Liner Notes
Super Sweet Sounds of the 70s. Yeah. Super Sweet SONGS of the 70s, more like. I liked the idea, but what should it be? OK, instrumental versions of some of the 70s stuff I love. How about some of the 70s tunes I didn’t love but were stuck in my brain? Those weird ones, especially from the first half of the decade…when I was 14, in a band…yeah…could be cool to use some sounds of the times, some phase shifters and moogs…but it’d be really cool to interpret some stuff with our current musical sensibilities, ones that have taken shape and evolved a lot since those days…now we’re onto something. What if there didn’t always have to be complete songs, like maybe some iconic intros or outros that just crop up here and there, or mash-ups…kinda like a fever dream of AM/FM gold? And what if there’s a version of a haunting tune by The Band but it sounds like something off of Stevie’s ‘Music Of My Mind’?…getting somewhere now…
OK, so what else? There are some defining ingredients of a lot of the great early 70s rock and pop music that would be foolish to ignore. The 8 – 10 minute long tracks, the quintessential / gratuitous percussion breakdown jams mid-tune…and yeah, some sounds – like phase shifters, Moogs, Fender Rhodes. But really it all comes down to the songs. The early 70s was such a beautifully weird time. On AM radio, anything went – singer-songwriter creepy minor-key confessionals, goofy novelty tunes, soul grooves with fuzzed out lead guitar, righteous rockers, even an Australian nun’s goth-rock version of The Lord’s Prayer (yes, it’s in our live set). And then there was so much legit ground breaking – genius prog, iconic guitar innovators, bluegrass jazz, masterful r & b, and rock’n’roll composers, arrangers and poets on our turntables and FM stations.
But whatever we tackled had to be something that resonated with me in some way. I knew everyone in this band could take any song in any musical direction I could imagine and then some. We’re here to hopefully bring some new life to this stuff.
So, as per our original tag line – “Take a stroll down the bong-lined sidewalks of my musical youth.”
The Super Sweet Sounds Of The ‘70s played our first show in October of 2017 at The Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, MA. We recorded the first batch of tunes for the record about a year later. Due to everyone’s busy schedules – and a pandemic – it took a while, but we set about finishing up and getting it out in 2025.
Full Trivial Disclosure: A few folks have pointed out that two of the songs I chose for this record actually came out in 1969! OK, yes, I know, the The Band and In The Court Of The Crimson King records came out in September and October of 1969, spending a whole 2-3 months in the ‘60s. I believe that most folks bonded with these amazing pieces in the 1970s. I know I did. Grandfathered in, if you will.
Duke & Kevin
Mike Rivard
Paul Schultheis
Dean Johnston
Yahuba
Duke
Kevin & Duke
Darol & Duke
Chris Rival and Joan Hathaway
in the studio
Kevin
Band
Darol Anger
Special Guest on “John Barleycorn”
Phil Grenadier
Special guest on “Ram On”
Dennis Brennan
Special guest on harmonica
Credits:
Duke Levine – Electric & Acoustic Guitar, X911 Guitar Synth
Kevin Barry – Electric & Acoustic Guitar, Lap Steel, Octave Mandolin
Mike Rivard – Bass
Paul Schultheis – Keys
Dean “The Dux” Johnston – Drums & Percussion
Yahuba Garcia-Torres – Congas & Percussion
With Special Guests:
Dennis Brennan – Harmonica on “I’m Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby / Night By Night”
Darol Anger – Fiddle & Mandola on “John Barleycorn”
Phil Grenadier – Trumpet on “Ram On”
Produced by Duke Levine & Chris Rival
Arranged by Duke Levine
Engineered & Mixed by Chris Rival at Middleville Studio
Mastered by Dave McNair
Design by John Kehe
Cover Art by Grace O’Connor
Photos by Joan Hathaway