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Release - Henry Gross (Vinyl LP Record)

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RELEASE by Henry Gross contains his most successful single, "Shannon," which peaked at #6 in the U.S. in 1976. It pays tribute to Beach Boy Carl Wilson's dog. Gross was visiting Carl's home when he learned that Shannon, Wilson's Irish Setter had recently been hit by a car and killed. This moved Henry, who also owned a Setter with the same name.

Back at his NYC apartment, Henry was hanging with his pooch while an Environments disc called "The Ultimate Seashore" played in the background. He thought of Carl's lost dog, and this moment of reverie was inspiration for a hit record that took less than ten minutes to compose. The song's refrain:

Shannon is gone
I hope she's drifting out to sea
She always loved to swim away
Maybe she'll find an island
With a shady tree
Just like the one in our backyard

Although that track is most famous and its follow-up single "Springtime Mama" reached #36 on Billboard, Henry's finest composition just may be the hauntingly beautiful "Overton Square" (Side One, #3 on this set). Henry sings here in a most striking falsetto above a sweet, gently introspective non-chorded guitar counterpoint. His mellow voice on this track ranges so very high in places you absolutely won't believe it. This is a totally forgotten pop masterpiece!

A word about the LP itself.
A rather thin gatefold cover, very glossy, opens to a photo of Henry atop a stool, wearing slim jeans and a jeans jacket. He smiles at the camera with those entrancing teal-colored eyes and a mass of thick chestnut hair that is alas, like Shannon, now lost with the passage of decades.

"Release" is available on CD as part of a British album two-fer, along with its follow-up, SHOW ME TO THE STAGE, from 1977.

ALBUM PLAYLIST--
SIDE ONE:
Juke Box Song
Lincoln Road
Overton Square
Springtime Mama
Moonshine Alley

SIDE TWO:
Shannon
One Last Time
Something In Between
Someday
Pokey