Customer Reviews

Headkeeper

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

 

 

I DISAGREE WITH THE OTHER REVIEW. THE LIVE STUFF ON THIS CD IS TOP NOTCH. TE VERSION OF WORLD IN CHANGES MAKES ALONE TOGHETHER SOUND LIKE DEMO's. THE STUDIO TRAX ARE THE ICING BUT THE LIVE STUFF IS THE CAKE. TOTALLY RECOMENDED.. HIS BAND ON THIS RECORD IS TO DIE FOR!

I love the combination of live and studio material on this one. Yes, it seems as if Dave may have preferred to wait and add more live tracks to this album, adding the studio stuff to "It's Like you Never Left." However, "Headkeeper" on the latter is a completely different version from the one found here. This version is all Dave on vocals, with no harmonizing on the chorus, and it features a fabulously spacey ending. I can't pick a favorite, I just love them both equally. "Here We go Again" is a shorter version of "Silent Partner" without the moog bass, unfortunately, but again the two complement each other well. The HIGHlight, of course, is the live material, and I agree with the previous reviewer that "World in Changes" is becoming my favorite live number by far. Also, any album with "Pearly Queen" in concert goes straight to the top of my list. Buy it for the live stuff, appreciate the studio stuff, but make sure to add it to any collection!

I think this is one of the best albums ever made. I got it while I was in high school and the album sits in my living room on this very day (January, 2002!).

My favorite song is Headkeeper, I'm surprised no one ever covered it, If someone did, I would love too hear it.

The songs are good, the guitar playing is fantastic, Dave Mason has always had a destinctive voice. I think Dave Mason never got the credit he is due.

All in all, it is a great album you never get tired of listening to.

It's well known that Mason didn't want this album put out. And it carries clear signs of its "unauthorized" status -- it's a messy, confusing package, half-studio & half-live, with one song (in a different version) repeated from the DAVE MASON / CASS ELLIOT album, and another song Mason didn't write (Pearly Queen) carelessly overlooked under an "all songs by" credit.

So it's ironic that this just might be the best Mason album there is! ALONE TOGETHER may have held that distinction at first. But HEADKEEPER's live versions of 3 A.T. songs blow the originals out of the water. The spare, acoustic solo performance of "Can't Stop Worrying, Can't Stop Loving" heard here, for example, makes the undistinguished full-band studio version instantly obsolete. And the live version of "World In Changes" is one of the best pieces of early '70s rock, period. The studio side, while not quite as memorable, still showcases Mason as an excellent songcrafter. And why did he feel the need to remake the title track on a later album (without that awesome extended ending, no less)? It was perfect the first time!

Dave Mason said his songwriting tried to tap the sub-concious in an interview years ago. "Alone Together", his first record was printed on pyschedelic vinyl with an art-deco album cover with a creative cut. It's a collector's item. Before that, Traffic, a super-group that split three ways: Stevie Winwood went to Blind Faith; Dave Mason went solo; and Jim Capaldi went to jazz (Mark/Almond band?). I caught Dave Mason, live, in the 70's at U.C. Riverside, and he played a set similar to the one on this record. Dave also plays on Jimi Hendrix's "Electric Ladyland", probably the best classic rock album of all time. Dave Mason peaked with "Headkeeper"; it's an album I've enjoyed for decades. It's relaxing, inspiring, and whimsical, all at the same time. I love the organ player, the drummer, and Mason's guitar wails. The provocative lyrics flow like a master poet or novelist on top of the melody and conga beat. Dave Mason's music took a nosedive after this album. Drugs? Drink? Who knows? If he tours Southern California again I'll try to catch him. I find all I need in this album...just a song. Thanks to Dave Mason for making the journey of my life a little better.

This is one of the greatest of all classic rock albums. The music is very very good, the vocals, the lyrics, all of it.

HOW MANY dang 'ol versions of Feelin Alright do we hear on the radio and elsewhere? But this is THE ONE. I swear this one beats em all. 1/2 because of the piano solo, and half because of everything else about it.

I still dont have this on CD yet, but I've got it on vinyl and I love it.

I highly recommend it.

Yes, Dave Mason's "Headkeeper" is half live and half studio, which gives it the feel of a product that was rushed out. But at least four of the five studio track are among his best songs and the live stuff isn't too bad. Mason as a solo artist shows much more of a folkie side than he ever did with the groundbreaking band Traffic. His folk songwriting may not put him in a league with James Taylor, but it better than most and for that it is worth a listen.

This is a masterpice of rock music. Maybe Dave Mason's best melodies are in this album, not to mention the quality of his musicians. You don't see people like him any longer. Thanks, Maestro!!

This album's release in 1972 was done over Dave Mason's objections; he complained that it was incomplete, as only five studio tracks appear here. It ticked him off enough that he left Blue Thumb (who originally put this album out) for Columbia. Well, he's partly right; the live cuts that make up the remainder of the album are pretty slipshod, featuring two perfunctory re-makes from his days with Traffic and the remaining three from his first solo album, ALONE TOGETHER, which have nowhere near the omph of their studio counterparts. But HEADKEEPER's studio side is pretty darn good, particularly the mysterious title cut and the country-tinged "A Heartache, A Shadow, A Lifetime." The latter features Graham Nash doing some gorgeous high harmony behind Mister Dave. Not his best, but not his worst either. That came later in his career.

Yes, it's a very good album with some fine songs. I'd just like to direct potential listeners to the unsung hero of this recording: drummer Dr Rick Jaeger. The extremely funky and loose-limbed percussionist has my vote as one of the greatest back-up musicians plying his trade at the time the album was made. Hats off to The Doctor.