BLUE ROSE CAFE
A Reunion and Tribute to Pat Long
Led by singer-songwriter Kevin Welch, who's penned #1 hits for Garth Brooks, with keyboardist Gary Johnson (Del Shannon, Conjunto JardÃn), drummer Mike McCarty (Holy Modal Rounders) and bassist Steve Grunder (John Arnold Band), this reunion of the seminal mid-'70s band honoring its fallen lead singer distills the spirit - not only rootsy and rockin' but yearning and poignant - of Blue Rose Café's unique brand of progressive country-rock that was a precursor to today's alt-country and Americana genres.
(LINER NOTES)
It was 1975 and the Norman, Oklahoma-based band Blue Rose Café was on the cutting edge of the progressive country/rock sound that was popular in the American Southwest. Five young Okie musicians, Pat Long, Kevin Welch, Gary Johnson, Mike McCarty and Steve Grunder, got together and decided to mix country, folk, rock and pop styles with a little swing, jazz, bluegrass and blues influence to create music that still sounds fresh today, some 27 years later. Long was the lead singer and principal songwriter, Welch held down the lead guitar duties, Johnson played keyboards and the rhythm section was Grunder on bass and McCarty on drums. Welch and Johnson also sang lead on occasion, but it was really Pat Long's band, featuring his own songs and many written by the band's mentor, John Hadley - then an art professor at the University of Oklahoma. The band did a lot of others songs as well, introducing listeners to many great songwriters such as Willis Alan Ramsey, Bill Caswell, Kinky Friedman, John Hiatt and Woody Guthrie, all included on this disc. But it is on Pat's songs and the others he sang that the band really found its identity and that is what we need to remember now.
On a hot August Oklahoma night, the four surviving original members, along with Norman musicians and a few special guests, re-created those days with a performance that was both exciting and healing. In front of over 200 friends and fans, the band gave Pat a fitting goodbye on his songs "I'll Be Seeing You Sometime," "Separate Waves," "I Wish I Was Home," "Long Way to Travel," and "You'll Never Be Alone," as well as on a handful of cover songs that Long brought to the band.
What you hold in your hands now has to qualify as the very first Blue Rose Café record, but let's not mistake this for only nostalgia. Pat Long's songs deserve a listen by the countless roots and singer/songwriter fans who today come hear Kevin Welch on a regular basis. Now, when Welch sings John Hiatt's "Train to Birmingham," as he does on most nights in clubs, coffeehouses and festivals all across the world, it will be in tribute to his dear friend. Without Pat Long's life there never would have been a Blue Rose Café, and without his death this album never would have had to be made. But it did have to be made. For Pat, for Kevin and Mike and Gary and Steve and everyone who ran with the crazy circus that was Blue Rose Café. And most of all for Pat's parents, Jack and Barbara, and for his kids, Olivia and Cassie.
In my 30 years in music, I have never been so moved as I was on the night this recording was made, and hearing it back now only makes it better. Even if you never knew Pat or heard Blue Rose Café, listen to this recording with your heart wide open, maybe on a warm summer night or early fall morning, both of which reflect the beauty that was this band. I plan to listen to it again right now over a nice warm cup of coffee on the porch of the Blue Door, a place that could never have happened without the spirit of Blue Rose Café.
Greg Johnson
The Blue Door
Oklahoma City
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