Search - Terry Callier :: Occasional Rain

His best

Elliot Knapp | 02/09/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I never understood why Terry Callier never hit the big time. I wore out 2 copies of this album. I was about to give up on my cassette tape when I found this on CD. Listen to "Blues for Marcus" or "sedgewick street" or "Occasional Rain" and tell me who else can sound like this. This is his best album. Its only fault is the breaking up of "Go Head On" into little pieces, but I can live with that."

Terry's Song Cycle

Elliot Knapp | 04/16/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first heard this LP back in the early '70's in Providence, RI. Every Sunday afternoon Vincent Thomas did a show entitled the "360 Black Experience" on WBRU. This was before webcasting and on the cusp of amplified radio antennas so, for someone accustomed to New York radio, it was the only time the Providence airwaves came alive since I was never a big Salty Brian fan. I recall strolling down Thayer Street and perusing the record bins at the one record shop. The album "Occasional Rain was stuck among the bunch. I picked it up and put it back. Later, after hearing "Trance on Sedgewick Street" over the air, I raced back, brought it and began a lifelong interest in this wonderful muscian's stories. I later found out that he wrote the Dell's hit, "The Love We Had Stays on My Mind". Step back in time and give this one a listen. It doesn't disappoint.



AMG says: "Recorded more than six years after The New Folk Sound, this was the first album to feature Terry Callier's unusual hybrid sound. The combination of a rich baritone voice and his unique blues/folk/jazz songwriting are met by just a touch of Andy Williams' zim, making Occasional Rain the best of his albums from the early '70s. Often prone to expansive, wandering melodies, Callier has written a tightness into most of the songs here that would generally be abandoned on the records to follow. Two of his most recognizable songs, "Ordinary Joe" and "Lean on Me," make their appearance and are joined by fragments of "Go 'Head On," which are interspersed throughout and provide a conceptual framework for the album as a whole. Highly accessible, this album conjures an intimate and relaxed mood, perfect for that lazy weekend morning."



Open your ears. You have nothing to lose."

First of the Callier trilogy of classics

Elliot Knapp | Seattle, Washington United States | 04/11/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Occasional Rain is basically Terry Callier's debut--of course, The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier is his real debut, but Occasional Rain is his first album of original material, blending the unique approach he started on his debut with the type of introspective, spiritual, and deeply emotional songs that would hold down classics like this, What Color Is Love, and I Just Can't Help Myself.



With just one listen, you can tell how well-constructed and thought-out this album is--"Go Ahead On," a bluesy guitar/vocal Callier solo, is split into five pieces and acts as a beginning and end to the album, as well as a recurring theme segueing between songs and adding overall cohesion. After the first installment of "Go Ahead On," it's no holds barred--Callier lays his heart bare, casually tossing off philosophical profundities and moving turns-of-phrase, all backed by an acoustic guitar-rooted blend of folk/soul/R&B. "Ordinary Joe" is an up-tempo exhortation to find meaning in everyday life with Callier's smooth, rich baritone assuredly straining and scatting--"politicians will try to speech you/mad color watchers will try to teach you/very few will really try to reach you;" he's got a way with words that's really all his own. More great lines in "Golden Circle"--"with all the lessons that I've learned/I still got badly burned/Retreated to a vacant stare/At the very least I find no conflict there." This is the kind of music that really touches that human part, deep inside us all. That is, if you're willing to immerse yourself in the very 60's (in such a good way!) atmosphere that the production cooks up. "Golden Circle" is haunted by some spooky background vocals (or maybe it's a Mellotron keyboard on choir setting, I'm not sure).



"Trance on Sedgewick Street" is the equivalent of a soul "Visions of Johanna", surrounded by tasteful, swirling strings. "Do You Finally Need A Friend" is a naked, soulful plea, with female backup singers used to very successful effect. They return on "Sweet Edie-D," a catchy, mid-tempo, gospel-flavored tune. "Occasional Rain" may be the most atmospheric and moody piece on the album, tinged with early synthesizer and featuring Callier's musings on the ups and downs of life--he'd get used to them, that's for sure; It's unthinkable that the talent and effort evidenced on this album never resulted in widespread success. "Lean On Me" is the perfect climax to the album, a testament to friendship and unconditional love, building to an emotionally steep crescendo. As the last "Go Ahead On" segment resolves the album, it's tempting to start the circle all over again with the first.



Occasional Rain is fantastic; every song is memorable, well-written, and almost painfully genuine. You can't listen to this music without getting involved. If you're new to Terry Callier, this is the place to start--the songs are shorter (though the mystic sprawl of What Color Is Love? might be his less-accessible glorious peak) but the quality is still there. Luckily, Callier received more recognition in the UK, where he's still making records as his home country slowly finds out about him, only 40 years too late."