Looking Glass (Looking Glass album)
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Looking Glass
| type = studio
| artist = Looking Glass
| cover = LookingGlassAlbum.jpg
| alt =
| released = {{start date text|June 6, 1972}}
| recorded = 1971
| venue =
| studio = Regent Sound Studios, New York, New York
| genre = {{flatlist|
}}
| length = 31:00
| label = Epic
| producer = Looking Glass, Bob Liftin
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title = Subway Serenade
| next_year = 1973
| misc = {{Singles
| name =
Looking Glass
| type = studio
| single1 = Don't It Make You Feel Good
| single1date = {{start date text|January 1972}}
| single2 = Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)
| single2date = {{start date text|May 1972}}
| single3 = Golden Rainbow
| single3date = {{start date text|November 1972}}
}}
}}
{{Music ratings
|rev1 = Allmusic
|rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web |first= |last= |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id= r43551/review|pure_url=yes}} |title=Review by Joe Viglione |publisher=Allmusic.com |accessdate=October 28, 2011}}
|rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide
|rev2Score = C−{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|publisher=Ticknor & Fields|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: L|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=L&bk=70|accessdate=March 1, 2019|via=robertchristgau.com}}
}}Looking Glass is the self-titled debut album released by the band Looking Glass in 1972.
Background
The group had been playing all up and down the East Coast in clubs, and one night they were spotted by Clive Davis at the Whisky a Go Go.{{cite web|url=http://www.marstalent.com/utopia/bio_looking_glass.htm |title=Looking Glass Bio - Utopia Artists |publisher=Marstalent.com |date= |accessdate=February 9, 2012}} Davis, who at the time was the president of Columbia Records, signed them to the Epic Records label. After trying to record two times (once with Steve Cropper in Memphis), the band began working with Bob Liftin and recorded "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)". It was not released as the single's A-side, but as the B-side to "Don't It Make You Feel Good" in early 1972. The song went unnoticed by most, but not by Harv Moore, a disc jockey in Washington, D.C. The song would go on to peak 6 months after its release, and the album charted for 16 weeks in the U.S.{{cite web|last=Eder |first=Bruce |url=http://new.music.yahoo.com/looking-glass/biography/ |title=Looking Glass Biography - Yahoo! Music |publisher=New.music.yahoo.com |date= |accessdate=February 9, 2012}}
Critical reception
In his review of the album, Robert Christgau said simply: "This automatic good time doesn't even have the courage of its own slickness."https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=4878
Track listing
Original LP order listed. The cassette listing differs in that "From Stanton Station" replaces "Brandy" on the A-Side while "Brandy" opens the B-Side.
{{track listing
| headline = Side one
| extra_column = Lead Vocals
| title1 = Jenny-Lynne
| writer1 = Pieter Sweval
| length1 = 3:02
| extra1 = Sweval
| title2 = Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)
| writer2 = Elliot Lurie
| length2 = 3:07
| extra2 = Lurie
| title3 = Catherine Street
| writer3 = Sweval
| length3 = 5:48
| extra3 = Sweval
| title4 = Don't It Make You Feel Good
| writer4 = Lurie
| length4 = 2:51
| extra4 = Lurie
}}
{{track listing
| headline = Side two
| extra_column = Lead Vocals
| title5 = Golden Rainbow
| writer5 = Lurie
| length5 = 3:05
| extra5 = Lurie
| title6 = Dealin' With The Devil
| writer6 = Sweval
| length6 = 3:18
| extra6 = Sweval
| title7 = From Stanton Station
| writer7 = Lurie
| length7 = 3:48
| extra7 = Lurie
| title8 = One By One
| writer8 = Sweval
| length8 = 6:01
| extra8 = Sweval
}}
Personnel
;Looking Glass
- Elliot Lurie - Guitars, lead vocals
- Pieter "Piet" Sweval - Bass, lead vocals, harp on "Catherine Street" and "From Stanton Station"
- Larry Gonsky - Keyboards, background vocals
- Jeff Grob - Drums
;Additional personnel
- Chuck Connolly - Backup vocals on "Brandy"
- Tasha Thomas, Barbara Massey, Carolyn Davis - Backup vocals on "Don't It Make You Feel Good" (credited as Tasha Thomas and the Feel Good Girls)
- Eddie Hinton - Guitar (with Elliot Lurie) on "Golden Rainbow"
- James Giampa - Congas on "Brandy"
- Larry Fallon - Horns/Strings arrangements
- Tim Geelan, Wayne Tarnowski, Pete Weiss (on "Brandy", uncredited),https://www.weissy.com/ Billy Radice - Engineer
- Ed Lee - Cover design
- KLN Photos Inc. - Cover photo
- Bob Liftin - Producer/Audio Consultant
- Mike Gershman - Executive producer
- Steve Paley - Special thanks/Back cover photo
- Don Ellis, Steve Baron, Sandy Linzer, Karmic Guardians - Special thanks
All songs published by Evie Music Inc./ Spruce Run Music and Chappell & Co., Inc. (ASCAP)
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Looking Glass (band) albums