A full tank of gas, the gentle glow from the radio dial, & stretches of open highway await, Forever Gamblin’ On You meanders through miles of soulful AOR, funky folk, & dusty soft rock obscurities. A follow up to Sky Dust Drifter, this compilation was gleaned from American private press oddities & rarities of the 70s & 80s, all of which are seeing their first official reissues on this album. A celebration of love, rebirth, and exploration radiating like the warmth of a loved one from the passenger seat.

Featuring “Feeling The Fire”, a jazzy, AOR grooving declaration of love and desire taken from the sole release from The Mad Brother. The compilations’ title track “Forever Gamblin On You” by Petroc And Pals, features an echo-laden folk rock recollection of hard feelings delivered with swelling guitar in a mournful soft psychedelia. Angie Pepper’s “Miss You Too Much” dwells on a past love, rolling along with an effortlessly cool rhythm section, while Roy McComas croons of his manifested “angel of love” on the swirling psych folk rocker “Girl Of My Dreams”.

Forever Gamblin’ On You unfolds as a hopeful yet equally melancholic collection of nomadic anthems, primed for a memorable journey along the back roads of familiar American landscapes.

A1 - It’s Never Too Late - Charmer
A2 - Start It All Over Again - Alias
A3 - Forever Gamblin’ On You - Petroc and Pals
A4 - Feeling The Fire - The Mad Brothers
A5 - Good Guy - Cross Creek
B1 - The Way Of The Girl - The Michael Rowe Band
B2 - Miss You Too Much - Angie Pepper
B3 - Pistolero - Spectrum
B4 - Girl Of My Dreams - Roy McComas
B5 - Wings Of An Eagle - Santiago
B6 - No Reason To Cry - Lawrence Schwedler
More

Beyond The Willow Tree is a hauntingly beautiful anthology of folk songs chronicling the experience of a young black man growing up in the segregated south. A balanced mix of covers and originals, Cleveland Francis’ body of work seamlessly blends deep, soulful vocals with the stripped-down acoustic instrumentation of folk. In the late 60’s Francis coined the term “soulfolk”, playing his genre bending music across college campuses and coffee shops while earning a medical degree at William & Mary.

These songs serve as a missing link between soul and folk music, suppressed by the harsh political landscape of a music industry heavily influenced by racial stereotypes. “If you were black, you played blues or soul music … I wanted to play folk music,” Cleveland professed.

Included in this double LP set is Cleveland Francis’ entire 1970 self-released album Follow Me, featuring the original artwork and liner notes printed inside the gatefold. The second LP takes you Beyond The Willow Tree with unreleased demos recorded in 1968 along with one 45 only single recorded in 1970.

“These recordings are a look into my soul through a long and lonely journey to understand feelings of my childhood, poverty, racial segregation, bigotry, war, love and hope. It represents my attempt to express and come to terms with all that I have seen and felt as a Black man growing up in America.” - Cleveland Francis

Tracklist:

A1 - The Willow Tree
A2 - Little Green Apples
A3 - Early Morning Rain
A4 - When I’m Sixty Four
A5 - Hot Sun
A6 - Hey Jude
B1 - Just Think About It For A While
B2 - Both Sides Now
B3 - Rain
B4 - Time
B5 - Getting Ready For Tomorrow
B6 - With God On Our Side
C1 - What’s Wrong With The World
C2 - Ballad Of Martin Luther King
C3 - Change
C4 - It’s Got To Get Better
D1 - Hot Sun (demo)
D2 - Early Morning Rain (demo)
D3 - Summertime
D4 - Just Think About It For A While (demo)
D5 - The Willow Tree (demo) More

To enter the world of Sally Townes and Roberta Vandervort is to be swept away into a dimension of unique sound. Embellishments of smoldering jazz funk, seductive soft rock, breezy AOR, and misty folk, all paint a picture of the worlds which they inhabited; from the endless flat expanse of Dallas, the hot and humid bustle of a Bourbon Street night club, to the late night buzz of a Los Angeles studio session.

While Sally Townes and Roberta Vandervort never crossed paths in our reality, their supernatural union on this compilation feels like the meeting of old, yet familiar friends, set in a parallel dimension with lives intertwined. The songs feel like old friends, too — a comforting time capsule of the popular sounds of the era, yet offering something completely new. Bridged by the striking similarities in their musical confidence, vocal conviction, and boundless creativity, both women encapsulate an uncompromising passion for living, loving, and creating on their own terms.

A1. Roberta Vandervort - Stumbler
A2. Roberta Vandervort - Walk Softly
A3. Roberta Vandervort - Let Me Love You That Much
A4. Roberta Vandervort - Hey Now
A5. Roberta Vandervort - Child
B1. Sally Townes - Real To You
B2. Sally Townes - Bright Eyes
B3. Sally Townes - Slow Burning Candle
B4. Sally Townes - Maybe More
B5. Sally Townes - Neon Castles More