Spectrum (Billy Cobham album)
| Spectrum | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Billy Cobham | ||||
| Released | October 1, 1973 | |||
| Recorded | May 14–May 16, 1973 at Electric Lady Studios, New York City | |||
| Genre | Jazz fusion | |||
| Length | 37:17 | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Producer | Billy Cobham | |||
| Billy Cobham chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [1] |
| Robert Christgau | C+[2] |
| Sputnikmusic |  [3] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [4] |
Spectrum is the debut album by jazz fusion drummer Billy Cobham. The album contains much influence of the music of Miles Davis and Mahavishnu Orchestra, with whom Cobham had previously collaborated extensively.
Ken Scott, producer and engineer of Spectrum, on recording Cobham's drums: "Bill Cobham's drums were treated in exactly the same way as I recorded every other drummer. I just used more mics: Neumann U67s on toms, D20s or RE20s (at Electric Lady) on the bass drums, Neumann KM54 or 56 on snare, and either STC 4038s or Beyer M160 ribbon mics for the overheads. One other thing: in order to dampen the snare, Bill just laid his wallet on the top head."
Leland Sklar, bassist on Spectrum: "Spectrum is such a benchmark for so many people. There was a sort of fire in it. It was new ground and it wasn't very analytical. It was more flying by the seat of your pants. That's where great accidents happen, which seems impossible these days. We never did more than a couple of takes on any of it. It was more or less a two-day record. It went by so fast." [5]
Tommy Bolin, who would go on to join the hard rock band Deep Purple two years later, plays lead guitar.[6]
The song "Stratus" appears in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV of the radio station "Fusion FM", as well as being the main sample in the Massive Attack hit "Safe from Harm".
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Billy Cobham.
- "Quadrant 4" – 4:20
- "Searching for the Right Door" – 1:19 / "Spectrum" – 5:07
- "Anxiety" – 1:41 / "Taurian Matador" – 3:03
- "Stratus" – 9:48
- "To the Women in My Life" – 0:51 / "Le Lis" – 3:20
- "Snoopy's Search" – 1:02 / "Red Baron" – 6:37
Personnel
- Billy Cobham - Drums (1-6) & Drums, Electronics (solos on Anxiety)
- Tommy Bolin - Guitar (Quadrant 4, Taurian Matador, Stratus, Red Baron)
- Jan Hammer - Electric piano, Moog synthesizer, Acoustic piano (not on Spectrum) (Quadrant 4, Spectrum, Taurian Matador, Stratus, Le Lis, Red Baron)
- Lee Sklar - Bass guitar (Quadrant 4, Taurian Matador, Stratus, Red Baron)
- Joe Farrell - Soprano sax, Flute (Spectrum) & Alto sax (Le Lis)
- Jimmy Owens - Flugelhorn (Spectrum, Le Lis) & Trumpet (Le Lis)
- John Tropea - Guitar (Red Baron)
- Ron Carter - Acoustic bass (Spectrum, Le Lis)
- Ray Barretto - Congas (Spectrum, Le Lis)
- Ken Scott - Recording and re-mix engineer
Chart performance
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Billboard 200 | 26[7] |
| 1973 | Billboard Jazz Albums | 1[7] |
References
- ↑ Yanow, Scott. Spectrum at AllMusic
- ↑ Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau: CG: Billy Cobham". Retrieved October 7, 2013.
- ↑ Campbell, Hernan M. (1 April 2012). "Review: Billy Cobham - Spectrum | Sputnikmusic". sputnikmusic.com. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ↑ Swenson, J. (Editor) (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 42. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
- ↑ Scott, Ken, Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust, p. 207-208
- ↑ http://www.hit-channel.com/interviewbilly-cobham-solomahavishnu-orchestramiles-davis/56775
- 1 2 "Spectrum - Billy Cobham | Awards | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 27 October 2013.