A Song for Me

A Song for Me is the third album by the British progressive rock band Family, released on 23 January 1970 on Reprise Records.

A Song for Me
Studio album by
Released23 January 1970[1]
Recorded1969
StudioOlympic Studios, London
GenreProgressive rock, psychedelic rock, folk rock
Length38:25
LabelReprise
ProducerFamily
Family chronology
Family Entertainment
(1969)
A Song for Me
(1970)
Anyway
(1970)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]

Background

The album was recorded in late 1969 at Olympic Studios in London. It was their first album with new members John Weider on bass and Poli Palmer on keyboards, flute and vibraphone. The past several months had been full of setbacks for Family. Rick Grech left for Blind Faith, Jim King was forced to leave for getting too deep into drug addiction, and their first U.S. tour proved to be a disaster.

Although many of the songs had been written with King's saxophone in mind, Charlie Whitney and Roger Chapman were able to rework them with Palmer's instruments, and Palmer quickly made himself integral to Family's sound. Because some of these songs had been debuted in live performances in the previous year, many Family fans found themselves getting accommodated to arrangements that sounded radically different from what they expected.

Much of A Song for Me shows Family exploring various popular forms, from jazz and blues to folk and country.

Track listing

All tracks written by John "Charlie" Whitney and Roger Chapman, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Drowned in Wine" 4:08
2."Some Poor Soul" 2:44
3."Love Is a Sleeper" 4:00
4."Stop for the Traffic – Through the Heart of Me" 2:09
5."Wheels"Whitney, Chapman, Ric Grech4:38
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Song for Sinking Lovers" 4:04
2."Hey – Let It Rock" 1:02
3."The Cat and the Rat" 2:30
4."93's O.K. J" (instrumental)Whitney, John Weider3:57
5."A Song for Me"Whitney, Chapman, Weider, Rob Townsend9:13
Additional tracks on the February 2007 re-release
No.TitleLength
1."No Mule's Fool" 
2."Good Friend of Mine" 
3."Drowned in Wine" (Live) 
4."Cat and the Rat" (Live) 
5."Wheels" (Live) 
6."Song for Me" (Live) 

U.S. Vinyl track listing (All CD issues contain the UK track listing)

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."No Mule's Fool"  
2."Drowned in Wine"  
3."Love is a Sleeper"  
4."Some Poor Soul"  
5."Wheels"Whitney, Chapman, Ric Grech 
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Hey – Let It Rock"  
2."Stop for the Traffic - Through the Heart of Me"  
3."Song for Sinking Lovers"  
4."93's O.K. J" (instrumental)Whitney, John Weider 
5."A Song for Me"Whitney, Chapman, Weider, Rob Townsend 

Personnel

Family

Additional musicians

Technical

Chart positions

  • Highest chart position (UK) – No. 4
  • Highest chart position (US) – did not chart

References

  1. "Album Reviews" (PDF). Melody Maker. 24 January 1969. p. 23. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  2. Dougan, John (2011). "A Song for Me – Family | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 June 2011.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.