LIGHTHOUSE

Lighthouse had a big big sound for its time, it seemed to be all things to everyone: serious arrangements/fun grooves,pop/folk, harmonies/stinging leads, sweeping granduer/hard-ass rock. You could take your mom to the show, but feel none the geekier for it. It was truly a Canadian institution, but this raw almost unknown record is where it all started. Still, I bet there are few Canadians who have heard this particular record let alone know who Pinky Dauvin is. At the time of this LP, their first release, there were few bands as democratic as Lighthouse, regardless of the seemingly huge size of the group. I was shocked and excited when they played our Highschool Auditorium back in the fall of 1969. As far as my buddies and I were concerned there had never been a band like this before. They wailed, they chirped, they blasted, and besides, these thirteen guys barely fit on the stage together.

Mountain Man, the opening track, is a true hippy anthem, and might just be Lighthouse's finest tune. Not to say it was all downhill from there by any means, but this tune shows a balanced band, earnestly working together to create a beautiful cacaphony. Just listen to the way Ralph Cole's guitar screams amid the honking sea of horns. At this time Lighthouse was like a highschool band, but the best one you have ever heard in your life. Lighthouse before Bob Mcbride was a far less poppy affair and Mountain Man really shows off Lighthouse's collective chops. You may want to note however that this old RCA release does suffer from muddy production values at times. Some of the tunes sound very dated today.

Consequently, you might think that The Byrds' Eight Miles High would be innapropriate for such a large-scale group. However, Lighthouse tears it up in a bold punchy rendition that must have surely given fellow Toronto boy David Clayton Thomas and his song- stealing BS&T crew some pause for thought. On the flip-side of this bombasity, Marsha Marsha is a pleasant little ditty. The real barnburner on this groundbreaking record is their version of Richie Havens' No Opportunity Necessary.

The first Lighthouse record has been largely ignored, even by fans, but I would suggest that they pull it out and give it a spin for old times sake. I bet you will be surprised. Seeing this awesome band live back in the late sixties was a thrill, and it made my Torontonian heart proud as a young lad. I am very glad to see them recognized here in these amazing archives.

Comfortably numb

With the departure of lead singer Bob McBride and founding keyboard player Paul Hoffert, Lighthouse slimmed down to a mere nine piece outfit for "Can you feel it". In came sax player and vocalist Dale Hillary, Hoffert not being directly replaced. It was though the absence of Hoffert which was the more significant, such had been his input to previous albums in terms of song- writing and arrangements.

Ralph Cole and Skip Prokop write all the songs here with the exception of Dale Hillary's "No more searching". They do not however write as a team, the tracks working out as roughly alternating between them.

The general feel of the album is that it is under produced and arranged. The brass and strings on which the band's sound has leaned so heavily are largely anonymous and underemployed here. "Same train" for example is a decent song with a pleasant melody, but it feels understated and undistinguished. "Magic's in the dancing" is a very ordinary song, but does contain some fine electric viola played by Don DiNovo on his unusual 5 string viola. The albums did produce a further hit single "Pretty lady". This extremely catchy pop song will sound frustratingly familiar to anyone who hears it. It one of those songs you recognise but have no idea who it was by.

A couple of the principal shortcomings of "Can you feel it" are demonstrated on the title track. Compared to those of Bob McBride, the lead vocals are weak while the song itself is orientated too much towards the "get up and dance" commercial market.

Prokop's "Lonely hours" is one of the best tracks on the album being a slower blues, almost lounge like, song with smooth sax and some pleasant strings. Dale Hillary's "No more searching" only serves to demonstrate why he was only allowed to contribute one track to the album, this being a rather messy country rock tinged affair.

"Can you feel it" is not a bad album. It does however have the feel of a band who have simultaneously lost key members and are running out of ideas.

The album is long for an LP, running to over 47 minutes. In the main, this does not affect the sound quality but a producers note on the sleeve does recommend increasing the volume to compensate. The album came with a full size poster showing the mug- shots of the band members. Needless to say my poster is still safely concealed within the LP sleeve!

