written by John Hall & Joanna Hall

Evie Sands is a brilliant singer/songwriter whose songs have been covered by superstars like Barbra Streisand, Linda Ronstadt, Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick, Cher and Dusty Springfield who publicly declared that Sands was her favourite female singer. In 1975, Sands released her second album entitled “Estate Of Mind.”

Produced by Dennis Lamber and Brian Potter, “Estate Of Mind” was a fascinating collection of pop/soul material that put in the spotlight Sands’ beautiful voice and her noteworthy songwriting with the help of music giants like Michael Omartian on keyboards, Ernie Watts on sax and Dean Parks on guitars who embellished the instrumental performances. There are intense ballads on the album like “Love In The Afternoon” also covered by Streisand, the bittersweet “Yesterday Can’t Hurt Me” and “Take It Or Leave It,” a masterpiece that could come out from the legendary Brill Building. The great thing about “Estate Of Mind” is that the up-tempo numbers are also absolutely catchy and memorable. Just listen to “You Brought The Woman Out Of Me” with its fantastic refrain or “One Thing On My Mind” that’s just total ear candy. Another great mid-tempo, “I Love Makin’ Love To You” was covered by Karen Carpenter for her solo album but didn’t make the final cut. One can’t help but wonder why this album, with all its qualities, wasn’t a chart topper and why Sands, with her amazing talent, didn’t become a household name. In 2003 there was a cd reissue of “Estate Of Mind” in Japan by Dreamsville Records. What’s interesting is that it includes also four songs recorded in the spring of 1976 with, among others, David Foster on keyboards. One of these tracks, “Music Man,” is a ballad co-written by John and Joanna Hall that presents a wonderful keyboard performance by Foster who’s all over the song and perfectly supports Sands’ passionate performance. Another treat is a first recording of Sands’ soulful original, “You Can Do It” that she’ll record again on her 1979, “Suspended Animation” album and that was covered later on by Frankie Valli, June Pointer and Springfield.

Listen

[audio:https://www.fozfan.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/music_man.mp3|titles=Music Man|artists=Evie Sands]

Lead Vocals & Background Vocals, Keyboards & Guitar: Evie Sands
Keyboards: Michael Omartian & David Foster
Guitars: Dean Parks & Ray Parker, Jr.
Drums: James Gadson & Jim Keltner
Bass: Scott Edwards & Lee Sklar
Percussion: Gary Coleman, Brian Potter & Dennis Lambert.
Background Vocals: Dennis Lambert

Produced by Dennis Lambert & Brian Potter

Lyrics

No Lyrics

Written by Dennis Lambert & Brian Potter

In the early Seventies, Cuba Gooding was the lead singer of the successful R&B trio The Main Ingredient that scored hits like “Everybody Plays The Fool,” “Just Don’t Want To Be Lonely” and “I’m So Proud.” Gooding went solo in 1977 and signed to Motown Records for “The 1st Cuba Gooding Album.”

Produced by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter of Tavares fame, “The 1st Cuba Gooding Album” is a nice soul/disco record with a few good songs that were mostly co-written by Lambert & Potter. Though it was well conceived and performed, “The 1st Cuba Gooding Album” wasn’t a hit and only its first single, “Mind Pleaser,” scored an entry on Billboard’s R&B chart. That up-tempo goodie and many other songs on the album were arranged by David Foster who also played keyboards. “Mind Pleaser” deserved better luck on the charts given its catchy refrain and solid vocal by Gooding. Foster’s touch is further evident on tracks like the disco/funk “Fool Of The Year” and pop/soul ballads like “We’re In Love” and “As Long As There’s You” that also showcase his familiar keyboard playing. The singer handles the material with elegance well supported by competent backing vocalists and other music luminaries like Joe Sample, Mike Omartian, Ray Parker, Jr. and Dean Parks. Gooding released another solo album in 1979 entitled “Love Dancer” before re-teaming with The Main Ingredient. Gooding is also the father of Academy Award winning actor Cuba Gooding, Jr.

