It's Like You Never Left
	Produced by David Mason, Co-produced by Malcolm Cecil
	Released on October 29, 1973
	US CHART POSITION #50
	Find it at GEMM
KC 31721 cover [high resolution scan]

E ither this is the best of the Dave Mason albums I own or I’m warming up to the guy. It’s Like You Never Left still sounds like a poor man’s Clapton/Santana, but he makes a pretty nice nest of the borrowed bits. This also features an impressive guest list: George Harrison, Stevie Wonder, Graham Nash, John Batdorf (okay, so I just like writing his name). The songs are vaguely familiar, square in the middle of 70s rock, not far removed from the psychedelic folk rock of Traffic. In fact, there are several songs on here that sound suspiciously like “40,000 Headmen” and “The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys.” Minor grousing, though, since I don’t expect Mason to set the world on fire with new music. Rather, I expect him to take established 70s idioms and spin them back in a platter that ranges from sleepy to slightly agitated. This time, Mason falls somewhere between Stephen Stills and Eric Clapton in terms of quality and execution. A good half of the songs are catchy, memorable and likely to grow on me over time: “Misty Morning Stranger,” “Silent Partner,” “The Lonely One,” “Baby...Please,” “Headkeeper.” The Good Lord knows I’ve championed Uriah Heep albums for less. One knock on the album is that the high-profile cameos don’t always pan out. Kermit the Frog played the harmonica with more soul than Stevie Wonder does on “The Lonely One,” and as for the Nash/Mason duet on “Every Woman,” boy, there ain’t a pair between them. (Georgie’s guitar, on the other hand, instantly turns “If You’ve Got Love” into something special.) There’s nothing proggy going on this album, just some fine middle-of-the-road rock, good (not great) guitar playing and a little bit of love, peace & pot left over from the 60s.

TRACK LISTING

1. BABY...PLEASE    3:15
2. EVERY WOMAN    1:40
3. IF YOU'VE GOT LOVE    3:19
4. MAYBE    4:03
5. HEAD KEEPER    3:35
6. MISTY MORNING STRANGER    4:30
7. SILENT PARTNER    3:03
8. SIDE TRACKED    (Dave Mason/Mark Jordan/Rick Jaeger/Lonnie Turner)    3:30
9. THE LONELY ONE    4:42
10. IT'S LIKE YOU NEVER LEFT    3:03
    
    All songs written by Dave Mason unless noted

CREDITS

DAVE MASON -- vocals, guitars, Moog bass, arranger
John Batdorf -- vocals (6)
Norma Bell -- horn
Malcolm Cecil -- Moog programming (2), engineer
George Harrison (Son of Harry) -- guitar (3)
Rick Jaeger -- drums
Mark Jordan -- piano, organ
Jim Keltner -- drums
Clydie King -- background vocals
Steve Madaio -- horn
Dennis Morouse -- horn
Graham Nash -- vocals
Nastyee -- conga (10)
Carl Radle -- bass
Chuck Rainey -- bass
Greg Reeves -- bass
Rocky -- conga
Kathleen Saroyan -- background vocals
Julia Tillman -- background vocals
Lonnie Turner -- bass
Maxine Willard -- background vocals
Stevie Wonder -- harmonica (9)
Al Schmitt -- engineer, mixing
Glen Kolotkin -- engineer
Jimmy Wachtel -- album design, artwork
Lorrie Sullivan -- photography
Larry Kurzon -- direction

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