User:GregoryBowerman/sandbox

Hopefully, by Wikipedia's leave, I can use this area to edit a critical reaction section to this album. I intend full quotes and citations so I can work with them before posting on the page. If this is not appropriate, please direct me to the accepted way. GB

http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=312&name=Dave+Mason Alone Together [Blue Thumb, 1970] I know, the real heavy in Traffic, great songwriter, poor Stevie is lost without him, Delaney & Bonnie on tour, rakka-rakka-rakka. I love "Feelin' Alright" myself. But I've never wondered for a second what it means, and only when the music is as elemental as "Feelin' Alright" can such questions be overlooked. I mean, songs have words. This is both complex and likable-to-catchy, with a unique light feel that begins with the way Mason doubles on acoustic and electric. But he doesn't have the poetic gift that might justify his withdrawal from "games of reason" in the immodestly entitled "Just a Song." Songs have words. B

http://www.last.fm/music/Dave+Mason/Alone+Together Dave Mason’s first solo album, Alone Together, may have been significant for its album art at the time, but the music stands up well today, too. It is likely one of the most inventive album packages EVER…so much so that it has hung in my office for more than two decades, original multi-colored album included. It is designed to hang on the wall with the record in a pouch for easy storage. The one-dimensional CD cover (seen when you clicked over to read the review) is merely the bottom portion of the original outside cover. When folded out, the original has a cut out of Mason in top hat at the top melting into the picture you see at the bottom. On the inside, it is the sun in sequence, top to bottom melting into a different photo of Mason in top hat with the record sitting in front of him in the pouch.

You read the review for the music and, as stated earlier, it holds up well today. Dave Mason, as a member of Traffic, delivered some bold strokes with “Feelin’ Alright”, “Hole In My Shoe”, “Utterly Simple”, “You Can Join In”, and “Vagabound Virgin” (with Jim Capaldi). Mason lasted from the inception of Traffic in 1967 until its “Last Exit” LP in 1969. In 1970, he struck out on his own with Alone Together.

The sum is better than the parts…

On Music for Obsession, they write   " I like each piece because they are like short stories from the past of Dave Mason. I think of Dave as one of those songwriters that had more to say then most because he knew how to say it well." and "...this album is one of the more underrated albums that missed the radar it is an album that makes you really go out there and seriously listen to a classic. I remember when I got first introduced to this album by an old hippie who told me this was the album that we all loved. It was not to mellow, and not to loud. It was just right and made everyone at peace. How true to listen to it today."

http://mattyoyoma.blogspot.com/2011/05/alone-and-together-with-dave-mason.html?m=1

Robert Christgau wrote that the album's music "is both complex and likable-to-catchy, with a unique light feel that begins with the way Mason doubles on acoustic and electric" (guitar). However, he criticized the lyrics, saying, "he doesn't have the poetic gift...". Dave Mason's website (http://www.davemasonmusic.com) quotes Billboard Magazine (1970) as saying, "Mason ... proves his mastery of the rock idiom once and for all" and praises the lyric content. The same site quotes Bill Shapiro of the Rock and Roll Review (1991), "Mason's 'reputation as a composer, guitarist, and singer of the first rank is both merited and in evidence here'". Last.fm (http://www.last.fm/music/Dave+Mason/Alone+Together/+wiki, 2009) states the album "holds up well today and "The sum is better than the parts…"

http://www.davemasonmusic.com/albums/alone-together Alone Together 1970 - Blue Thumb Records Alone Together was the debut solo album by Dave Mason. Performing with Mason was a roster of guest musicians, including Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett, Leon Russell, Jim Capaldi, Rita Coolidge, Carl Radle and Jim Gordon. Billboard Magazine (1970) wrote, "Mason with help from friends Jim Capaldi and Leon Russell proves his mastery of the rock idiom once and for all. The lyric content and music content of every song catches the senses of the listener and creates excitement". Bill Shapiro of the Rock and Roll Review (1991) says, Mason's "reputation as a composer, guitarist, and singer of the first rank is both merited and in evidence here".

THIS IS THE TEXT I WOULD LIKE TO INSERT Robert Christgau wrote that the album's music "is both complex and likable-to-catchy, with a unique light feel that begins with the way Mason doubles on acoustic and electric" (guitar). However, he criticized the lyrics, saying, "he doesn't have the poetic gift...". Dave Mason's website (http://www.davemasonmusic.com) quotes Billboard Magazine (1970) as saying, "Mason ... proves his mastery of the rock idiom once and for all" and praises the lyric content. The same site quotes Bill Shapiro of the Rock and Roll Review (1991), "Mason's 'reputation as a composer, guitarist, and singer of the first rank is both merited and in evidence here'". Last.fm (http://www.last.fm/music/Dave+Mason/Alone+Together/+wiki, 2009) states the album "holds up well today" and "The sum is better than the parts…"