Barbara & Ernie - Prelude To Posted by Junior

Barbara & Ernie: Play With Fire and Searching The Circle From:Prelude To...(Cotillion, 1971) So, continuing with the theme of my last post, today I'm giving you a couple of tracks from another legendary hard to get your hands on record, Barbara & Ernie's Prelude To. This record goes for serious money on eBay, partly due to it's drums being sampled by Smif-N-Wessun's "Wrektime", partly due to it's lack of a single reprint, but mostly due to it's rather excellent music. Probably best categorized as Psyche/Folk/Soul, it's the kind of record that could only have been made at the end of the sixties/beginning of the seventies - the album's truly exquisite harmonies laced with a melancholy edge making it a simply sublime record to play on a chilled summer's day. Primarily made up of Barbara Massey, a session vocalist for artists such as Cat Stevens, and Ernie Calabria, a guitarist in Harry Belafonte's band in the sixties, the singers were backed up by a fine selection of musicians including legendary jazz pianist Keith Jarrett. Apart from that I'm afraid I know nada about it or the artists themselves, any light that could be sown would be gratefully received. The first song I have for your blissed out sonic experience is Play With Fire. The track starts with the most somber of folk organs before quickly slipping into an easy, laid back groove. I can not put in words how much I love Barbara's voice, it's got a wonderfully relaxed edge that belies the intensity that she's putting into the vocals. The voice is so soothing and the production so subtle that it takes a moment to fully comprehend the supreme goodness of this record. The second song, Searching The Circle, kicks off with a cheeky little snare/bass riff before the perfected harmonies kick in. This track is all about the chorus, equal to anything I've ever heard the Rotary Connection do even in their prime. Like Play With Fire, the way the song builds to a crescendo is truly masterful. I don't have the greatest knowledge of the Psyche/Folk/Soul scene (who does?) but I seriously doubt that there's much else out there as great as this. All I can wonder is what the hell it was a Prelude To since this is the only record I've ever seen by them and while 100 plus dollars is maybe a bit too high, it is indeed a damn fine album. If you get the chance to get this cheaper I seriously recommend it......