A professional musician since childhood, Danny Faragher has not only covered a lot of ground in his travels, but possesses a banner body of work to match the miles.
The Southern California-based singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist experienced his first taste of widespread success in the late ’60s with the Peppermint Trolley Company, whose smooth and sultry “Baby You Come Rollin’ Across My Mind” gained a good deal of airplay across the country. A self-titled album, stashed with solid psychedelic pop-rock moves, also put the band on the map. The Peppermint Trolley Company further recorded the original “Brady Bunch Theme,” and after splitting up, Danny went on to make quality music with groups like Bones and the Faragher Brothers. He has additionally performed with legendary luminaries such as Ringo Starr and Peter Criss.
Danny Faragher’s most recent album Dancing With The Moment frames his roots and talents in a highly attractive context. A vast variety of styles are presented, but a sturdy thread holds the songs together, resulting in a record embracing and expressing the joy of music. An excellent singer, Danny is just at home laying down gruff rockers as he is crooning sunny pop. He really personalizes his keenly-crafted songs, delivering them with conviction and honesty.
Channeling the era of big bands, “Due South On The Blue Line” is a jazzy instrumental swinging with energy and excitement, while a heart-thumping doo-wop number, “Fountain Of Love” is so authentic that it could truly masquerade as a long lost Platters or Penguins classic. Grunting with grit and grease, complete with bruising harmonica fills, “Devil Wind Blues” is indeed a menacing blues statement, and both “Too Much Pressure” and “Slo Mo Struttin'” stomp and swagger with hardcore funk beats and blistering guitar licks.
Atmospheric and intricately-designed, “Song In The Night” favors a frilly flower pop approach supported by the airy whistle of a flute and the brassy blow of a trombone. Nicking nuances from the Beach Boys, the breezy sway of “Pacific Blue” and the hypnotic lilt of “The Sad Man,” which inventively features the hum of a vacuum cleaner, magnify Danny Faragher’s flair for harmony and melody. The final song on the album, the spacy but shimmering “Rainbow Pier” is carved of gorgeous instrumental passages complemented by a chorus of clear and polished female vocals.
Buckled tight with enterprising ideas and arrangements, Dancing With The Moment witnesses to be a pitch-perfect potpourri of rhythm, tone and sound. Danny Faragher, assisted by an assortment of family and friends, has created an album that bravely blends poetic beauty with spontaneous rawness and experimental thrills. Enchanting and electrifying, Dancing With The Moment is one of the greatest albums of the year, or any year for that matter.
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