Never too young to croon
Chris Lloyd - Up ‘Til Now
In music, people always seem to find it necessary to label things or come up with acronyms.
Rhythm and blues is also R&B, the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal was NWOBHM, AOR is a well-known abbreviation for Album Orientated Rock (or Radio) while Middle Of the Road becomes MOR.
Following that theme, singer Chris Lloyd recently released an album I would Muirsically tag (well if you can’t beat ‘em…) as CCC.
Up ‘Til Now is primarily a Compilation album, featuring as it does tracks recorded or performed by Lloyd since he co-founded Talon over a dozen years ago (hence the title).
Talon are the premier Eagles tribute band in the UK and as a number of their best Eagles moments are included on this release it’s also, in part, a Covers album.
The other C I’ll cover at the end of this review.
The album’s eleven tracks feature the voice of Chris Lloyd but it’s not a full or independent solo album.
Talon (or members of the band) are featured on most of the tracks including three lifted from their 2005 album Better Than Before.
The Talon songs in question are the country rock and roll of ‘Town Called Heartbreak,’ the lighter ‘Searchin’ and the acoustic based ‘When We Were Young.’
The latter features Lloyd in balladeering crooner mode and that’s familiar territory for the singer as it’s very much part of his repertoire with Talon when they perform songs such as ‘Desperado’ or the Don Henley number ‘Heart of the Matter.’
Versions of both are included on Up 'Til Now.
And that brings up an interesting vocal point.
Lloyd, in his role as Henley with Talon: The Best of Eagles (to give them their full stage name) brings a faithful interpretation to the softer songs but is clearly his own singer.
He may sing the songs in tribute to the Eagles and Henley, but they retain the Lloyd vocal stamp.
Interestingly, on the rockier Eagles numbers or those with fuller arrangements, voice and band deliver incredibly faithful covers – so much so that if you were to hear a clip of Talon’s ‘The Long Run’ from this CD or catch it on the radio you would be forgiven for automatically thinking it was the original.
But it’s not all about Talon or Eagles songs on Up 'Til Now and two other tunes deserve special mention.
‘Heart in New York’ is a duet with Lloyd’s friend and fellow Talon vocalist Peter Anderson.
The Gallagher & Lyle penned tune was a success for Art Garfunkle and on Up ‘Til Now sits very comfortably as part of a Chris Lloyd collection.
However another striking ballad is closer to Lloyd’s own vocal and familial heart…
The album opens with the Nat King Cole ballad ‘Too Young,’ a true crooner classic.
And that’s one of the reasons why it’s featured, as Chris explained when I spoke to him earlier in the year about his love for this sort of material:
“Oh it’s where my heart lies; I love all the classic crooners…Mel Tormé, Sinatra…
I’d love to perform some of those great songs sometime, but right now there are just not enough days in the week!”
‘Too Young’ is such a classic and is so associated with the rich baritone vocal of Cole it can be quite disconcerting to hear any other version.
I was very uncertain when I first heard this cover but that’s not necessarily a negative comment – Lloyd brings a nice crooning tenor to proceedings but it's simply that I expect to hear Nat King Cole every time I hear the song.
It will be the same for most others who love the song, or are familiar with it.
However on second and further plays it becomes the perfect opener and perfect companion to the rest of the album with its countrified Talon arrangement and pedal steel guitar touches.
But Chris Lloyd’s love of the crooners and the older material is only one of the reason’s ‘Too Young’ opens the album.
The Nat King Cole classic is a very special song for many couples of an older generation and that includes Chris Lloyd’s parents:
“My mum and dad got married in their teens and got the same story – ‘it will never last,’ ‘too young’… but here we are all these decades later. And ‘Too Young’ is their song.”
And so to the third C, which could stand for Crooner or Classics but is in fact for Charity. And an excellent and important one at that.
All profits from Up Til Now will go to Macmillan Cancer Support, which means this album doesn’t just carry the CCC tag but also WW.
Because with Up ‘Til Now you get a nice little album of well loved or classic songs covered with great respect by a smooth crooner who can also grip the rockier material firmly with his Talon’s.
And it’s all in a good cause.
That makes purchasing this album a Win Win for everyone involved.
Ross Muir
March 2011
The following audio tracks are presented to accompany the above review and promote the work of the artist/s. No infringement of copyright is intended.
Chris Lloyd - Up ‘Til Now
In music, people always seem to find it necessary to label things or come up with acronyms.
