Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Artist: Malcolm, Album: Coming Outta Nowhere, Song: Cut Across Country Ride

Malcolm Tomlinson is a multi instrumentalist originally from England.  He cut his teeth in r&b bands; playing clubs in London during the early sixties.  He worked the same club circuit as The Rolling Stones and often opened for visiting bands like The Coasters.  He had the chance to record with legendary producer Joe Meek in these early years and by the late sixties, was sharing stages with Jethro Tull and Fleetwood Mac.  He moved to Toronto in 1969 and played in a few bands throughout the early to mid seventies.  He opened for touring bands like The Who and The Grand Funk Railroad.  He also joined Rick James' Stone City Band.  He was a member of Rhinoceros for a brief time as well.  By the late seventies, he decided to form his own band and signed a deal with A&M Records for his debut album, entitled, Coming Outta Nowhere.  It was released in 1977 and it featured Danny Marks (see blog 6/15/11) on guitar, Papa John Creach of Jefferson Starship fame and jazz greats Sonny Seals as well as Randy and Michael Brecker.  The album was recorded in Toronto and Chicago and produced by the legendary Jack Richardson.  Cut Across Country Ride is the album opener and you can hear it on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUX-ns0u5Ws).  Malcolm would go on to release one more album with A&M in 1979.  The album, Coming Outta Nowhere, is a difficult find today.  At the time of this blog, there were vinyl copies trading on Ebay and Amazon between $5 and $25.  Thanks for reading and enjoy!