Clover :: Harvest

clover409erWe’ve previously mentioned Clover (along with Goose Creek Symphony) as part of the lost “Band Not Band” mixtape. Clover would later feature Huey Lewis on harmonica, back Elvis Costello, and emerge as part of the London pub rock scene. Following the band’s dissolution, its members would spread across a disparate musical landscape, popping up in unexpected places (see: Toto, “867-5309/Jenny”).

But in 1971 there was no Huey, just a band of four dudes — lead vocalist/pianist/guitarist Alex Call, John McFee on organ, pedal steel, guitar, organ, and vocals, bassist/vocalist John Ciambotti, and Mitch Howie on “real good drums” — from Mill Valley, CA, following up their self-titled debut with a would be roots rock classic, Fourty-Niner.

The songs on the record — including previous AD favorite “Mr. Moon” — wouldn’t sound out of place on Music from Big Pink, but with an earthy “West Coast” wistfulness all their own. “Harvest,” co-written by H. McBotti and album producer Ed Bogas (formerly of classical/psych unit the United States of America and the man responsible for post-Vince Guaraldi Peanuts music), is the sound of people drifting across the continent, the sound of autumn sweeping across the land, of rich soil and hearty meals. Fall music.   words/ j woodbury

Clover :: Harvest

4 thoughts on “Clover :: Harvest

  1. Thanks so much for sharing, loving this stuff. By the way, the link to the “Band not Band” mixtape is invalid.

  2. . . . and Lewis/News founding member Johnnie Colla was in a late iteration of Sly & the Family Stone. there’s that.

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