Sons / Sons Of Champlin

Vinyl Records and Rare LPs:

	Follow Your Heart New - LP - ST 675 Sealed 1971 Original. Pristine Copy. “The Sons, Who Had Once Called Themselves The Sons Of Champlin And Would Again, Broke Up In March 1970 But Re-Formed In The Fall Of The Year When Capitol Records Reminded Them They Owed Another Album On Their Contract And They Decided They Could Use The Advance To Pay Their Back Taxes. Saxophonist Tim Caine Could Not Be Persuaded To Return, Which Left A Quintet Without Horns, Eliminating What Had Been A Major Element Of Their Sound, Since The Horn Playing Of Multi-Instrumentalists Bill Champlin And Geoffrey Palmer Had Been Dependent On Caine's Arrangements. But That Actually Simplified The Sound Of A Band That Had Always Been A Little Busy Musically.” – William Ruhlman, AMG more
	Minus Seeds And Stems New - LP - CFS 2126 Sealed Out Of Print Reissue Of The Extremely Rare 1972 Private Pressing. Includes Custom Insert And The Inner Cover Is White (Originals Were Cardboard Inside). “The Sons Of Champlin Never Had An Easy Go Of It. They Were One Of The Original West Coast, Jazz/R&B Psychedelic Jam Bands, And Were Regular Denizens Of The Fillmore And Winterland. But Their Inadvertent Head-Butting With Record Companies Proved To Be Their Early Undoing. The Band’s 1967 Debut Was Canned When An Exploratory Single Failed To Chart (The Album Was Eventually Released In 1999 As Fat City), And It Took The Band Another 2 Years To Get A Second Chance, Via Capitol Records. But, Their Double Album Debut, Loosen Up Naturally, Created A Ruckus When An Obscenity Was Discovered In The Cover Art, Necessitating A Recall. Even After The Band Split Up In Late 1970, Capitol’s Lawyers Hauled Them Back Into The Studio To Complete Their Third Contracted LP, Follow Your Heart. After Which, In 1972, The Sons (Having Temporarily Shortened Their Name) Got Fed Up With Dealing With Lawyers And Record Companies (Or The Lawyers And Record Companies Got Fed Up Dealing With Them) And Decided To Self-Release This Extremely Rare Vinyl Obscurity, Minus Seeds And Stems – A Gathering Of (Mostly) Live Jams From Winterland And Beyond. It’s A Strange LP – Filled With Short, 1 & 2 Minute Passages Tying Together A Handful Of Tunes And Jams. It’s Never Been On CD, Not Surprising Since Most Of The Sons’ Releases That Have Been Are Out Of Print Anyway.” – Willard’s Wormhole more
	Sons New - LP - SKAO 332 Sealed 1969 Original. “The Sons Of Champlin's Sprawling, Double-LP Debut Album, Loosen Up Naturally, Had Its Launch Marred By The Discovery Of An Obscenity In The Cover Art That Resulted In A Mass Recall And Ruined Its Commercial Chances. They Were Also Beset By Internal Strife, And When The Time Came To Release Their Second Album Only Six Months Later, They Chose To De-Emphasize The Primacy Of Lead Singer And Main Songwriter Bill Champlin By Shortening Their Name To "The Sons" And Also Giving That Name To The Record. But Their Music Remained Essentially The Same, A Mixture Of Champlin's Thoughtful Lyrics And Gritty Singing With Terry Haggerty's Inventive Lead Guitar Work And The Two-Man Horn Section Of Tim Caine And Geoffrey Palmer. As Usual, There Was Almost Too Much Going On In The Arrangements, Which Gave The Songs Touches Of Folk, Rock, Jazz, And Psychedelia, Often In The Same Song, As A Couple Of The Tunes Extended Beyond Ten Minutes In Length, Changing Tempo And Feel In Mid-Flight. Clearly, This Was A Band That Was Accustomed To Using Its Songs As Frameworks For Free Playing In Concert, But The Bandmembers Still Hadn't Quite Figured Out How That Worked In The Studio, And Their Arguments About Musical Direction Could Be Heard In The Music Itself. Champlin Remained The Strongest Presence In The Band, But His Songs (All Of Which Were Credited To The Sons Communally) Took A Backseat To The Group That Was Playing Them Any Way It Wanted To. The Results Could Be Exhilarating, If In A Somewhat Anarchic Way. The 2002 CD Reissue On Acadia Adds The Group's First Single And Debut Recording, Only Released As A Promotional Disc, "Jesus Is Coming," Which Appeared For The 1968 Christmas Season And Made Some People Mistake The Sons For A Christian Group.” - William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide more