Cargoe (Jpn Lp Sleeve) [Import]

Cargoe | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 20, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Jvc Japan
• ASIN: B000091KZO
• Also Available in: Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #885,467 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Come Down

2. Feel Alright

3. Horses and Silver Things

4. Scenes

5. Things We Dream Today

6. Time

7. Feelin' Mighty Poorly

8. Thousand Peoples Song

9. Heal Me

10. I Love You Anyway

11. Leave Today

12. Tokyo Love [*]

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lost Treasure Found!, August 6, 2004

By 

fgutch (Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cargoe (Jpn Lp Sleeve) (Audio CD)

The gods must be Japanese. I discovered Cargoe in 1972 only to see them shortly thereafter sucked into a legal and business black hole of epic proportions. Unlike power pop icons Big Star (labelmates at Ardent Records), no one sang Cargoe's praises nor did collectors swarm swap meets and used record stores in search for their one superb album. No phoenix rising from the ashes here, I thought. Luckily, I was wrong.

The musical gods evidently have a way of correcting such wrongs. In 2003, that lost album surfaced as part of a Stax series put together by JVC-Japan, and what a treasure it is! From the collage which opens the CD on "Come Down" to the raucous and rocking "Tokyo Love", Cargoe takes you through musical paces few could reach. Most accessible are "Feel Alright", the band's one close-to-pop offering (though I hear it as more of a punchy rocker with hooks) and the beautiful and flowing "I Love You Anyway", a rock ballad of the first water. "Time" and "Leave Today" are anchors, longer tunes broken up into segments by musicians talented beyond their twenty-something years. "Introduction (This Is Real)" leads into a strange, laid back rocker ("Feelin' Mighty Poorly") which segues into "Thousand Peoples Song", which... I tell you, this is a production masterpiece. A place for every song and every song in its place, as an old friend once said.

Two things. First, since the re-release of this on CD and the release of the band's "Live In Memphis" CD, critics have attempted comparisons to Big Star. Cargoe is, indeed, not Big Star nor did they attempt to be. Nowhere on this or the live LP do I hear even an attempt at power pop. This is excellent structured rock, much beyond the depth of the pop sound of Big Star, and no apologies because I love Big Star too. Second, the depth of the music in this CD may take a number of listens to really appreciate. Do not be disheartened. If your mind is open and you really listen, Cargoe will take you to depths very few have reached. You might even get to the point I reached years ago: The point at which an equalizer becomes a necessary part of your system, just to hear more clearly what's in the grooves.

Because of the trade on the dollar, this is a bit expensive. You may ask, is it worth it? If you love music, my answer is, hands down!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best Live Band in Memphis at the time.., September 13, 2008

By 

Peter Walker (Hollywood, CA. USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cargoe (Jpn Lp Sleeve) (Audio CD)

Knows as the Best Live Band in Memphis at the time, this is a very early Terry Manning venture which sounds even better after being remastered for CD. A unique band for the time with songs that take a bit of listening to fully appreciate. But after hearing the CD a few times, they get stuck in your head and you find yourself wanting to listen to it again. The lyrics are positive, multi-meaning, and mystical at the same time. The "Live In Memphis" CD recently released on the "Lucky 7" lable is probably the only other recording of the band from that time, and worth a listen if just to appreciate the Live "edgy" feel the band was famous for.

5.0 out of 5 stars A sweet Cargoe, July 5, 2011

By 

Ange Tsibo (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cargoe (Jpn Lp Sleeve) (Audio CD)

In light of the exulted position Big Star generally occupy in today's rock music pantheon, it's almost impossible to imagine a time when any other group on the Ardent Records roster might have been considered `the band most likely to make it'. But when Feel Alright became a medium-sized radio hit across the U.S. in 1972, Cargoe certainly looked like becoming the next-big-thing that Terry Manning and John Fry were praying for to boost Ardent's ailing fortunes. The same financial and distribution problems which thwarted Big Star's initial shot at success also put paid to their Tulsa-formed label mates, but while the former have become oft-cited legends since their demise, Cargoe have slipped into an almost complete yet sadly undeserved obscurity.

Their self-titled debut album, still only available on CD as a horrendously expensive Japanese import, is a sweet slice of late 60s - early 70s country-tinged rock. Often lumped into Big Star's early-power pop basket, in reality Cargoe's sound was much closer to the rock/soul of Delaney and Bonnie or the country strut of The Allman Brothers, replete with exquisite four-part harmonies and musicianship, in particular Tommy Richards' magical lead guitar and Bill Phillips' artful keyboards. All four members of the band contributed songs, ranging from the triumphant pop/rock of 'Feel Alright' and 'Scenes', to the slow and wistful 'I Love You Anyway', or the funky bounce of 'Things We Dream Today' and 'Time'.

To this day Terry Manning often mentions this album as one of his favourite musical projects; we can only hope that with time more people will have a chance to hear this neglected Ardent gem without having their credit cards spontaneously combust.

(Cargoe news - The reformed version of the band have recently released a new album! Good luck guys; i'm sure there are a lot more very happy fans out there.)