Tag Archives: John Tropea

Laura Nyro: Smile

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In February 1976, “Columbia” label released “Smile”, the sixth Laura Nyro album. It was recorded in 1975, at “CBS 30th Street Studio” in New York City, and was produced by Laura Nyro and Charlie Calello.

Personnel:

  • Laura Nyro – vocals, piano, guitar, wood block
  • John Tropea, Hugh McCracken, Joe Beck, Jeff Mironov, Jerry Friedman, Greg Bennett – guitar
  • Will Lee, Richard Davis, Bob Babbitt- bass
  • Chris Parker, Allan Schwartzberg, Rick Marotta- drums
  • Jimmy Maelen- tambourine, wood block
  • Nydia Mata, Carter C.C. Collins – congas
  • Rubens Bassini- shaker
  • David Friedman – vibraphone
  • Joe Farrell, Michael Brecker, George Young – saxophone
  • Randy Brecker- trumpet
  • Paul Messing – triangle
  • Nisako Yoshida, Reiko Kamota – koto
  • Don Puluse, Tim Geelan – engineer
  • Jay Messina, Lou Waxman, Stan Tonkel – engineer assistant
  • Ed Lee – artwork
  • Patty Newport – photography

Track listing:

All tracks by Laura Nyro, except where noted.

  1. Sexy Mama – Al Goodman, Sylvia Robinson, Harry Ray
  2. Children of the Junks
  3. Money
  4. I Am the Blues
  5. Stormy Love
  6. The Cat Song
  7. Midnite Blue
  8. Smile

Van Morrison: Veedon Fleece

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In October 1974, “Warner Bros” label released “Veedon Fleece”, the eighth Van Morrison studio album. It was recorded 1973 – 1974, at “Caledonia Studios” California and “Mercury Studios” in New York, and was produced by Van Morrison.

Personnel:

  • Van Morrison – vocal, guitar, arrangements
  • Ralph Walsh, John Tropea- guitar
  • James Trumbo – piano
  • Jef Labes- piano, arrangements
  • David Hayes, Joe Macho – bass
  • Dahaud Shaar (David Shaw) – drums
  • James Rothermel – flute, recorder
  • Jack Schroer- soprano saxophone
  • Allan Schwartzberg- drums
  • Nathan Rubin – violin
  • Terry Adams – viola
  • Jim Stern, Dahaud Shaar (David Shaw), Jean Shaar, Elvin Campbell – engineer
  • Ian Cooper, Walter Samuel – remastering
  • Ed Caraeff – art direction
  • Tom Collins – photography

Track listing:

All tracks by Van Morrison

  1. Fair Play
  2. Linden Arden Stole the Highlights
  3. Who Was That Masked Man
  4. Streets of Arklow
  5. You Don’t Pull No Punches, But You Don’t Push the River
  6. Bulbs
  7. Cul de Sac
  8. Comfort You
  9. Come Here My Love
  10. Country Fair

Paul Simon: One-Trick Pony

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In August 1980, “Warner Bros” label released “One-Trick Pony”, the fifth Paul Simon studio album. It was recorded 1979 – 1980, at “A&R Studios” in New York City and  “Agora Club” in Cleveland, Ohio, and was produced by Paul Simon and Phil Ramone. The album was released concurrently with the film of the same name, in which Paul Simon also starred.

Personnel:

  • Paul Simon – vocals, nylon string and electric guitar, percussion, horn and string arrangements
  • John Tropea– acoustic guitar
  • Joe Beck– electric guitar
  • Eric Gale– electric and nylon string guitar
  • Hiram Bullock– electric slide guitar
  • Hugh McCracken– acoustic guitar
  • Jeff Mironov – electric guitar
  • Richard Tee – co-lead and backing vocals, Fender Rhodes electric piano, tambourine
  • Don Grolnick– string synthesizer
  • Anthony Jackson, Tony Levin– bass
  • Steve Gadd– drums
  • Ralph MacDonald– percussion
  • Jon Faddis– flugelhorn
  • Irwin “Marky” Markowitz – trumpet
  • Patti Austin– vocals
  • Lani Groves – backing vocals
  • Dave Grusin– horn and string arrangements
  • Bob Friedman – horn and string arrangements
  • Jim Boyer – recording, mixing
  • Ted Jensen- mastering

Track listing:

All tracks by Paul Simon.

