Martin Cerf on The Hudson Brothers, PRM 1975

The Hudson Brothers - Ba-Fa (Rocket/ MCA 2169)
By Martin Cerf - Phonograph Record Magazine, Nov. 1975

Some close friends of mine in FM radio are going to look at the heading above and be real put off. I can hear Ed Sciaky over at WMMR-FM in Philadelphia saying, "The Hudson Brothers? Forget it, Marty." And while I would never punish him for his love affair with Yes and the other cerebral-rock splinter bands which have emerged from that same act over the last couple years, I still can't understand why fine two, and three part harmonies such as the Hudsons serve unfailingly isn't universally accepted in the circles Ed moves in. Vocal greatness when combined with relevant lyric seems to remain a West Coast indulgence, occasionally Anglo.

The Hudson Brothers, originally from Seattle (the city that gave us Paul Revere & The Raiders, Don & The Goodtimes and The Ventures too), have recently teamed up with former Beach Boy Bruce Johnston (co-writer of the Hudson's recent hit "Rendezvous") and his influence on Ba-Fa is clear and essential throughout. Especially on "Oh Gabriel" and "Lonely School Year," both would have fit nicely on The Beach Boys' Friends from 1968.

This is the Hudsons' fourth album, their first since Totally Out Of Control (Rocket/MCA 460) which tracks easily from start to finish. Nothing unpleasant on this release like "The Adventures of Chuckie Margolis," a six minute, incredibly boring narrative from last year's Hollywood Situation (Casablanca 9008). Ba-Fa was produced by Bernie Taupin (he worked on Out Of Control) and marks the band's return to Elton's Rocket Records label. (Rocket is a record manufacturing outlet which with the help of Neil Sedaka, Kiki Dee and Nigel Olsson is developing a reputation among record collectors as the Amy-Mala-Bell of the seventies. All Rocket releases are mandatory pop-library inclusions.) More than just records, Rocket's chief product is fun, and the Hudsons certainly service that market. But, dear reader, there's no need to be afraid of the concept. Even though their Saturday morning CBS-TV show of this summer past was a maze of corny, silly skits you'll find this release neither embarrassing or offensive even to cynical ears. The Hudsons would like nothing more than to blitz the entire media (TV /radio/records/films) simultaneously, but they've been making fine pop records too long to do so at the expense of an individual release. Ba-Fa is a convincing effort on the band's part, and does indeed demonstrate their high pop intelligence quotient.

At times The Hudsons can match the soft-crimson sweetness of Abbey Road period Beatles and then change gears into Good Vibrations era Beach Boys, and back again ("Bernie Was A Friend Of Ours"). The string arrangements by Bob Alcivar are highly crafted and work remarkably well throughout the album, especially on "Bernie." The songs here are brief (averaging 3:30) but the time is allocated with skillful precision. Ba-Fa is obviously the first real Hudson Brothers album (as opposed to a compilation of single sides) for this act that has been recording polished pop since 1967 under a bargain-basement full of names (My Sirs, New Yorkers, Everyday Hudson, Hudson).

The Hudsons have surely mastered the complicated art of simplicity and not since Straight Up by Badfinger and Rundgren's Something/Anything has it been so pleasing.