Customer Reviews

Come & Gone

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I saw Mason Proffitt about half a dozen times or more live in concert. I became an immediate and life-long fan. Their talent as songwriters, singers and performers in my mind, was on par with yes...even the Beatles. I think translating their experience on vinyl to a broader audience proved difficult, primarily to the fact that the greater part of the midwest never fully embraced the country element of this band. What a shame! Their music may have been rooted in country tradition, but these guys were anything but southern hicks! They were intellegent, insightfull, and very dedicated song writers whose talent was most likely very underestimated. I bought all four albums they released. Mason Profitt "Wanted" (Happy Tiger) Movin' Toward Happiness (Happy Tiger, I think) Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream (Warner) and the last alubum, which I cannot recall the name...only a few of the songs: Jessie, Hobo with a guitar...You better find Jesus. One of my very favorite tunes is "Let Them Wander". This shows their vocal ability at its very best. Listen to the contrary motion in the harmonies and the emotion as this song cressendos. Fantastic! I only wish three things. 1. That all of their work would be re-released on CD. 2. That the Talbot brothers would recall their experiences and share them with us on the net. 3. The impossible...maybe...A Live Conert Reunion...I'll be first in line!!

I swear I was listening to Mason Profit before "Sweetheart of the Rodeo", the first country-rock album, but I know that can't be true. Only I and a couple of friends in the southside of Chicago had ever hear of MP, but we wore out more than one record. Why? Why does their work still register more strongly than the Byrds c-rock, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Mike Nesmith, and other early pioneers?

It was sweet, flawless, but still with a feel of spontenaity. And the range of their songs, while always in the same genre, jerked your feelings back and forth like few other artists could.

Dance to Michael Dodge. Get angry with Two Hangmen. Weep with Flying Arrow. Get spooked by Melinda.

The band had it all and should still be with us today. They're not, because they were even ahead of the other early country rockers. They had a heart and spirit that few artists can equal.

I appreciate the chief's tear.

They were out there-you just had to look.Look very hard.The tunes they wrote and played were not the establishments best friend at a turbulent time in American history.Country-yes.Folk-yes.Balladeers-yes.Troubadours led by the Talbot brothers who had a way of saying whats on the minds of the youth at the time(late 1960's) in a "from the hip,on the chin styleaThey played country when it wasn't cool.And played it well.This anthology is basically their first two albums.All the tunes are worthwhile.Michael Dodge,Buffalo,Flying Arrow,Two Hangmen,Voice of Change,-you get the picture.All ,and I mean all the songs are songs to "LISTEN" to.There are some tunes from an album they did in 1971 called "Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream" which to me is their best and would have fit beautifully in this compilation.Alss,I am not the same person I was in 1969-not many are.One thing I have never lost is an ear for great music-This ,as well as ANY Mason Proffitt recording is worth checking out.

My introduction to this album was via a progressive rock radio station in the mid 70's. The DJ played "Two Hangmen", and all though it felt somewhat dated, as 60's protest music (now called "social commentary") was sounding by then, it nonetheless fired me up so that it took hours to come down from the "natural high" it induced! Several months later, I found an old 8-track of the album in a markdown bin and bought it immediately.

I was a rock purist in those days, and had been worn out by my brother's constant replay of Simon and Garfunkel albums, so my first impressions of the rest of the album were somewhat weak. I was afraid that I had wasted a precious album buying opportunity on what we called "briar music" in my part of the USA back in those days (ie, country-western).

However, the more I listened to the tracks, the more it grew on me, until it became one of my favorite albums! I became hooked on the stories told in the songs, and on the social commentary, especially on the plight of the American Indians Flying Arrow and Buffalo. One of my best friends at the time was part-Shawnee, and his identification with these tracks told me that the somewhat popularlized terms used in Buffalo was fine with him, as the tune got the true message across. Flying Arrow, he said, accurately captured the strongly mixed feelings of many Indians.

My 8-track player ceased to exist decades ago, leaving me no way to play the 8-track copy that I still have today. Through the internet, I have learned much about Mason Profit, of which I knew nothing at the time except its wonderful music. And I also came to find the release on CD two years ago, which I purchased immediately. To my surprise, I still identify strongly with "Two Hangmen"

There are a number of other tracks on the double-album, as it is a combination reissue of two earlier single albums. Nearly all of them are remarkable in one way or another. A very nice rendition of the folk-classic "Stewball", several touching songs about love and its joys and sorrows (You've Finaly Found Your Love, Till the Sun's Gone), some very good "traveling music" (Walk on Down the Road, Its All Right, Old Joe Clark, Let Me Know Were You're Going), a good Halloween tune full of tension (Melinda) where the lyrics start out great but probably needed another verse to complete the story, a poke at country-western as it existed in the late 60's and early 70's (Hard Luck Woman), and, since the tunes were mostly written in 1968 and 1969, some very caustic and powerful anti-war soncs (A Rectangle Picture, Everbody Was Wrong). Rectangle Picture is very specific to Vietnam. Finally, evidence of John Micheal Talbot's religous search and his eventual converstion to Roman Catholicism is found in a beautiful piece Good Friend of Mary's.

