''Oh How We Danced'' is the debut studio album by the British musician

Jim Capaldi Nicola James Capaldi (2 August 1944 – 28 January 2005) was an English singer-songwriter and drummer. His musical career spanned more than four decades. He co-founded the progressive rock band Traffic in 1967 with Steve Winwood with whom he co ...

. The album was recorded while

Traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffi ...

was on hiatus due to Steve Winwood's struggles with

peritonitis Peritonitis is inflammation of the localized or generalized peritoneum, the lining of the inner wall of the abdomen and cover of the abdominal organs. Symptoms may include severe pain, swelling of the abdomen, fever, or weight loss. One part o ...

and was released by Island Records in 1972. Like his contemporary albums with

, it was unsuccessful in his native United Kingdom but did better in the United States, reaching number 82 in the ''Billboard'' 200 chart and producing the hit single "Eve", which reached number 91 in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The track "Open Your Heart" is a surplus recording from Traffic's then most recent album, '' The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys''. All of the remaining tracks, save "How Much Can a Man Really Take?", were recorded at

Muscle Shoals Sound Studios Muscle Shoals Sound Studio is an American recording studio in Sheffield, Alabama, formed in 1969 by four session musicians known as The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. They had left nearby FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals to create their own rec ...

with the

Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section is a group of American session musicians based in the northern Alabama town of Muscle Shoals. One of the most prominent American studio house bands from the 1960s to the 1980s, these musicians, individually or a ...

Reception

Critical reception for ''Oh How We Danced'' was resoundingly positive. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' applauded Capaldi's clever yet earnest lyrics and the strong collection of guest musicians, concluding that the album has "not a whiff of mediocrity to be heard." Allmusic's retrospective review complimented the strong set of songs and "its mellow vibe, generated by the genial familiarity of the players". They also made note of "Capaldi's sweet, unassuming voice", an echo of ''Rolling Stones reference to his "sweet smooth easy voice." In a review for the 2012 reissue of the album, Terry Stauntman of the British magazine ''

Classic Rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prima ...

'' described the album as very close to Traffic latest works, with the difference that "the more soulful side of the band is given a sharper focus".

Track listing

All tracks composed by Jim Capaldi, except where indicated. ;Side one # "Eve" – 3:39 # "Big Thirst" (Jim Capaldi,

Dave Mason David Thomas Mason (born 10 May 1946) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic. Over the course of his career, Mason has played and recorded with many notable pop and rock mu ...

) – 5:27 # "Love Is All You Can Try" – 3:23 # "Last Day of Dawn" – 4:24 ;Side two # "Don't Be a Hero" – 5:58 # "Open Your Heart" – 4:04 # "How Much Can a Man Really Take?" – 5:21 # " Anniversary Song" (

Saul Chaplin Saul Chaplin (February 19, 1912 – November 15, 1997) was an American composer and musical director. He was born Saul Kaplan in Brooklyn, New York. He had worked on stage, screen and television since the days of Tin Pan Alley. In film, he w ...

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Eizer Yoelson; June 9, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-American Jewish singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, and was self-billed ...

) – 4:28 islabeled on some releases as "Oh How We Danced"/small> One further track, "Going Down Slow All the Way", was recorded at an unidentified studio in England and released as the b-side to the single "Eve". The track features only piano, tambourine, bass drum, and a single vocal, all presumably played by Jim Capaldi, who produced the track by himself. It was included as bonus of the 2012 CD release of the album.

Personnel

* Jim Capaldi – lead vocals,

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 keybo ...

(track 6), acoustic guitar (track 4) ;

(except tracks 6-7) * David Hood – bass * Roger Hawkins – drums *

Barry Beckett Barry Edward Beckett (February 4, 1943 – June 10, 2009) was an American keyboardist, session musician, record producer, and studio founder. He is best known for his work with David Hood, Jimmy Johnson, and Roger Hawkins, his bandmates in ...

– piano, organ (tracks 1, 5) * Jimmy Johnson –

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

;Additional musicians *

Paul Kossoff Paul Francis Kossoff (14 September 1950 – 19 March 1976) was an English guitarist, mainly known as the co-founder and guitarist for the rock band Free. He was ranked number 51 in ''Rolling Stone''s list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All ...

– electric guitar (tracks 2, 4-5, 7-8) *

– harmonica (track 2) electric guitar solo (track 5) * Steve Winwood – organ (track 1, 6),

backing vocal A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

(track 6), guitar (track 3) * Chris Wood – flute (track 7), electric saxophone (track 6) *

Ric Grech Richard Roman Grechko (1 November 1945 – 17 March 1990), better known as Ric Grech, was a British rock musician. He is best known for playing bass guitar and violin with rock band Family as well as in the supergroups Blind Faith and Traff ...

– bass (track 6) * Jim Gordon – drums (track 6) *

Rebop Kwaku Baah Anthony "Rebop" Kwaku Baah (13 February 1944 – 12 January 1983) was a Ghanaian percussionist who worked with the 1970s rock groups Traffic and Can. Biography Baah was born on 13 February 1944, in Konongo, Gold Coast. In 1969, Baah performe ...

–

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. Ex ...

(tracks 4, 6), congas (track 7) *

Trevor Burton Trevor Burton (born Trevor Ireson; 9 March 1949 in Aston, Birmingham, England) is an English guitarist and is a founding member of The Move. Career Burton started playing guitar at a young age and was leading his own group called The Evergla ...

– bass (track 7) *

Mike Kellie Michael Alexander Kellie (24 March 1947 – 18 January 2017) was an English musician, composer and record producer. In a career that spanned more than 50 years, Kellie was a member of the rock bands the V.I.P.s, Spooky Tooth and the Only ...

– drums (track 7) * Bob Griffin – piano (track 7) *

Sunny Leslie Sue and Sunny were a British vocal duo and session singers operating in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Although sisters, their stage names were Sue Glover and Sunny Leslie. For three years (1969-1972) they were members of British pop group The Bro ...

– backing vocal (track 2) ;Technical * Chris Blackwell, Jim Capaldi –

producers Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

* Brian Humphries, Jerry Masters –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

Neal Preston Neal Preston (born 1952) is a photographer based in Los Angeles, California. Preston is known primarily for his photographs of rock musicians. He has worked closely with such artists as Led Zeppelin, Queen, The Who, Bruce Springsteen, Fleetwood ...

– cover

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...

References

External links

Jim Capaldi's official website
{{Authority control 1972 debut albums Jim Capaldi albums Albums produced by Chris Blackwell Albums recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio Island Records albums