The clouds are gathering

After a well earned layoff to recharge the batteries, during which the superb "Lighthouse live" album was released, the band returned in late 1972 with "Sunny days". The reunion however proved in some ways to be a false dawn. After a promotional tour for the album keyboard Paul Hoffert would leave the band due to burn out, and singer Bob McBride would also leave by mutual agreement. McBride's problems with substance abuse were having an adverse impact on his contribution to the band. He went on to record solo albums, but sadly he was unable to shake himself of his addiction and died in 1998.

As the title suggests though, "Sunny days" is a positive, optimistic album. Side one has two hit singles, the title track and "You girl", plus the highly commercial "Silver bird". "Silver bird" is an upbeat toe-tapper with strong harmonies and good guitar work, while "Sunny days" has a strong laid-back-summer feel, and distinctly retro atmosphere. The song is written by band leader Skip Prokop, who dominates the writing on the first side. By the time we get to "You girl", which opens with "Well I don't care if it's a cloudy day..", it starts to feel like just a little too much effort is being made to convey overtly positive messages.

The mood changes suddenly for the blues based "Beneath my woman", although the lyrics are still positive. The track features an inspired sax solo with a sympathetic arrangement. The side closes with another reflective song "Merlin", the only song on the album where Bob McBride is involved in the writing.

"Broken guitar blues" which opens side two is Ralph Cole's satirical tale of how his guitar got damaged on a flight when the crew insisted on putting it in the hold. Clealry it was not damage too badly, as the guitar work on the track is exemplary! Howard Shore's "Letter home", which appears to sing himself, has the sound of a Neil Young "Harvest" type song.

"You give me" is the strongest piece on the album, starting as a slow power rock song of the type which dominated the second side of "Thoughts of moving on" before developing into a fast paced sequence of lead guitar followed by brass then keyboards. Larry Smith's arrangement of his own composition here is bold and compelling. The album closes with Paul Hoffert's "Lonely places", a song which attempts to explain why he needs to leave the band at this point. Ironically, the song is not a depressive ballad, but a strong up-tempo bras driven rocker.

"Sunny days" was to all intents and purposes the last great album by Lighthouse. While many of the songs err towards simplicity in structure, there is plenty in the way of strong arrangements and inspired performances.

In the UK, the album was only the second to be released on the newly formed Mooncrest record label, the first being Nazareth's "Razamanaz".

One fine evening

Lighthouse's sole live album was recorded in 1972 in Carnegie Hall, New York. As such, it sits between the "Thoughts of moving on" and "Sunny days" studio albums. The majority of the tracks are taken from "Thoughts of moving on" and "One fine morning", the two albums recorded for their then current label GTR. The recordings were initially intended only for radio broadcast, but such was the positive reaction, both from the band and from those who heard the tapes, that they became this live double LP. The release, the first platinum selling album ever in Canada, also served as a stopgap album, allowing the band to take time off to recharge their collective batteries.

It is the brass arrangements which steal the show throughout the album. Lighthouse were perhaps guilty of not fully exploiting the orchestra their line up boasted on their studio albums. Such a charge cannot be made here.

The excitement of the evening is palpable right from the start, the ten plus two man line up clearly being intent on capturing their initially quite restrained audience. "Old man" is the first track to be given a real dusting down, the lengthy brass then slower strings passages developing the track well beyond the studio arrangement.

The band's most successful singles "Take it slow" and "One fine morning" appear back to back, these live versions giving both tracks an extra edge. Those two tracks together with the frantic "Insane" make up side two of the album, the most upbeat of the four. Incidentally, the four sides of the LP are brief, the album running for around an hour, the length of the radio show. If side two was the rock side, side three is the melodic power side. Just two tracks occupy the side, "1849" an epic tale of settlers heading west, and a nine minute version of "You and me". The vocals on the latter give the impression that fellow Canadian Neil Young has wandered on stage, such is the similarity. This beautiful ballad from "Thoughts of moving on" is enhanced further here by the live arrangement, especially on the later instrumental section. "Sweet lullabye" is another soft number which features the band's string section and some sweet falsetto vocals.

The album closes with a 13 minute version of the Byrds "Eight miles high". As with the Byrds version on "Untitled", the song is largely an excuse for extended improvisation, although would I hesitate to use the word jam, this is clearly a well rehearsed rendition. The song does however give the band the chance to let their hair down, Lighthouse's interpretation displaying clearly the character of the band.

In summary, this is a fine live album. It captures a band at the top of their game on a night when everything came together at the right time. Recommended.