Last Updated 10/05/2024 12:05 AM EDT
LOG IN
CART
Cart Items :
Sub Total :
artist
label
title
catalog #
any field
advanced
New Releases
Artists
Labels
Forthcoming
Best Sellers
Reviews
Jobs
soundclips
[All Countries]
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Canada
Chile
China
Colombia
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Egypt
Europe
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Korea
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nigeria
Norway
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Romania
Russian Federation
Scotland
Senegal
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
UK
Ukraine
United States
Uruguay
World's Leading Terrorist State
World's Misleading Terrorist State
[All Formats]
Book
Cassette
CD
Clothing
Digital
DVD
MISC
VHS
Vinyl
[All Genres]
CLASSICAL
COMEDY
ELECTRONIC
EXPERIMENTAL
HIPHOP
JAZZ
Misc
ROCK
WORLD
artist
catalog #
label
title
any field
Tweet
Send Email
PRICE:
$29.00
$29.00
IN STOCK
01. Ian Willson - Think About It
Your browser does not support the audio element.
02. Ian Willson - Straight From The Heart
Your browser does not support the audio element.
03. Ian Willson - Sequel, Baby Let's Play
Your browser does not support the audio element.
04. Ian Willson - Four In The Morning
Your browser does not support the audio element.
05. Ian Willson - If I Were You
Your browser does not support the audio element.
06. Ian Willson - Two Is Better Than One
Your browser does not support the audio element.
07. Ian Willson - Song For Katelyn
Your browser does not support the audio element.
08. Ian Willson - Funk Invasion
Your browser does not support the audio element.
09. Ian Willson - A Game Called Love
Your browser does not support the audio element.
10. Ian Willson - Waiting For Sharon
Your browser does not support the audio element.
ARTIST
WILLSON, IAN
TITLE
Straight From The Heart
FORMAT
LP
LABEL
BE WITH RECORDS
CATALOG #
BEWITH 085LP
BEWITH 085LP
GENRE
ROCK
RELEASE DATE
5/15/2020
Be With Records work with
Ian Willson
to reissue his self-released, West Coast classic
Straight From The Heart
, privately pressed and originally released in 1985. This is the only album Ian ever put out. A magical blend of AOR/sophisticated funk/synth-boogie/spiritual jazz and modern soul, it's a spellbinding record of many colors. You might already know
Straight From The Heart
for the dubby-disco paranoid-Balearic anthem "Four In The Morning", and it's easy to assume this is probably just another one of those one-track LPs. But this is an impressively slick record from start to finish. Album opener "Think About It" is all sorts of right. It's emotional. It's tops-off. It's funk in its purest form. And take the proto-modern-funk of the title track (half
Dâm-Funk
/half
Dâd-Funk
). The shimmering, spiritual bossa-jazz of "If I Were You" serves as the album's soaring centerpiece. A gorgeous suite of cosmic vibes to get
Gilles
frothing, it sounds like nothing else on the record which makes sense given that it was recorded a couple of years earlier, and is the only track on the LP that wasn't recorded in Ian's own studio. Side B opens with the propulsive ode to love that is "Two Is Better Than One". Wonderfully sparse when it needs to be, it's also richly percussive and that special kind of California-warm. Frenetic, speaker smashing synth and horn workout "Funk Invasion" dares you not to dance and "A Game Called Love" is heavily indebted to
Prince
with its lush, deep funk stylings. The sweeping sax-drenched instrumental "Song For Katelyn" is head-nod, beat-heavy AOR for that melancholic magic hour. It all adds up to the ultimate BBQ record. Almost all of
Straight From The Heart
was recorded over a few months between 1983 and 1984 on Ian's brand new Otari 8 track in the Oakland, California studio he built just the year before. Only "If I Were You" was recorded elsewhere, at Bay Sound in 1982. Ian produced the album himself and played all of the instruments, except for the guitar of his longtime friend,
Peter Fujii
.
Tower Of Power
,
Average White Band
,
Earth Wind & Fire
, and
Stevie Wonder
was the list of influences Ian gave when asked. Why did he put the record out himself? Simple, he had no idea how to go about getting a record deal. The original tapes have long since been lost. This reissue was remastered from Ian's one-and-only pristine copy.
Other releases on BE WITH RECORDS