Customer Reviews

Closer to the Ground

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if you missed Joy of Cookings 2 albums and Zepher from the same time period, you missed some of the very best music of the late 60's early 70's. These are necessary to add to your collection. I was thrilled to see these remastered and released on CD. What a treat

When my vinyl copy of CttG finally wore out, I was really bummed to discover that Capitol Records only saw fit to release a random collection off of all three of Joy of Cooking's albums with American Originals. Finally, the producers at Acadia have preserved a really great slice of music from the early '70s. Listening to the album again after so many years, it was really a rush to hear songs left off the AO CD, such as Blues for a Friend, A Thousand Miles and Sometimes Like a River. This album of the three JOC put together I liked the best, but all of their music is classic (folk) rock. Their rereleased CDs are all going on the same shelf as my Ten Years After, John Mayall, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Hendrix and Albert King CDs among the other greats of the era. I'd highly recommend turning on the lava lamp, dabbing a splash of patchouli and giving in to the Joy.

Toni Brown, Terry Garthwaite....

Before Heart was a dream in those girls eyes, these two women were rocking it hard, but with feeling. I heard this on vinyl when I was the tender young age of 13 ( circa 1971 ) and besides thinking Toni Brown was totally hot, the music really hit me, with lines like "No use looking to the other side, when your living right down here."

Closer to the Ground ( title track ) Hard growly vocals, great driving bass line, edgy lyrics.

New Colorado Blues, plaintive yet hopeful with a great melody.

Closer to the ground, if fact all of "Joy of Cooking" should be in your music collection if you want to have a clue about the SF music scene in the late 60's.

Pick this plumb while you can.

So I first had this in the very early seventies, and am really pleaed to reaquire them and realize how those jazzy ladies' music has just worn so well. They're great!

This is one of my all time favorite albums. Wonderful lyrics, vocals and instrumental work.

Like previous reviewers, I pretty much wore out my vinyl copy of this wonderful album long ago, and then had to wait too many years for it to be released on CD at last. Well, it was worth the wait! As good & rich as their debut album was, the Joy of Cooking upped their game considerably with this second release, laying down funkier grooves & singing with enough passion & tenderness & longing to tear out anyone's soul. As before, Toni brings the folkier element to the album (though she can get into the rhythm like nobody's business when she wants), while Terry brings her bluesy, jazzy side, all sass & broken-hearted aching; and as before, they blend to perfection.

It made a difference that they were a bit older than the usual musicians of the day, with more time & experience behind them. These were women, not girls, and they'd lived enough to gain a fair amount of hard-won wisdom. That shows in their work. When they sing about loss or regret, you can feel it because they've been through it; and even their songs of unabashed love are colored by a certain melancholy that comes from having lost a few youthful illusions along the way. This is a band that never truly got its due -- it's about time they were finally recognized for being as good as they were -- most highly recommended!

Back in the early to mid 70's, I about wore-out my vinyl LP of CLOSER TO THE GROUND; to say the least, it got pretty scratched up. Yes, I really loved this record then. Why Joy of Cooking did not become more well known, let alone famous, has always been a mystery to me. The two lead singers and writers are women whose voices, though a study in contrasts, harmonize beautifully. The group had that kind of mellow, woodsy country-folk-rock sound that was fairly popular at the time; but Joy of Cooking was anything but ordinary: they were masters of their genre, true craftsmen (women) who could write both hauntingly beautiful lyrics and melodies as well as more up-tempo, almost jazzy stuff. Their songs seemed to gain richness and depth with repeated listens. Now that this great album is available on CD, there is no way I could not again include CLOSER TO THE GROUND in my music collection, and this time, the sound is flawless; and yes, I still love it.

The Joy of Cooking's music sounds fresh and refreshing -- remarkable given that it was originally published in the early 1970s. Toni Brown is a great songwriter, producing sophisticated lyrics to accompany her music, which draws on folk, country, jazz and rock. Terri Garthwaite is a fantastic singer, with the emotional strength and capacity of great blues and gospel performers. The band itself plays the tunes in a driven manner. "Thousand Miles," "Closer to the Ground," and other songs are particularly effective, and easily could be hit singles today.

I was an original fan who was lucky enough to see "The Joy" play at Carnegie Hall, Cambridge and San Francisco. Replaying all their albums I am delighted in a new way with Toni Brown's beyond description keyboarding and Terry Garthwaite's complimentary guitar work.