Rhythm and blues is also R&B, the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal was NWOBHM, AOR is a well-known abbreviation for Album Orientated Rock (or Radio) while Middle Of the Road becomes MOR.
Following that theme, singer Chris Lloyd recently released an album I would Muirsically tag (well if you can’t beat ‘em…) as CCC.
Up ‘Til Now is primarily a Compilation album, featuring as it does tracks recorded or performed by Lloyd since he co-founded Talon over a dozen years ago (hence the title).
Talon are the premier Eagles tribute band in the UK and as a number of their best Eagles moments are included on this release it’s also, in part, a Covers album.
The other C I’ll cover at the end of this review.
The album’s eleven tracks feature the voice of Chris Lloyd but it’s not a full or independent solo album.
Talon (or members of the band) are featured on most of the tracks including three lifted from their 2005 album Better Than Before.
The Talon songs in question are the country rock and roll of ‘Town Called Heartbreak,’ the lighter ‘Searchin’ and the acoustic based ‘When We Were Young.’
The latter features Lloyd in balladeering crooner mode and that’s familiar territory for the singer as it’s very much part of his repertoire with Talon when they perform songs such as ‘Desperado’ or the Don Henley number ‘Heart of the Matter.’
Versions of both are included on Up 'Til Now.
And that brings up an interesting vocal point.
Lloyd, in his role as Henley with Talon: The Best of Eagles (to give them their full stage name) brings a faithful interpretation to the softer songs but is clearly his own singer.
He may sing the songs in tribute to the Eagles and Henley, but they retain the Lloyd vocal stamp.
Interestingly, on the rockier Eagles numbers or those with fuller arrangements, voice and band deliver incredibly faithful covers – so much so that if you were to hear a clip of Talon’s ‘The Long Run’ from this CD or catch it on the radio you would be forgiven for automatically thinking it was the original.
But it’s not all about Talon or Eagles songs on Up 'Til Now and two other tunes deserve special mention.
‘Heart in New York’ is a duet with Lloyd’s friend and fellow Talon vocalist Peter Anderson.
The Gallagher & Lyle penned tune was a success for Art Garfunkle and on Up ‘Til Now sits very comfortably as part of a Chris Lloyd collection.
However another striking ballad is closer to Lloyd’s own vocal and familial heart…
The album opens with the Nat King Cole ballad ‘Too Young,’ a true crooner classic.
And that’s one of the reasons why it’s featured, as Chris explained when I spoke to him earlier in the year about his love for this sort of material:
“Oh it’s where my heart lies; I love all the classic crooners…Mel Tormé, Sinatra…
I’d love to perform some of those great songs sometime, but right now there are just not enough days in the week!”
‘Too Young’ is such a classic and is so associated with the rich baritone vocal of Cole it can be quite disconcerting to hear any other version.
I was very uncertain when I first heard this cover but that’s not necessarily a negative comment – Lloyd brings a nice crooning tenor to proceedings but it's simply that I expect to hear Nat King Cole every time I hear the song.
It will be the same for most others who love the song, or are familiar with it.
However on second and further plays it becomes the perfect opener and perfect companion to the rest of the album with its countrified Talon arrangement and pedal steel guitar touches.
But Chris Lloyd’s love of the crooners and the older material is only one of the reason’s ‘Too Young’ opens the album.
The Nat King Cole classic is a very special song for many couples of an older generation and that includes Chris Lloyd’s parents:
“My mum and dad got married in their teens and got the same story – ‘it will never last,’ ‘too young’… but here we are all these decades later. And ‘Too Young’ is their song.”
And so to the third C, which could stand for Crooner or Classics but is in fact for Charity. And an excellent and important one at that.
All profits from Up Til Now will go to Macmillan Cancer Support, which means this album doesn’t just carry the CCC tag but also WW.
Because with Up ‘Til Now you get a nice little album of well loved or classic songs covered with great respect by a smooth crooner who can also grip the rockier material firmly with his Talon’s.
And it’s all in a good cause.
That makes purchasing this album a Win Win for everyone involved.
Ross Muir
March 2011
The following audio tracks are presented to accompany the above review and promote the work of the artist/s. No infringement of copyright is intended.
Too Young
Heart in New York (featuring Peter Anderson)
Anyone interested in purchasing a copy of Up 'Til Now should direct enquiries to: info@talonmusic.co.uk
Information on Macmillan Cancer Support can be found on their website:
http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Home.aspx
Information on Macmillan Cancer Support can be found on their website:
http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Home.aspx