Listen

[audio:https://www.fozfan.com/archives/clips/mind_pleaser.mp3|titles=Mind pleaser|artists=Cuba Gooding]

Lead Vocals: Cuba Gooding
Drums: James Gadson & Ed Greene
Bass: Scott Edwards
Keyboards: David Foster, Michael Omartian, Joe Sample & Dennis Lambert
Guitars: Dean Parks, Ray Parker, Jr. & Jay Lewis (solo)
Synthesizer: Bill Cuomo (solo)
Percussion: Steve Forman & Gary Coleman
horns: Chuck Findley, Steve Madaio, Tom Scott, Quitman Dennis, Bill Green, Dick Hyde, George Bohanon,Paul Hubinon & Ernie Watts
Strings: Sid Sharp & The Boogie Symphony
Background vocals: Julia Tillman Waters, Maxine Willard Waters, Oren Waters, Carol Parks & Dennis Lambert

Arranged by David Foster
Strings & Horns Arranged by Gene Page
Background Vocals Arranged by Dennis Lambert
Produced by Dennis Lambert & Brian Potter

Lyrics

No Lyrics

Yukiko Ito is a Japanese singer/actress who recorded her debut CD in LA, in 1990, working with A-list producers like Phil Ramone, Dennis Lambert, Brooks Arthur and David Foster. The record is truly enjoyable, a collection of pop songs written by, among others, Glen Ballard, Barry Manilow, Richard Marx and Paul Anka who also produced three songs including a beautiful version of his classic, “Put Your Head On My Shoulder”, as a duet between Ito and the late, ultra-talented, Warren Wiebe. Foster appears as producer of two songs, the first one, “Insincere”, is a very nice cover of a Planet 3’s ballad that Ito sings with good style, helped by the rarefied arrangement and Jeremy Lubbock’s strings.

The other song is “Could’ve Fooled Me” and it is our song of the week. It is another pop ballad, this time around written and arranged by Foster with Dennis Lambert. The song is a bittersweet ditty that Ito delivers quite nicely underlined by Foster’s masterful keyboard playing and with the final touch of Dave Boruff’s tender saxophone solo.

This lovely song was also covered by the incredible Rachelle Ferrell on her “Rachelle Ferrell” cd released under George Duke’s production in 1992.

It remains to be said that among the other musicians and singers appearing on the cd there are John Robinson, Mike Landau, David Spinozza, Neil Stubenhaus, Carlos Alomar, Jeff Lorber and Bill Champlin who contribuites with his vocals to the beautiful “Say It”.

Listen

[audio:https://www.fozfan.com/archives/clips/couldve_fooled_me.mp3|titles=Could’ve fooled me|artists=Yukiko]

Lead Vocal: Yukiko Ito
Keyboards: David Foster
Synclavier Programming: Simon Franglen
Guitars: James Harrah
Saxophone: David Boruff
Arranged by David Foster & Dennis Lambert
Vocal produced by Brooks Arthur & David Foster
Produced by David Foster

Lyrics

1st Verse

Don’t ask, what am I gonna do
‘Cause it hasn’t even started sinking in
Need time, time to think it through
How am I supposed to know where I begin?
Suddenly, I’m alone here
Loving me isn’t in your plans
Yesterday you were mine
And my heart was in your hands

Chorus

Could’ve fooled me
Turned out I was wrong
You knew all along
That one day you’d be leaving
Could’ve fooled me
I was so secure
Confident and sure we were meant to be
You could’ve fooled me

2nd verse

So sad, I’m the last to know
Would’ve bet my life we were going all the way
It’s too bad you didn’t let me go
If you were honest then, I’d be over you today
Now suddenly, I’m alone here
Loving me doesn’t feel so right
Yesterday you were mine
But we’re history tonight

Repeat Chorus

Bridge

There was no indication
No warning, no signs
I guess you could say that I…
I must have been blind

Repeat Chorus