !
Submitted by wordmuse (wheeling, WV) Was This Review Helpful? Yes No
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