I Remember

Description

I Remember is the full-length debut album by the American rockabilly/doo-wop group Little Bobby Emmons and the Crosstones, independently released on Larry Norman‘s label Phydeaux Records in 1980. The album was recorded at Emmaus Sound Studio in Point Pleasant, New Jersey; during June 1979, and was produced and arranged by band members Bob Emmons and Fred Pope. Three of the songs were later remixed by Mark Heard in Los Angeles.

Fifties nostalgia is alive and well on this retrospective all-original mix of righteous doo-wop, Grease, and Happy Days from two girls and three guys in blue button-down sweaters singing about that «Malt Shop In The Sky». Obviously not deep theology and I’ll admit there’s an oddity in hearing praise and evangelistic lyrics on top of she-bops, dum dum da ditties, and bom ba ba boms, but enjoy it for what it is plain old irresistible well-done fun, executively produced by Larry Norman and released on his private label. Liner says they made several appearances on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand.

LP tracklist:

Side One
A1. “Malt Shop in the Sky” – 1:35
A2. “Oh Jesus” – 1:58
A3. “You” – 2:07
A4. “I Remember” – 2:13
A5. “Sometimes I Run” – 2:24
A6. “Doreen” – 2:25

Side Two
B1. “We’re Gonna Rock” – 1:34
B2. “I’m So Thankful” – 1:55
B3. “If God Didn’t Care” – 2:18
B4. “I Love You” – 2:19
B5. “The Lord” – 2:40
B6. “What Are You Doing” – 2:07
B7. “I Saw You” – 3:29

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The ‘I Remember’ album was recorded in the month of June, 1979. The Last Generation opened up two concerts for artist/producer Larry Norman in ’77 and ’78. Larry loved the group but not the name. So…when Bobby Emmons went out to California in 1978, Larry asked the band to change its name to the Crosstones…and the rest they say is history.

Bobby Emmons and Fred Pope wrote the opening track, «Malt Shop In The Sky», together. Fred has stated that “Bobby came to me with this song. He was stuck on the middle section. He said that he wanted to use a lot of falsetto and a lot of bass in the bridge, so I said why not use those actual words as the bridge. And it worked!” Usually when Bobby and Fred wrote together Bobby came up with the melody and Fred wrote the majority of the lyrics (ie «If God Didn’t Care»). But on «Malt Shop In The Sky» it was the opposite. Bobby has stated that “I wasn’t crazy about the melody that I had for the verses but I really liked the words. So when I asked to Fred to help out with the lyrics to the bridge I also asked him for help with the melody. What we came up with together worked great. It was the perfect opening song.” Larry Norman and Bobby wrote two songs together for this project, «I Saw You» and «You». The remaining songs were written individually by Bobby or Fred.

Vocally, the group at this point consisted of Bobby Emmons, Fred Pope, Terri DeLorenzo, Mary Grace Shar and Josh Shar. Additional musicians included Tom Pope, Mike Nicolose, Peggy Andreev and Richie Malfitano. Tom and Mike were a major part of the group at this time and performed with the band regularly.

‘I Remember’ was also the first time that the band had recorded together in a real recording studio. The tracks were recorded and mixed at Emmaus Sound in Point Pleasant, New Jersey with Joe Saint and Jimmy Scott engineering. Three of the songs, «What Are You Doing», «I Remember» and «Sometimes I Run» were later remixed by Mark Heard in Los Angeles. [Excerpt from thecrosstones.com]