Arrival - Friends – Complete Recordings 1969-1973

Although their career was fairly short-lived and they are nowhere near as well-known as they should be, over the course of five years, Arrival released a couple of really strong albums and had two hit singles in the UK.  Originally a five-piece vocal group from Liverpool known as The Excelles, the band went through some membership changes, moved to London, added three musicians (Tony O’Malley on keys and vocals, Don Hume on bass and Lloyd Courtenay on drums), to what was before then just four vocalists (Dyan Birch, Carroll Carter, Frank Collins and Paddy McHugh) and then released their eponymous debut album.

Opening up their debut on disc one is “Live”, a tune with a bit of a bounce, bursting with great choral vocals, really cool organ fills throughout and punctuated with some horns.  Next up are a couple of covers with “Light My Fire”, which in their hands is slower and more soulful and their biggest hit, Terry Reid’s “Friends” (hit number eight on UK charts), a very strong song with top-notch vocals and harmonies, beautiful string arrangements and solid piano.  The diversity of the release really kicks in over the next few songs.  “No Good Advice” is a 50’s sounding throwback with the quirky, squeak of Carroll Carter’s vocals adding to the charm, while “See The Lord” is a straight-up gospel tune and “Sit Down And Float” moves in a jazzier direction with a bit of a Fifth Dimension vibe and some really strong organ work throughout.  Among the other highlights are “Prove It”, a powerful tune, originally recorded by Aretha Franklin, with a bit of a soul groove that really showcases the strong vocals and has a great string arrangement, “Not Right Now”, a stripped-down folk tune kind of reminiscent of Fairport Convention and “Hard Road”, a bluesy rocker with some good honky tonk piano and more solid string arrangements. Closing out the first disc are five bonus cuts starting off with the band’s other hit single “I Will Survive”.  Unfortunately for me, even though it hit number sixteen on the UK charts, this track is a little too over the top with its big production, choral vocals and strings.  Next up is “Jun (So In Love)”, a really catchy, early 70’s sounding pop tune that was originally only released as a single in Japan and the powerful “Be You”, a slow burning soulful, blues track with some stellar piano work.  The last two bonus tracks are covers of Leonard Cohen’s “Hey That’s No Way To Say Goodbye” and Melanie’s “Lay Down”, the latter of which not only showcases their harmonies, but also gives them all a chance to shine individually. 

With the less than stellar sales of their debut the band went through quite a few changes for their second album including a label change and vocalist Carroll Carter leaving the band along with both members of the rhythm section who were replaced with a new bassist and drummer along with a guitarist.  For the most part. the resulting sophomore effort (also self-titled) didn’t stray too far from the sound of the debut, but at times found them shifting it somewhat.  Opening up the disc is “Glory Be”, a powerful gospel tune that, while having a strong piano accompaniment throughout, also gives the first real sign of the change in their sound with the presence of a guitarist.  “So It Is Written” is a gorgeous ballad that really highlights the strength of Birch’s vocals, while “Not Gonna Worry” is an upbeat bluesy rocker. ”You, Love And Me” is an interesting cut that’s primarily moody keys and strings meshing with vocal harmonies, and brings us to the song that to me is the highlight of the band’s career.  Originally recorded by Patti Austin, “Family Tree” is a powerful bluesy tune that gets it all right, with a stellar vocals from Birch, that shows just how incredible a vocalist she was.  Next up are a “Part Of My Dream” and “Not Preconceived”, a couple of songs that find them delving into folk again, with the first one reminiscent of Fairport Convention and that second doing some interesting things instrumentally with the addition of flute and what sounds like bongos for percussion.  “Have A Drink On Your Father” finds the band delving in a more country direction with some rollicking piano throughout along with some slide guitar, while “Understanding” is a bluesy barnstormer of a track clocking in at just over seven and a half minutes.  Closing out the album is the slower soulful “Weary Sad, Weary Down”.   In between their two albums, and after the departure of three members, the band released a single as a four-piece, which comprises the first two of five bonus tracks on the second disc.  “(Let My Life Be Your) Love” is a great Jimmy Webb cover once again showcasing Birch’s powerful vocals alongside outstanding harmonies and strings, while the flipside “Out of Desperation” is an interesting change for them with its funky beat and more of a dance groove.  Next up are couple more single tracks with their cover of the theme to the Neil Simon movie The Heartbreak Kid, which is a nice pop tune with a little country flavored guitar work, but not really anything special and “Sweet Summer”, a really good song with a laid-back psychedelic vibe.  The last bonus cut is a solid cover of Stevie Wonder’s “He’s Misstra Know-It-All”. 

The third disc in the box set is a real treat with eleven previously unreleased tracks recorded for the BBC in 1969 and 1970.  While the studio versions of most of these songs can be found here, there are two covers that only appear on this disc in great versions of “I Knew What You Were Up To” (originally recorded by Dionne Warwick) and “World Of Darkness” (originally recorded by David Ruffin).  It is also interesting to hear these rawer versions and really hear just how good this band was. Rounding things out is a twenty page booklet detailing the band’s history along with pics of memorabilia making this a box set and band well worth discovering. 

(Strawberry)