Sometimes I think life around 1970 was much more fun - people were relaxed and friendly, they loved each other, the sun was shining every day and you had fun almost all the time. In the parks people danced under the trees holding each other's hands, sometimes with clothes on, sometimes naked, but always with a wreath of flowers around the neck. And hey, why does the smoke from your hand rolled cigarette smell so strange!? In any case, I think so when I hear Artie Kornfeld Tree. The oil crisis, the Vietnam War and famine, can't we forget those things for a while?
This is a groovy album created by one of the men behind the Woodstock Festival. Although he has written numerous songs for other artists, participated on different records, produced albums and been vice president of Capitol Records, this is the only album, to my knowledge, Artie has recorded under his own name.
And just as I sometimes have the idea life was more straightforward in 1970, this is a fairly straightforward record. There are a number of good songs, a running time of 27-28 minutes, and a collection of musicians who have fun together. The opening song Country Morning on 56th Street is one of the highlights, in competition with the album's bombastic and fantastic finishing number Rockn'roll Is Here To Stay. One can not but agree. Amongst other things the listener is also offered a Neil Young cover in form of Helpless. I can't help thinking it sounds a lot like Knocking On Heaven's Door. But a nice song anyway.
The album is released on Dunhill Records, which in itself makes the album extra fun to own. And of course we have the cool cover, a true work of art that confirms my theories about life around 1970. It was the cover that in the end made me buy the album. You see, I still in the naive belief that the cover art says something about the music on the album, although I on countless occasions have had this idea crushed. But when it comes to A Time To Remember the picture pretty well matches the music. It must be really fun to be an album cover designer. The other side of the cover is more moody, though.
Summary: An enjoyable uncomplicated album from the time when the sun was always shining. It's a nice forward moving pace on the record, kind of a psychedelic touch and you get in a good mood by listening to it. I rather take a 27 minute album which is fun (almost) all the way through, than a 72 minute CD, half of which is featureless fill-outs (I have a number of CDs like that from the time when the CD was fairly new and artists went into the trap of using the entire playing time). Some songs, however, I would gladly see being a bit longer at A Time To Remember. Some barely start before they suddenly stop, and you are left wondering where this song could have gone and maybe, just maybe, what a great creation it could have been. Anyway, if you find this album in a store, I think you can buy it with a good conscience.
Tracklist
Side A
1. Country Morning on 56th Street 3:10
2. First Anniversary Cut 3:10
3. McCracken's Cut 12:50
4. Helpless 2:56
5. Sweet Sweet Music Refrain 1:46
Side B
1. Time To Remember 2:30
2. Rockn'roll Babies 2:42
3. Thanks for the Sunshine 2:16
4. Tears Of Yesterday (Chapels Of Our Minds) 3:16
5. Des Moines, Iowa Variety Show 2:44
6. Rockn'roll Is Here To Stay 2:06
I have only found one song from the album on Youtube, the cover Helpless. After a while in the song, you hear a humming noise in the video for a few seconds. It's not supposed to sound like that.
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