legaltender

Bloomington, California — Legal Tender— "Carbon McCartney". And from carbon come diamonds so that makes this CD a real gem. This is The CD that almost didn’t happen, a mostly solo CD by singer/songwriter Eric Ross Davenport. In addition to writing, producing, engineering, and arranging, Davenport plays and sings all but three of the songs on this CD—Hey Little Girl, Windy, and I Want to Be the One. Long-time mate Tony Hart contributes his amazing drum playing talent and Jennifer Keenan jo...

Bloomington, California — Legal Tender— "Carbon McCartney". And from carbon come diamonds so that makes this CD a real gem. This is The CD that almost didn’t happen, a mostly solo CD by singer/songwriter Eric Ross Davenport. In addition to writing, producing, engineering, and arranging, Davenport plays and sings all but three of the songs on this CD—Hey Little Girl, Windy, and I Want to Be the One. Long-time mate Tony Hart contributes his amazing drum playing talent and Jennifer Keenan joins him for backing vocals on I Want to Be the One. These all-original songs are out on Davenport’s label, Merit Records. Davenport’s sound is heavily influenced by the Beatles yet his own original style shines through. People have always compared his music to the Beatles. Joking called the “Rolling Beatle Monkeys Sound”. It was, in fact, his “20 & 30 something” mates who dubbed him “Carbon McCartney”. Ergo, the title of the CD. “But please don’t get me wrong. I am in no way comparing myself to the Great One, but if people want to make a comparison, I can’t think of a better musician to be compared too,” says Davenport. “I won’t deny the influence is there and sometimes people hear the influence even when I don’t. I may remind people of the Beatles (or Paul), but I don't think I sound exactly like them. I can, however, do a McCartney song and sound dead-on if you close your eyes. But there will never be another Mozart, Elvis, or Beatles.” “I’ve had a lot of other influences too, and have developed a rich and varied musical taste. To name a just a few of those influences—Elvis, The Rolling Stones, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, George Martin, Phil Rocha, Danny Rocha, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats, BB King, Louis Armstrong, Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, Geoff Emerick, Quincy Jones, Jimi Hendrix, The Carpenters, David Bowie, Stevie Wonder. Dio. Led Zeppelin, Lawrence Welk, Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald, Thelonious Monk, Mahaila Jackson, Zana French, Bennie Goodman, Andre Rieu...and the beat goes on….” Davenport on Carbon McCartney “As I said, I am in no way making any comparisons. This project is more like my tribute to the continuing influence that both the Beatles and George Martin have on me—as a person, as well as a musician, I hope I capture the sprit and the attitude I think I absorbed from them, You tell Me. If I could have just one wish for myself so could die happy, it would be to have Paul and/or Ringo play just one of my songs with me on my next CD. And if I was really lucky, George Martin would produce it.” Imagine! “Carbon McCartney is a tongue-in-cheek thing that will become more apparent as more people become acquainted with me and my music. But I don’t want to give that away just yet—You’ll just have to learn for yourselves.” “I think anyone who listens to my CD will find something they fancy, if you take the time to listen all the way through. One of my long-time mates said that what she liked overall was the variety and diversity of this CD (God Bless Ya, Becky). Diversity is the one thing where I consciously try to emulate the Beatles. “Freshness is a quality of the Beatles that I really appreciate. Listening to even their oldest recordings you can hear a contemporary sound that could have been recorded yesterday. The lead guitar may sound dated, but the songs themselves and the performances sound fresh. Most of those early recordings were basically live performances in the studio. As far as I’m concerned, that’s still the best way to do it. At least cutting the basic tracks live. The one thing I work really hard at is making the recording technology as transparent as possible. I hope I have recorded something that has, if nothing else, character. Its good honest music, and something I hope Jim Ladd would fancy playing. One has to listen to the whole CD to appreciate its true flavor, “So listen on, and May you never get your fill.” “Thank you for giving it a listen, I hope you find something you fancy, touch wood.” Davenport plans to have his band Legal Tender complete and ready for a short tour late in 2008 or early 2009 with a longer tour in 2009. More information will be posted on the web site mcmlegaltender.com when becomes available. mcmmeritrecords@aol.com or, mcmlegaltender.com.