Respected writers and performers West and Cashman first worked together as a trio with Gene Pistilli when all three were on the books at ABC in the mid- 60s, but found greater success as producers of Jim Croce’s million-selling albums the following decade. This release brings together an album each that they recorded in 1976, after Croce’s death, brimming with attractive country pop.
It started out as a joint project, but the players’ paths diverged during its making, resulting in two distinct releases. West’s Hometown Frolics is the stronger set; autobiographical laments such as Things Are Getting Better Now and David & Dawn are as evocative and eloquent as Jimmy Webb on one of his better days, while Nightingale takes the harmony country route of The Eagles or Poco.
Cashman’s eponymous collection veers more towards the standard AOR of Neil Sedaka (with whom both men also worked), best heard on the average-sized US hit Baby Baby I Love You and the jaunty foottapper Easy To Sing A Love Song. Bonus tracks include his 1980 novelty sports hit Talkin’ Baseball, which he later rewrote as Homer At The Bat for a Simpsons episode.
