Description
Steve LeachがCrystal Grass Orchestraと共に1976年に残したバレアリックなビーチ・ファンク名盤『Ocean Potion』が、待望の再発。Ned Dohenyに通じるファンキーAORやブルーアイド・ソウル好きにはたまらないBBQクラシックだ。実はSteve Leachは、後にSeasick Steveとして知られる人物で、このアルバムはフランスのみでPhilipsからリリースされていた幻の1枚。
豪華なオーケストラ・サウンドがSteveの美しいヴォーカルとブリリアントなバック・ヴォーカル陣を支え、楽曲のクオリティを引き上げている。制作陣にはフレンチ・シーンの伝説的メンバーが勢ぞろい。Don Rayがアレンジャー兼シンセ奏者として参加し、Marc Chantereau（パーカッション）、Slim Pezin（ギター）、André Ceccarelli（ドラム）、Christian Padovan（ベース）、Pierre Halation（フルート）が華を添える。
収録曲も珠玉揃い。冒頭の「The Light Of The Mind」はNed Dohenyを思わせるファンキーなオープナーで、心に残るコーラスが光る。「Hey! Hey! What You Doin To Me」はストリングスとブレイクが炸裂する白熱のファンク。「Take Strength」はBeach Boysを彷彿とさせる壮大なサウンドで、深みのあるヴォーカルが際立つ。「The Lady Of The Sea」はメランコリックなフルートラインが美しいフォーク・ファンク。「All My Life」はアイランド・ファンク風のレゲエテイストがアクセントだ。
Side Bにはフィリー・ソウル「At Least We Got Love」やニューオリンズ風のバラード「All Love’s Children」、軽快な「Get Out In The Sun」、Beach Boys直系の「Golden Hues」、そしてフォーク・ファンクの「I Meditate Each Day」といった聴きどころ満載の楽曲が続く。
オリジナルのトップレスでピアノに寄りかかるSteveのジャケットも忠実に再現。Simon Francisによるリマスターで音質も最高レベルに仕上がっており、長らく待ち望まれていた再発がついに実現。これを逃す手はない。
A1. The Light Of The Mind
A2. Hey! Hey! What You Doin To Me
A3. Take Strength
A4. The Lady Of The Sea
A5. All My Life
B1. You're The Only One Girl
B2. At Least We Got Love
B3. All Love's Children
B4. Get Out In The Sun
B5. Golden Hues
B6. I Meditate Each Day
Steve Leach's Balearic beach-funk beast Ocean Potion, recorded with the Crystal Grass Orchestra is an absolutely ace, Ned Doheny-adjacent funky AOR / blue-eyed soul BBQ classic from 1976.
Who is Steve Leach, you ask? None other than Seasick Steve in a previous life! A French-only release on Philips, it's a hugely immediate, pop-funk firecracker. It features a wonderfully lush, full orchestral sound throughout, underpinning Steve's gorgeous voice and an army of brilliant backing vocalists.
The supporting cast is phenomenal and is arguably the salient reason this is such a fantastic record. We're talking legendary players from the French scene (think Arpadys, Voyage, Kongas, CCPP, Giant, Swing Family) such as Don Ray with his arranger-conductor hat on as well as synths, Marc Chantereau on percussion, Slim Pezin on guitar, André Ceccarelli on drums, Christian Padovan on bass and Pierre Halation on flute.
With these snakes behind the scenes, it remains a mystery how Ocean Potion is so relatively unknown. Hopefully, this long overdue reissue rectifies this and puts a stop to people dropping $200 on it.
Triumphant, horn-forward opener "The Light Of The Mind" has that uniquely Ned Doheny fidgety funk feel with a fantastically irresistible chorus and great harmonies. Just magic. The insouciant, swaggering "Hey! Hey! What You Doin To Me" is straight up white-hot feel-good funk with by turns sweeping and stabbing strings and a neck-snapping break. Crucial. Coming off like something off The Beach Boy's Surf's Up or Holland (including a sneaky "reason to live" reference that surely nods to "The Trader") is the brilliantly ominous, driving wall of sound of "Take Strength". Cavernous drums, urgent strings and a staggeringly good vocal performance make this a real highlight amongst an album of highlights. The blissful folk-funk of "The Lady Of The Sea" is a real naked heartbreaker, melancholic vibes and a beautiful flute line complementing each other perfectly. Side A closes out with "All My Life", a groovy island-funk white-reggae-tinged lilter which just about lands the right side of acceptable.
Side B opens with the gorgeous "You're The Only One Girl" before the propulsive Philly soul of "At Least We Got Love" elegantly glides into focus. Pulsing beats and piano working with that irresistible orchestra of grass. Glacial ballad "All Love's Children" has a deep New Orleans soul feel that truly soars whilst the breezy "Get Out In The Sun" owes a debt to "Crocodile Rock". It's pure pop for now people and wouldn't have been out of place on a late 70s Nick Lowe effort. Deep late-period Beach Boys gem "Golden Hues" is another heavy melancholic down lifter that really beguiles before the real reason you're all here. Pastoral closer "I Meditate Each Day" is just beautiful, and likely the reason this reissue is giving you that special feeling. Another gorgeous flute-led, folk-funk groover, it featured in a memorable mix from the Creme2laCreme crew (Raphael Top-Secret, Jerome Qpchan and Antoine Kogut) live on Red Light Radio over a decade ago and has been top of many heads' wants list never since. Just mellow out.
As ever, the audio for Ocean Potion has been carefully remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring it sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the records have been pressed to the highest possible standard at Record Industry in Holland. The original, iconic sleeve featuring a topless Steve reclining next to his piano on a flatbed truck on the beach (of course?!) has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.