  1. Late in the Evening
  2. That’s Why God Made the Movies
  3. One-Trick Pony
  4. How the Heart Approaches What It Yearns
  5. Oh, Marion
  6. Ace in the Hole
  7. Nobody
  8. Jonah
  9. God Bless the Absentee
  10. Long, Long Day

Spyro Gyra: Freetime

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In July 1981, “MCA” label released “Freetime”, the fifth Spyro Gyra album. It was recorded in 1981, and was produced by Jay Beckenstein and Richard Calandra.

Personnel:

  • Jay Beckenstein– saxophones, clay flute, percussion
  • Tom Schuman– keyboards
  • Jeremy Wall– keyboards
  • Chet Catallo– guitar
  • John Tropea– guitar
  • Dave Samuels– vibraphone, marimba
  • Eli Konikoff – drums
  • Gerardo Velez– percussion
  • Randy Brecker– trumpet
  • Rob Mounsey– synthesizer, backing vocals
  • Richard Tee– keyboards
  • Steve Khan– guitar
  • Will Lee– bass, backing vocals
  • David Darling– cello
  • Errol “Crusher” Bennett – percussion
  • Valerie Simpson, Casey Cysick– backing vocals

Track listing:

  1. Freetime – Tom Schuman, Eli Konikoff
  2. Telluride – Jay Beckenstein
  3. Summer Strut – Jeremy Wall
  4. Elegy for Trane – Jeremy Wall
  5. Pacific Sunrise – Tom Schuman
  6. Amber Dream – Jay Beckenstein
  7. String Soup – Jim Kurzdorfer

Laura Nyro: Nested

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In June 1978, “Columbia” label released “Nested”, the seventh Laura Nyro studio album. It was recorded in 1977 in Danbury, Connecticut, and was produced by Laura Nyro and Roscoe Harring.

Personnel:

  • Laura Nyro – vocals, acoustic and electric piano, church organ, guitar, strings
  • Vinnie Cusano- guitar
  • John Tropea- guitar
  • Felix Cavaliere- electric piano, organ
  • John Sebastian- harmonica
  • Cyril Cianflone – bass guitar
  • Tony Levin – bass guitar
  • Will Lee- bass guitar
  • Andy Newmark- drums
  • Nydia “Liberty” Mata – percussion
  • Dale Ashby, Frank Koenig – engineer
  • Adger W. Cowans – photography

Track listing:

All tracks by Laura Nyro.

  1. Blue (Song of Communications)
  2. Rhythm and Blues
  3. My Innocence
  4. Crazy Love
  5. American Dreamer
  6. Springblown
  7. The Sweet Sky
  8. Light
  9. Child in a Universe
  10. The Nest

Kurtis Blow: Same

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kurtis-blow

On September 29, 1980, “Mercury” label released the self-titled,  debut Kurtis Blow album. It was recorded in 1979 and was produced by J.B. Moore and Robert Ford.

Personnel:

  • Kurtis Blow, Sudana Bobatoon, Wayne Garfield, Sheila Spencer, William Waring, Adam White – vocals
  • Eddie Martinez, J.B. Moore, Dean Swenson, John Tropea – guitar
  • Onaje Allen Gumbs, J.B. Moore – keyboards
  • Craig Short, Tom Wolk – bass
  • Jimmy Bralower – drums
  • Rod Hui – engineer
  • Erik Block, Paula Stevens, Lisa Zimet – engineer assistant
  • Vincent Davis – mixing
  • Suha Gur – mastering

Track listing:

  1. Rappin’ Blow, Pt. 2 – Kurtis Blow, Robert Ford, Miller, J.B. Moore, Larry Smith
  2. The Breaks – Kurtis Blow, Robert Ford, J. B. Moore, Russell Simmons, Larry Smith
  3. Way Out West – J. B. Moore
  4. Throughout Your Years – Kurtis Blow, J. B. Moore, William Waring
  5. Hard Times – Jimmy Bralower, B. Moore, Russell Simmons, Larry Smith, William Waring
  6. All I Want in This World (Is to Find That Girl) – J. B. Moore
  7. Takin’ Care of Business – Randy Bachman

