album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by American singer-songwriter Al Kooper, recorded and released in 1970 for
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
.
A double album, ''Easy Does It'' featured Kooper on an expanded number of instruments, including sitar (used to effect on the country-tinged "Sad, Sad Sunshine"), vibes and electronic effects. While mostly backed by Bretheren rhythm section Stu Woods and Rick Marotta, Kooper also utilized groups in
Nashville
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
and
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
to record the tracks for the album.
Two tracks were also featured on the soundtrack to the 1970 counter-culture film, ''
The Landlord
''The Landlord'' is a 1970 American comedy-drama film directed by Hal Ashby, adapted by Bill Gunn from the 1966 novel by Kristin Hunter. The film stars Beau Bridges in the lead role of a privileged and ignorant white man who selfishly becomes ...
'', "Brand New Day" and "Love Theme from ''The Landlord''".
Track listing
Side 1
# "Brand New Day" (Al Kooper) – 5:09
# "Piano Solo Introduction to I Got a Woman"-2:00
# " I Got a Woman" (
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...
) – 4:23
# "I Bought You the Shoes (You're Walking Away In)" (Bob Brass,
Irwin Levine
Irwin Jesse Levine (March 23, 1938 – January 21, 1997) - accessed April 11, 2012 was an American songwriter, who co-wrote ...
Charlie Calello
Charles Calello (born August 24, 1938) is an American arranger, composer, conductor, record producer, and singer born in Newark, New Jersey. Calello attended Newark Arts High School and the Manhattan School of Music, in New York City. His track ...
Big Joe Williams
Joseph Lee "Big Joe" Williams (October 16, 1903 – December 17, 1982) was an American Delta blues guitarist, singer and songwriter, notable for the distinctive sound of his nine-string guitar. Performing over five decades, he recorded the s ...
) – 12:28
# "God Sheds His Grace on Thee" (Kooper, Charlie Calello) – 3:28
* Note: some releases incorrectly list "Buckskin Boy" as 4:11 in the gatefold sleeve. 3:11 is the correct time.
Personnel
Musicians
* Al Kooper –
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
,
organ
Organ may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a part of an organism
Musical instruments
* Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone
** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument
** Hammond ...
,
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
s,
ondioline
The Ondioline is an electronic keyboard musical instrument, developed and built by Frenchman Georges Jenny. Sometimes referred to as the "Jenny Ondioline," the instrument is considered a forerunner of the synthesizer. First conceived by Jenny in ...
,
sitar
The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in ...
,
vibraphone
The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...
, prepared guitar, electronic effects,
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
, backing vocal (tracks 1, 3-8 and 13-14)
* David Bromberg – pedal steel, guitar (tracks 5, 8 and 13)
* Tom Cosgrove – guitar (tracks 8 and 13)
* Lyle Ritz – electric bass (tracks 12 and 15)
* Earl Palmer – drums (tracks 12 and 15)
* Larry Knechtel – piano (tracks 12 and 15)
*
Louie Shelton
William Louis Shelton (born April 6, 1941) is an American guitarist and music producer.
Biography
During the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s Shelton was a session musician working in recording studios around Hollywood. Among his more notable session wo ...
– guitar (tracks 12 and 15)
*
Tommy Tedesco
Thomas Joseph Tedesco (July 3, 1930 – November 10, 1997) was an American guitarist and studio musician in Los Angeles and Hollywood. He was part of the loose collective of the area's leading session musicians later popularly known as The Wrec ...
– guitar (tracks 12 and 15)
*
Fred Lipsius
Fred Lipsius (born 19 November 1943 in the Bronx) is an American musician who is the original saxophonist and arranger for the jazz-rock band Blood, Sweat & Tears, for which he played alto saxophone and piano. He was with the band from 1967 to 197 ...
–
alto saxophone
The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...
(track 3)
*
Peter Ivers
Peter Scott Ivers (born Peter Scott Rose, September 20, 1946 – March 3, 1983) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and television personality. He was the host of the experimental music television show '' New Wave Theatre''. Despite Iv ...
–
harmonica
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...
(track 4)
* John Miller – electric bass (track 9)
* Al Rogers – drums (track 9)
* George Devens –
percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
(track 9)
*
Stu Scharf
Stuart Scharf (1941 – November 8, 2007) was an American composer, guitarist, and record producer.
Scharf grew up in Crown Heights and attended Winthrop Junior High School. Scharf graduated, with honors, from CCNY in 1962 (mathematics majo ...
– guitar (track 9)
*
Joe Beck
Joe Beck (July 29, 1945 – July 22, 2008) was an American jazz guitarist who was active for over 30 years.
Biography
Born in Philadelphia, Beck moved to Manhattan in his teens, playing six nights a week in a trio setting, which gave him an opp ...
– guitar (track 9)
*
Joe Osborn
Joseph Osborn (August 28, 1937 – December 14, 2018Milt Holland –
tabla
A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల ...
(track 10)
* Keith Allison – guitar (track 10)
* Freddy Weller – guitar (track 10)
* Charlie McCoy – electric bass (track 11)
*
Kenny Buttrey
Aaron Kenneth Buttrey (April 1, 1945 – September 12, 2004) was an American drummer and arranger. According to Country Music Television, CMT, he was "one of the most influential session musicians in Nashville history".
Buttrey was born in Nashvi ...
– drums (track 11)
*
Pete Drake
Roddis Franklin "Pete" Drake (October 8, 1932 – July 29, 1988), was a Nashville-based American record producer and pedal steel guitar player. One of the most sought-after backup musicians of the 1960s, Drake played on such hits as Lynn Anderson' ...
Bobby Colomby
Robert Wayne Colomby (born 20 December 1944) is a jazz-rock fusion drummer, record producer and television presenter. He is best known as an original member of the group Blood, Sweat & Tears, which he co-founded in 1967. He has also played with ...
–
congas
The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest) ...
(track 14)
*
Charlie Calello
Charles Calello (born August 24, 1938) is an American arranger, composer, conductor, record producer, and singer born in Newark, New Jersey. Calello attended Newark Arts High School and the Manhattan School of Music, in New York City. His track ...
– string and horn arrangements (except tracks 12 and 15)
* Jackson Marlie -
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
*
Jimmie Haskell
Jimmie Haskell (born Sheridan Pearlman, November 7, 1926 – February 4, 2016) was an American composer and arranger for motion pictures and a wide variety of popular artists, including Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Steely Da ...
– arrangements and conductor (tracks 12 and 15)
Technical
* Al Kooper – producer
* Don Puluse, Neil Wilburn, Stan Tonkel, Sy Mitchell, Tim Geelan – engineers
* Mike Ruschack – mastering engineer
* Stan Weiss – remix engineer