Song for Me [Extra tracks, Import]

Family | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 10, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Import
• Label: Castle Essential
• ASIN: B000007P0B
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,008,515 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Drowned in Wine

2. Some Poor Soul

3. Love Is a Sleeper

4. Stop for the Traffic (Through the Heart of Me)

5. Wheels

6. Song for Sinking Lovers

7. Hey-Let It Rock

8. The Cat and the Rat

9. 93's Ok J

10. A Song for Me

11. No Mule's Fool [*]

12. Good Friend of Mine [*]

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Drowned in wine, January 8, 2003

By 

William Wood (Sydney, New South Wales Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Song for Me (Audio CD)

Simply put I regard this disc as one of the best albums ever to emerge from the space in time we now know as the 1970's .Everything about this disc is perfect, from the sleeve onwards we are invited into a world where progressive rock did not mean the Moody Blues.Like some sort of drunken,lysergic chamber group Family open the doors to perception and plug in.
The combination of Poli Palmer's vibes and Charlie Whitney's 12 string is captivating and mesmerising (try "Love is a sleeper").I know this is not as accesible as "Bandstand"( also a glorious moment in rock music) but this is the real deal.Roger Chapman sounds as though he just cannot restrain himself and decides he didn't really want to anyway!.This is Family at their most adventurous and most assured,this is the sound of young men breaking all the rules and having one hell of a time doing it.
With it's Barouqe elements it's jazzy swing and rocky excesses you know you need this disc!.

4.0 out of 5 stars CORRECT INFORMATION; DON'T GO BY AMAZON'S FOR THIS TITLE!, March 1, 2011

By 

A. N. O'Nemus (CA, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Song For Me (Audio CD)

This page is a mess; it's for the wrong album! The track listing above is NOT for "Anyway"! It is for the album "A Song for Me", and the reviews seem to refer also to "A Song for Me". Very confusing! The title at top pf page is "Anyway" (1970); it's the 1993 Castle UK remaster, as stated in the details, NOT a 1998 remaster, as stated in the entirely irrelevant "Editorial Review". It has the original eight tracks (no bonuses). Tracks: Good News Bad News; Willow Tree; Holding the Compass; Strange Band; Part of the Load; Anyway; Normans; Lives and Ladies.

This can't be corrected through Amazon's largely useless "Catalog Update Form", and contacting them does no good, so I'm posting the correct information here.

4.0 out of 5 stars Songs for Us All, May 1, 2002

By 

loce_the_wizard "loce_the_wizard" (Lilburn, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Song for Me (Audio CD)

Long-time fans of the late, great English band Family know something many other folks do not. Simply, Family was perhaps the greatest rock and roll band ever. Take this one step further, and you must conclude the Roger Chapman and Charlie Whitney were one of the greatest songwriter duos ever.

"Song for Me" was released shortly after the band's initial line up imploded when bassist Rick Grech departed for the short-lived Blind Faith and reedman and song arranger Jim King either left--or was asked to leave. Of the two defections, King's had the greatest immediate impact on the group's sound. They were replaced with two excellent additions, however, John Weider on guitar and bass and Poli Palmer on vibes, flute, keyboards, and synthesizers.

Yet because King had arranged many of the songs on this recording---the absence of his stellar sax and falsetto backing vocals lingers on many tracks, particularly on Drowned in Wine and the title cut---Palmer's flute sounds thin and out of place at times. Weider's bass lines are not as clean as Grech's and sometimes get lost in the mix. (Some of these songs, including Song for Me, are available on some of the live Family recordings from this time. It's worth listening to how much more powerful that song sounds with King compared with the studio version.)

Regardless, Family proceeds to march through another varied, eclectic set that hits every range from the slow ballad Some Poor Soul to the all-out rockers such as Love Is a Sleeper to The Cat and the Rat. The only filler here is one of the two bonus tracks, Good Friend of Mine. The other, No Mule's Fool, remains to this day one of lead singer Chapman's favorites.

Whitney tears up the guitar on the rockers and lulls you into a peaceful, contemplative state on the soft numbers. Rob Townsend, the other stalwart member of the group, provides an excellent foundation for the group's sound with his crisp, powerful drumming. Chapman shines on this recording, hitting full power on the rockers and imbuing the softer tracks with raw emotion.

I would not recommend "Song for Me" as the gateway recording for those new to Family. It is essential listening but seems less accessible than "Fearless," "Bandstand," "Entertainment," or even "Music from a Doll's House." Instead, those new to Family might first listen to any of those four CDs. Regardless, once you start understanding why the critics and European audiences loved Family, you won't stop until you've added all their recordings to your collection. And most of your other early '70s recordings will likely collect dust for a couple of years as you savor the music of Family.