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Customer Reviews of Song for Me

Songs for Us All
Long-time fans of the late, great English band Family know something many other folks do not. Simply, Family was perhaps the greatest rock and roll band ever. Take this one step further, and you must conclude the Roger Chapman and Charlie Whitney were one of the greatest songwriter duos ever.

"Song for Me" was released shortly after the band's initial line up imploded when bassist Rick Grech departed for the short-lived Blind Faith and reedman and song arranger Jim King either left--or was asked to leave. Of the two defections, King's had the greatest immediate impact on the group's sound. They were replaced with two excellent additions, however, John Weider on guitar and bass and Poli Palmer on vibes, flute, keyboards, and synthesizers.

Yet because King had arranged many of the songs on this recording---the absence of his stellar sax and falsetto backing vocals lingers on many tracks, particularly on Drowned in Wine and the title cut---Palmer's flute sounds thin and out of place at times. Weider's bass lines are not as clean as Grech's and sometimes get lost in the mix. (Some of these songs, including Song for Me, are available on some of the live Family recordings from this time. It's worth listening to how much more powerful that song sounds with King compared with the studio version.)
Regardless, Family proceeds to march through another varied, eclectic set that hits every range from the slow ballad Some Poor Soul to the all-out rockers such as Love Is a Sleeper to The Cat and the Rat.

The only filler here is one of the two bonus tracks, Good Friend of Mine. The other, No Mule's Fool, remains to this day one of lead singer Chapman's favorites.

Whitney tears up the guitar on the rockers and lulls you into a peaceful, contemplative state on the soft numbers. Rob Townsend, the other stalwart member of the group, provides an excellent foundation for the group's sound with his crisp, powerful drumming. Chapman shines on this recording, hitting full power on the rockers and imbuing the softer tracks with raw emotion.
I would not recommend "Song for Me" as the gateway recording for those new to Family. It is essential listening but seems less accessible than "Fearless," "Bandstand," "Entertainment," or even "Music from a Doll's House."

Instead, those new to Family might first listen to any of those four CDs. Regardless, once you start understanding why the critics and European audiences loved Family, you won't stop until you've added all their recordings to your collection. And most of your other early '70s recordings will likely collect dust for a couple of years as you savor the music of Family.

This 2004 release kept the bonus tracks from the 2000 remastering and added four live bonus tracks---none of which appear on the newly released Family Live CD, so Family collectors can make a case for getting this version. Still, one wonders if all the bonus live tracks popping up on this latest round of releases of Family's recordings will not eventually make their way to Family Live, Two.