The Blend was a '70s rock quintet from Maine led by singer/guitarist Jim Drown .Signed to MCA and accomplished two albums. and had combined sales of nearly 130,000 records. They even got on Billboard's top 100 at #74 with a bullet.
The Blend had it all. All five were lead singers and songwriters, and every show was an addictive train ride that led to a climactic explosion several times.
The Blend gained the experience of touring and opening huge shows for a long list of great rock and roll acts (The Who, ZZ Top, Hall and Oates, Charlie Daniels, etc). Their second album under the title "Anytime Delight" released in 1979 and it’s a pleasant hard rockin with some smokin southern blasts.
1. Feel Like I'm Crazy - 3:49
2. Money (Steven Dore) - 5:09
3. Anytime Delight (Steven Dore) - 3:09
4. I'm Not Losin' - 3:15
5. Sky High (Steven Dore, Jeff Joseph) - 4:18
6. Misty Blue (Donnie "D.P." Pomber) - 4:01
7. She Can Take Me - 3:26
8. Will You Be Mine (Steven Dore) - 3:15
9. For Crying Out Loud - 1:58
10.The Prize - 7:03
All songs by Jim "J.D." Drown except where stated
The Blend
*Steven Dore - Guitar, Piano
*Jim "J.D." Drown - Guitar
*Ken Holt - Bass, Vocals
*Donnie "D.P." Pomber - Guitar, Piano
*Skip Smith - Drums
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ReplyDeleteThank you...
ReplyDeleteEYXARISTO MARIE, Θα ψαξω το lp.AMA PSAXNEIS KATI SYGEKPIMENO POU DEN TO XEIS BPEI AKOMA, GRAPSE.
ReplyDeletepanos
Something new to me from 1979. Many thanks, Marios!
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot...
ReplyDeleteHey there great post is there any chance that you or someone else has the first Blend album from 1978.
ReplyDeleteHave the first album and will digitize it soon.
ReplyDeleteHere's another good bar band from Maine (good covers band) from BigScott 62's blog:
ReplyDeletehttp://growboredbigscott62.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-30th-anniversary-of-genrics-live.html
The Blend album is very good, another rock band from Maine also were in the top 40 in '79, I think were OAK, signed to Mercury. Their hit was "King of the Hill", very schlocky Styx-meets American Idol sound with a mulleted lead singer called Rick Pinette... The Blend were much better than Oak. Who knew... 2 Maine bands with rock hits in '79?
The Blend played at the Red Creek Inn in Rochester, NY on tour supporting this LP. They were a dollar short and a day late with their sound which was totally out of synch with what was happening at the time. Being on MCA/Decca didn't help them as the label was genberally clueless as to what to do with most bands beyond The Who and a precious few. The Blend was way too cocky for what they offered (imagine thinking what was still hip to be Southern Rock in Maine...no offense to Maine, but...they were solid behind the times). Their set was unimaginative and ONLY distinguished by their Finale, where two roadies carried out a custom guitar. This guitar was a 'one-piece' righty AND lefty electric that allowed their two lead guitarists ( one righty and one lefty) to play the 'same' guitar at the same time. Big deal. It looked stupid and was a lame special effect. You may wonder why I recall so much for a show 36 years ago now. I remember being pissed that I had friends who were tone better who couldn't get a professional contract and these losers had one...PLUS they were so conceited and rude to the staff (both band and soundman) that I never forgot them. TOTALLY unremarkable band. Avoid at all costs.
ReplyDeleteDuncan, you seem to be emotionally scarred over your friend's band not making it in the music business while another, lesser talented band in your opinion, got further along than they did. Some news, my friend: in the music business "unfairness" has always generally been THE RULE rather than the exception to the rule. Post your friends' bands' music somewhere and we'll see how good they actually were. Seriously, would love to hear them.
ReplyDeleteThe Blend, to my ears, are as good as a lot of Southern-styled rock I've heard from the post-Skynyrd era of the late 70's to mid-80's. Yes, Southern rock was still going strong then, with bands such as 38 Special, Molly Hatchett, Blackfoot and others. A Southern rock band from Maine: I say, so what? There have been bands classified in the "Southern" genre from places as divergent as California (Little Feat) and Detroit (Bob Seger). So Maine, yeah, why not? The only thing I didn't care for during the time I lived in Maine was its close proximity to the Berklee School of Music (as Zappa once pointed out while playing there). Frank found it a good thing, I tend to disagree. Maine when I was there was swamped with lackluster, unoriginal bands with music-schooled "talent", trying to become the next Boston or something. Any band who tried to do anything outside the box and employ creativity would of course be ridiculed by all the Berklee snobs/hacks.
Re. their playing a double necked left AND right hand guitar, yes that sounds cheesy & Spinal Tap-ish but surprisingly I don't remember seeing them do that in 1980 when I think I saw them. I may not have noticed when they did it, or I may have been drunk off my ass, but in any case one man's idea of gimmickry can be another's idea of musical innovation. Like, did you hear about that band where the singer played the flute while standing on one leg and wearing a medieval codpiece? Or the group that smashed their instruments on stage? Sounds arguably gimmicky to me (of course I like Tull and The Who for their music so I conveniently forget their gimmicky-ness).
Спасибо большое! Very good southern rock. AGB.
ReplyDeletethank you very much! Very nice band
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteNew for me ,another fantastic stuff but the links dead.Thanks for re-up.
Hi Marios
ReplyDeleteRe-upload Request = Could you please repost
The Blend - Anytime Delight (1979) Thank you
Rob, "The Blend - Anytime Delight 1979", reposted..
ReplyDeleteMarios
ReplyDeleteThank you very much