Pass It Around

Donavon Frankenreiter

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 19, 2008)
• Original Release Date: August 19, 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Lost Highway
• ASIN: B001C4801O
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,780 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

From the Artist

"I learned a lot. I learned that it's not all about me, but it's about coming together and creating the songs together. I learned that I could let go a little. Let somebody else control the production. For me it was a comfortable place to be. I feel like I had to go through what I was going through in order to get to where I am today."

"I had an amazing experience with Grant Lee Phillips. I had a verse of a song and I had no lyrics for and couldn't find a chorus. So we worked on it together, found a chorus and then let it go for awhile. When he sent it back to me, I was blown away."

"A lot of people in this day and age just want to you to come to their house and use Pro-Tools because it will save thousands of dollars. But it's about the experience. That's what I want to feel. I want to touch the walls there. I want to sing into the microphones there. That's what recording is all about, being in those places where people have been before."

Product Description

On Pass It Around, Donavon collaborates and injects new sounds in ways he had not attempted prior. "I definitely had a lot of ideas and it was fun putting trust in other people."

One of those people was producer Joe Chiccarelli, who aside from being a multiple Grammy Award-winner, has worked with everyone from Frank Zappa to The Raconteurs to My Morning Jacket. Donavon also enlisted some of his dearest musician friends including, Ben Harper on the title track, and Philadelphia's most famous surfer G. Love, who adds harmonica on "Sing a Song."

Collaborators can bring out a side of their creative partner that had previously been untapped. This was the case with Grant Lee Phillips and Frankenreiter on the track, "Mansions On The Sand."

If there is one song on Pass It Around that is snapshot of Donavon's organic and non-contrived lifestyle, it is the opening track, "Life, Love and Laughter." "Don't look back it won't do any good/Don't look ahead you'll be misunderstood/Everything you need could be right in front of you." For Donavon that maybe packing up his family and going to a far flung destination or he could be lazing with them at home in Laguna Beach, as long as there's love in the room, he's there.

With some old buddies, new compatriots and a new M.O., Donavon Frankenreiter is more than pleased with the music they made together. He concludes, "I feel this is the best body of work I've done. This is where I am now and where I've come from."

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Old is New Again, November 18, 2008

By	M. Seyfried "M. Seyfried" (Las Vegas, NV) - See all my reviews

I enjoy listening to Donavon Frankenreiter for his laid back Jack Johnson clone style. Of the massive collection of Frankenreiter's library this album caught my immediate attention. The difference of "typical" DF material infused with late 1960's-70's tunes is genius. My brain was kick started and zoned into detail to lyrics, style, arrangements, influence and reason. Creatively and stylistically this is a successful departure from the norm. The album cover alone reminds me of wacky and loveable Joe Walsh. Listen closely. You will no doubt hear classic rock influence, disco, flamenco and some of the greatest singer-song writers of our time. Fleetwood Mac, Eagles, Jim Croce, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, Joe Walsh, Jimmy Buffet, CCR and other masters of southern rock are mixed in each track, without losing the laid back beach sound associated with Frankenreiter. For those of you who may be to young to know these masters of music, do your research. Donavon Frankenreiter has brought back a time period long on the endangered species list. By breathing new life into his style, DF's unpredictability and risk taking steal my vote for one of the best albums of 2008.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars KICK BACK, RELAX, AND ENJOY........., August 19, 2008

By	SugarGirl (Ohio) - See all my reviews

.....Because Donovan will take you far, far away as you are enveloped in his smooth melodies and lyrics.....thoughtful lyrics that you can relate to, and lyrics that will just make you smile and feel good. I can see myself sitting at the beach watching the waves rolling in, listening to his amazing new release and just getting lost in it. Heck, I can almost even see him on his surfboard singing to me as he glides through the water! Especially like Life, Love & Laughter, Come With Me, and Pass It Around. Your Heart has also grown on me, with it's Latin flavor. Just an all around great album...don't miss this one!!!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Evolution of Donavon, August 19, 2008

By	Rejane Thayer "Rejanester" - See all my reviews

Donavon Frankenreiter, a renowned surfer turned musician, who is hands down as talented on a guitar and mic., as he is on a surfboard, but Donavon's great acoustic styling's and mellow harmonies have always resembled the sounds of his great Friend Jack Johnson. In the making of this album Donavon took the experiences and wisdom gained along the way and evolved as an artist, Donavon put his heart and soul in creating and co-writing this album, in the quest of finding his musical identity. Not taking away his signature sounds of acoustic and electric elements of funky & fresh beats along with honest lyrics of his past recordings, but growing from it and introducing a new approach of delivering it; which in result, is an album filled with soulful melodies, uplifting grooves and some lessons for life.
Donavon's signature raspy & mellow voice always so full of passion, you can clearly see and feel his love for music. The talent and relationship with in the members of the band harmonizes every song perfectly. From the punchy mariachi horns of "Your Heart" to the pop sensibilities of "Life, Love & Laughter" to the laid-back funk of "Hit the Ground Running" and "Too Much Water"
Donavon's newfound musical confidence in "Pass it Around" finally breaks away the Jack Johnson redundancy, which has followed his music for the last two albums and introduces us to Donavon's newfound identity. Pass It Around is a testament to Frankenreiter's continuing evolution as an artist.