On my original 8-Track, I always blamed the fact that it was an 8-Track for the sound quality, which while acceptable, was not the recording quality that this great music deserved. But, I had a ... stereo with homebuilt speakers back then, and I figured that a good stereo on a fresh album would have sounded much better. The truth is, Mason Profit suffered from less than optimal recording quality and even though the CD produces superior sound to my old cheap 8-track, the original recording quality is not as good as it should have been, even then. Old Rolling Stones tunes have somewhat better resolution. The CD needs to be remastered with digital processing, much as the "Early Years" series of Elton John's recordings have been done recently.

Still, in the end, the music is simple, no gimmicks or deep instrumentation that requires full-fidelity to gain full experience from. These are, after all, folk tunes and one find the enjoyment from the stories told. I have since read that Mason Profit formed the basis for music like played by the Eagles and Jackson Browne and Gordon Lightfoot. I tend to agree with that. Regardless, if you have one Eagles album, you should probably have this album in your collection. I also recommend it to anyone who likes Peter Paul and Mary, Bob Dylan, or (yikes!) Simon and Garfunkel...Mason Profit gets the same message across, but its not so heavy or bombastic...you have fun Mason Profit's music!

I first became familiar with the Talbot brothers as Christian musicians (John Michael's album "Brother to Brother" with Michael Card is a must-hear, and the theme reminds me somewhat of Dan Fogelberg and Tim Weisberg's "Twin Sons of Different Mothers.") The harmonies are tight and mellow, and JMT's pedal steel is perfection. (If he's not playing that axe in praise these days, the Lord is truly missing out!) I have all three of the currently available CD's and am in search of vinyl. ....Don't pass this one by!

Being stationed in Omaha, Nebraska in 1972 had at least one advantage; I was introduced to a group that had a unique style of prose and music. Their anti-war sentiments were evident with such songs as "Last Night I had the Strangest Dream" and Eugene Pratt". Their lyrics always seemed to carry a message, some very appropriate for the times we live in, such as "Black September". Their combination of country/folk/rock make them the best "unknown" group of the seventies. I am thrilled that One-Way Records is going to re-issue two of their albums: "Bareback Rider" and "Rockfish Crossing" later this year! If you are a true Mason lover, watch for them!

I first heard Mason Proffit in a ballroom in Chicago (1973). The band who warmed them up was the group who sang "Brandy." Yuuck. The crowd barely tolerated them, waiting for Mason Proffit to emerge from backstage. "Eugene Pratt" was their ovation song introduced by Terry Talbot with: "This is a song about a friend of ours and, I think, a friend of yours." "Eugene," if you don't know, is a Vietnam protest song about a draftee who decided to burn his draft card. The concert was great and echoed the feelings that the audience at that time in history held dearly. Probably more impressive at this concert was Terry's brother, John. I remember him playing the slide guitar with a calmness of spirit. Both brothers would later leave the rock-n-roll scene for the more religious sect. I've heard them in person in both genres and highly prefer the rock-n-roll approach. John Michael, (I guess you add your middle name to your act when you become "saved") dressed in his Fransican monk attire and playing only the acoustic guitar, says that he doesn't play "loud music anymore" because he's "done that." I wish he would reconsider and resurrect the old favorites like "Old Joe Pratt" and "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream." These songs (all found on "Come and Gone") and their lyrics (aren't mindless like their titles suggest) are timeless. Buy the album; you won't be dissapointed.

It all started with "Wanted". I was changed to an open-minded believer with a heart for peace and rightousness for all. I was pleasured with 3 live performances. I traveled to Missouri and Nebraska from Kansas to see them. Terry Talbot's lyrics and songs virtually changed my life in the Vietnam era, from redneck to peace loving freak. I am a 50 yr old RN now. My ear still yearns for rereleases of any productions of Mason Profit or the Talbot Brothers. For thirty years plus now I still cherrish their ever so meaningful teaching music. My hat is off to you Talbots. You opened my eyes and heart and I know Jesus was a strong hold with you also. Your music proved so. Praise God for you! I am a father of 8 and your influence has reached their lives also.

The vinyl of the original two albums was hard to find, and I thought I was lucky in 70 to find this in that format. Now on CD, that feeling returns. The lyrics are just as important today as then. The harmonies, guitars etc equally good. Two for the price of one.

As for those who reported poor CD quality, mine is fine.

In 1969 Chicago came to Western Illinois Univ and was warmed up by MP. Not many had ever heard of them and when they took the stage they looked "rough". They started to play and quit after about 30 seconds and announced that they did not like the sound system balance and to bear with them while they fixed it and also said that we would love the concert. Well the next hour or so was amazing. The entire gym rocked and I thought the bleachers were coming down. I have their vynil album "Two Hangmen" and have just about worn it out over the past 35 years. The music and voices of the Talbot brothers are something the be cherished.