Eric Clapton: Journeyman

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Eric_Clapton - Journey Man

On November 7, 1989, “Duck” label released “Journeyman”, the eleventh Eric Clapton studio album. It was recorded in 1989, and was produced by Russ Tielman. Clapton won “Grammy Award” for “Best Male Rock Vocal Performance” in 1990 for the song “Bad Love”. “Journeyman” became the first Clapton’s solo studio album to go double platinum.

Personnel:

  • Eric Clapton – vocals, guitar, Dobro, design
  • Robert Cray– guitar
  • Phil Palmer– guitar
  • John Tropea– rhythm guitar
  • George Harrison– guitar, harmony vocals
  • Cecil Womack– vocals, acoustic guitar
  • Jerry Lynn Williams– guitar, backing and harmony vocals
  • Jeff Bova– synthesizer programming, drum programming, synthesizer horns
  • Alan Clark– synthesizer, keyboards, Hammond organ, sequencing
  • Robbie Kondor– synthesizer, harmonica, keyboards, vocoder, drum programming
  • Rob Mounsey– synthesizer
  • Robby Kilgore – synthesizer
  • Greg Phillinganes– synthesizer, piano, keyboards, background vocals
  • Richard Tee– piano, Fender Rhodes
  • Nathan East– bass, backing vocals
  • Pino Palladino- bass
  • Jim Keltner– percussion, drums, tambourine, drum programming
  • Phil Collins– drums , backing and harmony vocals
  • Carole Steele – percussion, conga, tambourine
  • Gary Burton– vibraphone
  • David Sanborn– alto saxophone
  • Hank Crawford– alto saxophone
  • Ronnie Cuber– baritone saxophone
  • David “Fathead” Newman– tenor saxophone
  • Jon Faddis– trumpet
  • Lew Soloff– trumpet
  • Linda Womack– vocals
  • Daryl Hall– harmony vocals
  • Tawatha Agee – backing vocals
  • Lani Groves – backing vocals
  • Chaka Khan– backing vocals
  • Tessa Niles– backing vocals
  • Vanessa Thomas – backing vocals
  • Jimmy Bralower – drum programming
  • Arif Mardin– arrangements, string arrangements

Track listing:

  1. Pretending – Jerry Lynn Williams
  2. Anything for Your Love – Jerry Lynn Williams
  3. Bad Love – Eric Clapton, Mick Jones
  4. Running on Faith – Jerry Lynn Williams
  5. Hard Times – Ray Charles
  6. Hound Dog – Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller
  7. No Alibis – Jerry Lynn Williams
  8. Run So Far – George Harrison
  9. Old Love – Eric Clapton, Robert Cray
  10. Breaking Point – Marty Grebb, Jerry Lynn Williams
  11. Lead Me On – Cecil Womack, Linda Womack
  12. Before You Accuse Me – Ellas McDaniel

Billy Cobham: Spectrum

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Spectrum

On October 1, 1973, “Atlantic” label released “Spectrum”, the debut Billy Cobham album. It was recorded in May 1973 at the “Electric Lady Studios”, in  New York City, and was produced by Ken Scott.

Personnel:

  • Billy Cobham – drums
  • Tommy Bolin – guitar
  • John Tropea – guitar
  • Jan Hammer- acoustic and electric piano, Moog synthesizer
  • Ron Carter- acoustic bass
  • Lee Sklar- bass guitar
  • Joe Farrell- soprano and alto saxophone
  • Jimmy Owens – trumpet, flugelhor
  • Ray Barretto- congas

Track listing:

All tracks by Billy Cobham.

  1. Quadrant 4
  2. Searching for the Right Door / Spectrum
  3. Anxiety / Taurian Matador
  4. Stratus
  5. To the Women in My Life / Le Lis
  6. Snoopy’s Search / Red Baron