A Band for All Seasons

Description

A Band for All Seasons is the sole album by the British folk-rock/pop group Brightwinter, released in the UK on Myrrh Records in 1975, a division of Word. The album was produced and recorded by John Pantry at Grosvenor Studios in Birmingham and TPA Studios in London, England. Orchestrated by Noël Tredinnick.

Brightwinter features five members: Maureen “Mo” McCafferty, later known as Mo Turner, married to the British author/poet Steve Turner (McCafferty would join Nutshell together with Annie McCaig in early 1978 to replace original members Heather Barlow and Pam Thiele); Mo Brown of Reflection fame; Gordon Miller of Reflection fame (Miller would produce Nutshell’s debut album, In Your Eyes, and Out of the Wilderness by Canaan, among others); Chris Fendick (who produced Andy McCarroll’s debut album, Through Different Eyes Now); and Alan Forrest.

This three-guy two-girl British group opens their album with a delightful brisk folk-rock/pop tune «We Can Be Together». «High On Jesus» also has a lively folk-rock vibe helped along by saxophone. Other songs sometimes bring to mind the string-orchestrated piano soft-rock sounds of Nutshell – not too surprising since member Maureen McCafferty would later go on to join that group. Pop/MOR vibe to a lot of the tracks, although fuzz guitar tries to give a lift to a few like «You Won’t Laugh» and «More Light & Truth». Includes covers of «Jesus Is My Kind Of People» and «I Knew Jesus Before He Was A Superstar» before closing with a version of The Strawbs’ «Benedictus». Some mandolin and mellotron in here. Produced by John Pantry. [Ken Scott, The Archivist, 4th edition]

LP tracklist:

Side One
A1. “We Can Be Together” – 3:52
A2. “Seed Of Hope” – 3:26
A3. “Small People (Zacchaeus)” – 4:10
A4. “Free At Last” – 4:22
A5. “Jesus Is My Kind Of People” – 3:26
A6. “You Won’t Laugh” – 1:54

Side Two
B1. “More Light & Truth” – 3:57
B2. “You’ll Start Falling In Love” – 4:32
B3. “I Knew Jesus Before He Was A Superstar” – 2:43
B4. “Lord When I’m Low” – 3:07
B5. “High On Jesus” – 3:39
B6. “Benedictus” – 3:43

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CREDITS. Produced and engineered by John Pantry. Orchestrated by Noël Tredinnick. Recorded at Grosvenor Studios, Birmingham and TPA Studios, London. Mastered by George Peckham at The Master Room, London. Photography by John Leigh. Graphics by RC Design Studios.

Musicians: Brightwinter – Maureen McCafferty (Vocals, Piano, Organ, Celesta), Mo Brown (Vocals, Spoons), Chris Fendick (Vocals, Guitar), Alan Forrest (Vocals, Bass, Percussion), Gordon Miller (Vocals, Guitar, Piano, Mandolin, Synthesizer, Mellotron, Percussion). Session Musicians – Cliff Hall (Piano), Albie Donnelly (Saxophone), Mo Witham (Guitar), Alan Tarney (Bass), Trevor Spencer (Drums).