James And The Good Brothers

James And The Good Brothers

Columbia CS 30889

The first and only LP from this Canadian group. Bill Kreutzmann plays on the album. Bill Kreutzmann, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh and the Grateful Dead and Family are thanked on the cover. May also include an uncredited contribution from Garcia.

Tracks

• Ecks (James Ackroyd)
• Talk About the Good Times (Brian Good)
• Say Goodbye (Brian Good)
• Serving Time (Brian Good)
• Poppa Took the Bottle from the Shelf (Bruce Good)
• Can't Find My Way Home (Steve Winwood)
• No You Can't Help Yourself (Bruce Good)
• Never a Loser (Brian Good)
• Oh How She Rides (James Ackroyd)
• At Dawn (Brian Good)
• Light (James Ackroyd)
• Rainmaker (Harry Nilsson)

The following musician information is taken from a 1985 Japanese reissue of the album and is thought to be the information provided on the original LP.

Contributors include;

• James Ackroyd - acoustic guitar, vocals
• Bruce Good - guitar, autoharp, vocals
• Brian Good - acoustic guitar, vocals
• Larry Good - banjo, vocals
• Brian Hilton - drums
• Bill Kreutzmann - drums
• Mike McMasters - bass
• Sammy Piatsa - drums
• Red Shea - guitar
• Ollie Stang - dobro

• Ecks : lead vocals - James Ackroyd
• Talk About the Good Times : lead vocal - Brian Good
• Say Goodbye : lead vocal - Brian Good
• Serving Time : lead vocal - Brian Good, vocal - Larry Good, drums - Brian Hilton, electric guitar - Rod Shea, dobro - Ollie Stang
• Poppa Took the Bottle from the Shelf : lead vocal - Bruce Good, drums - Billy Kreutzmann
• Can't Find My Way Home : lead vocals - James Ackroyd
• No You Can't Help Yourself : lead vocal - Bruce Good, steel guitar - Ollie Stang, drums - Brian Hilton, bass - Mike McMasters, banjo and vocals - Larry Good, electric guitar and high string acoustic guitar Red Shea
• Never a Loser : lead vocal - Brian Good
• Oh How She Rides : lead vocal - James Ackroyd, steel guitar - Ollie Stang, bass - Mike McMasters, drums - Sammy Piatsa
• At Dawn : lead vocal - Brian Good
• Light : lead vocals - James Ackroyd
• Rainmaker : lead vocal - Brian Good

Bill Kreutzmann, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh and the Grateful Dead and Family are thanked on the cover (see below) but not Garcia. This suggests that Garcia did not contribute to the album. Unless for some reason he preferred to or was obliged to contribute anonymously.

It is suggested that Garcia plays pedal steel on No You Can't Help Yourself and maybe on other tracks including Oh How She Rides.

Credits

• Producer - Betty Cantor-Jackson
• Engineer - Bob Matthews, Betty Cantor-Jackson
• Design - Virginia Team
• Back cover photo - Len Fallschare
• Front cover patchwork art - Honeya and Rusty.
• Recorded at Alembic Inc, San Francisco, California and Eastern Sound, Toronto, Ontario
• Mixed at Crystal Sound Recording Studio, Hollywood, California & Wally Heider's, San Francisco.
• Special thanks - Jack Cassady, Billy Kreutzman, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Gail Hellund, Stuart Gordon, Ward Maillard, Richard Sanford, Eaton-Walker Associates, Ltd. Inn of the Beginning Family, Grateful Dead and Family

James and The Good Brothers comprised James Ackroyd and twins Bruce and Brian Good. After moving to California to play some gigs they were 'spotted' by Jack Casady and Bill Kreutzmann - attention that eventually led to a recording deal. This LP was the result.

The 1985 reissue includes notes by Peter Goddard, music critic The Toronto Telegraph that include the following;

They played with Delaney and Bonnie and toured on an old train with Janis Joplin back across Western Canada. They made contact. The Grateful Dead's secretary invited them to the West Coast - which for Canadian singers has traditionally been the holy hundred miles of pop music. Naturally they went. Ostensibly then, this LP represents this trip: a meeting of East and West. James plays guitar as does Brian, while brother Bruce displays a skeet-shooter's timing on autoharp. Backing them at various crucial spots are the Jefferson Airplane's Jack Cassady on bass-balalaika and one of the Grateful Dead - Billy Kreutzmann on drums.