Marcia Hines - "Marcia Shines" (1975)

Born in 1953 in Boston, USA, Marcia Hines arrived in Australia in 1969 - sixteen years old and pregnant - to take part in the local production of the musical "Hair".

Marcia in "Hair", cast photo, 1970

In 1973 she followed that success with the role of Mary Magdalene in the Australian production of "Jesus Christ Superstar" - I've always thought it would have been good if she'd been pregnant when she did that role - "What!? A second virgin birth?" etc.

Hines as Mary Magdalene, 1973

In 1974 she joined the Daly-Wilson Big Band for several tours and an album, posted here previously.

After signing to the Wizard Records label, she released her debut album "Marcia Shines" in 1975. The first two singles - a soul-tinged cover of James Taylor's "Fire and Rain", and a power ballad called "From The Inside", were smash hits, catapulting her into major star status in her adopted country.

The third single, the more soulful "Don't Let The Grass Grow" didn't fare as well, and this set up (to my mind) an unfortunate pattern in the way she was produced and marketed after this album : she was pigeonholed as a stirring pop ballad singer, and the funk-soul that was prevalent on this debut album was somewhat left behind in the search for hits.

Career-wise, it was a wise move - she spent the 70s and 80s producing gold record after gold record, always supported by string-laden productions with surefire Top Ten hits, and became one of the biggest stars in Australia. She's had several career resurgences in the decades since then, and is currently enjoying a high profile again as the "nice" judge in Australian Idol. Her daughter Deni Hines also had some success in the 1990s as a dance act.

The great track "You Gotta Let Go" (previews are at top of post today) has been revered in the northern soul underground for some time, but there are several other good tracks here. I'm particularly partial to the slow burning "Easy Evil", the soul-pop of "Don't Let the Grass Grow" and the blues-tinged "I Need It Just as Bad As You".

As a special bonus track, we've got the rare heavier-than-heavy version of Bill Withers' "You", the B-side of the first single "Fire And Rain". Unreleased elsewhere, and not to be confused with a pop hit of the same name she released a few years later, it's a screaming soul-rock number drenched in electric piano, pounding drums and a heavy hand on the reverb plate.

None of Marcia's 70s and 80s albums have been re-released, and the ubiquitous compilations of her work focus on the pop songs - with none of the good stuff from here - so I thought it would be good to get a proper rip of this album up here in WAV and 320 MP3.

Special thanks to people from the Midoztouch forum - Micko for the rip of the song "You", and Deutros for the cover scans.

TRACKLIST

01. "Fire and Rain" (James Taylor) - 4:50
02. "Trilogy" (Robie G Porter) - 4:25
03. "Don't Let The Grass Grow" (D. Buskin) - 3:07
04. "From The Inside" (Artie Wayne) - 3:31
05. "If This Was the Last Song" (Jimmy Webb) - 4:05
06. "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (Jagger-Richards) - 3:07
07. "You Gotta Let Go" (Randazzo-Pike) - 3:29
08. "But It's Alright" (Jackson-Tubbs) - 2:33
09. "I Need It Just As Bad As You" (Holland-Holland-Wylie) - 3:07
10. "Easy Evil" (Alan O'Day) - 5:24

BONUS TRACK :
11. "You" (Bill Withers)- (B-side of "Fire and Rain" single) - 4:18

MUSICIANS

Tracks 2-10 :
Bass - Jackie Orszaczky, Duncan McGuire
Drums- Mark Kennedy, Craig Collinge
Guitar - Tony Naylor, Stephen Howsden
Piano - Peter Jones
Percussion - Sunil De Silva

Tracks 1 and 11 :
"Baxter Funt"
probable lineup :
Michael Carlos or Peter White - keyboards
Ken Firth - bass
Michael Wade - guitar
Greg Henson - drums

PRODUCTION DETAILS

Wizard Records, 1975
Cat. # ZL 209
Produced by Robie G. Porter
Assisted by J. M. Wagner
Arranged by Peter Jones and Robie G. Porter
Orchestration by Peter Jones
Engineered by John Sayers - Trafalgar Studios, Sydney
and Roger Savage - Armstrong Studios, Melbourne, Australia.
Cover Design - Tony Hogarth and Barry Falkner
Artwork - Barry Falkner
Photography - Phillip Morris
Marcia is managed by Peter Rix at the Great Australian Sound Company

To : Tony Hogarth, Sue Cooper, MLK, The Daly Wislon Big Band & Baxter Funt my eternal gratitude. This abum is dedicated to Esmerelda McPherson of Boston, Mass.

POST CREDITS

Album rip by Simon666
Vinyl rip of "You" 45 by Micko
Cover Scans by Deutros
Link to Deni Hines album at Willforall

DOWNLOAD WAV - MP3