''Hour Glass'' is the debut studio album by the group of the same name, issued in October 1967 on

Liberty Records Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revival ...

. The band featured

Gregg Allman Gregory LeNoir Allman (December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman Br ...

and his brother

Duane Allman Howard Duane Allman (November 20, 1946 – October 29, 1971) was an American rock guitarist, session musician, and the founder and original leader of the Allman Brothers Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in ...

, who later formed

The Allman Brothers Band The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (founder, slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards, songwriting), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guita ...

. The album was recorded by Dallas Smith, a producer noted for his work with

Bobby Vee Robert Thomas Velline (April 30, 1943 – October 24, 2016), known professionally as Bobby Vee, was an American singer who was a teen idol in the early 1960s and also appeared in films. According to '' Billboard'' magazine, he had thirty-e ...

, but the band disliked his production work on the album. Smith knew the group was from the South, knew they had formed from the ashes of groups that had performed lots of blues covers, and could hear the soulful qualities in the voice of nineteen-year-old Gregg Allman. He therefore regarded them as a soul act and referred to them as a "Motown band", much to the chagrin of the group.''Skydog: The Duane Allman Story'' by Randy Poe, pp. 42-43 ''Hour Glass'' was recorded with an emphasis on lead vocalist Gregg's voice and dispensing with nearly all original material. Of the eleven tracks on the original LP, only one was penned by a group member: Gregg Allman's "Got To Get Away". The remaining ten were written by songwriters such as

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music.

Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 18 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a precocious teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he h ...

Del Shannon Charles Weedon Westover (December 30, 1934 – February 8, 1990), better known by his stage name Del Shannon, was an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known for his 1961 number-one '' Billboard'' hit " Runaway". In 1999, he was ind ...

and Goffin-

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

. The Hour Glass performed the basic tracks, which were overdubbed by Smith with layers of vocals and instrumentation. The album was a failure in both sales terms and in properly showcasing the group. On the follow-up, 1968's '' Power of Love'', the group would be given a bigger role in the making of the album.

Track listing

# "Out of the Night" (Alex Moore, Bob Welch) - 1:57 # "Nothing But Tears" (

Jimmy Radcliffe James Radcliffe (November 18, 1936 – July 27, 1973) was an American soul singer, composer, arranger, conductor and record producer. Biography James Radcliffe was born in New York City. He released such singles as "My Ship is Coming In", a so ...

, B. J. Scott) - 2:28 # "Love Makes the World Go 'Round" (Deon Jackson) - 2:42 # "Cast off All My Fears" (

) - 3:31 # "I've Been Trying" (

) - 2:40 # "No Easy Way Down" (

Gerry Goffin Gerald Goffin (February 11, 1939 – June 19, 2014) was an American lyricist. Collaborating initially with his first wife, Carole King, he co-wrote many international pop hits of the early and mid-1960s, including the List of Billboard number-one ...

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

) - 3:20 # "Heartbeat" (

Ed Cobb Edward C. "Ed" Cobb (February 25, 1938 – September 19, 1999) was an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, most notably during the 1950s and 1960s. He is best known for writing the song "Tainted Love" for Gloria Jones, which later ...

) - 4:52 # " So Much Love" (Gerry Goffin, Carole King) - 2:57 # "Got to Get Away" (Gregg Allman) - 2:14 # "Silently" (Dan Bourgoise,

) - 2:48 # " Bells" (

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

, arr. Peter Alin) - 2:24 # "In a Time" (Paul Hornsby) - 2:17 # "I've Been Trying" (alternate version) (Curtis Mayfield) - 2:35 # "Kind of a Man" (Jimmy Settle and Frank Bugbee) - 3:07 # "

D-I-V-O-R-C-E "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" is a song written by Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman, and recorded by American country music artist Tammy Wynette. It was released in May 1968 as the first single and title track from the album ''D-I-V-O-R-C-E''. Wynette's versi ...

" (

Bobby Braddock Robert Valentine Braddock (born August 5, 1940) is an American country songwriter and record producer. A member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, Braddock has contributed numerous hit songs during more ...

Curly Putman Curly is a surname, given name, nickname or stage name. It may refer to: First name, nickname or stage name * Crazy Horse (1840–1877), Oglala Sioux war chief nicknamed "Curly" * Curly (scout), nickname of Ashishishe (c. 1856–1923), Crow Ind ...

) - 3:12 # "She Is My Woman" (Composer Unknown) - 2:38 # "Bad Dream" (Gregg Allman) - 3:37 # "Three Time Loser" (

Don Covay Donald James Randolph (March 24, 1936 – January 31, 2015), better known by the stage name Don Covay, was an American R&B, rock and roll, and soul singer-songwriter most active from the 1950s to the 1970s. His most successful recordings incl ...

, Ronald Miller) - 2:40 *Tracks 1-11 constitute the original album. *Tracks 12-13 are outtakes from the album. *Tracks 14-18 are tracks from aborted 1968 and 1969 sessions by Gregg Allman (present on 1992 re-release only).

Personnel

– organ, piano, vocal *

– guitars, vocal (tracks 1-13) *

Paul Hornsby Paul Hornsby is an American musician and record producer who has produced gold and platinum records for artists including the Charlie Daniels Band, The Marshall Tucker Band, and Wet Willie. Overview Paul Hornsby started playing music at an early ...

– piano, organ, vocal (tracks 1-13) * Johnny Sandlin – drums (tracks 1-13) * Mabron McKinney – bass (tracks 1-13) * Several unknown studio musicians on horns, guitars, backing vocals, drums, bass, banjo, keyboards and percussion

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hour Glass 1967 debut albums Liberty Records albums Hour Glass (band) albums