New Train

New Train features Grateful Dead member Jerry Garcia playing pedal steel guitar and Merl Saunders (frequent collaborator with Garcia and the Dead) on keyboards on "Venutian Lady" and "New Train",New Train CD liner notes. and the a cappella group The Persuasions singing on "Gonna Move" and "Let's Move and Groove."{{cite press release |title=27 Year Old Album Finally Sees Light Of Day |publisher=Kathryn Schenker Associates |date=June 8, 2000 |url=http://www.genghisblues.com/paul/album_press_release.html}}

Stylistically, the album runs the gamut from straight-up rock and roll (on the original version of "Jet Airliner") to folk to acid rock (on the Jimi Hendrix-esque "Cosmic Mirror") to Rhythm and Blues on the standout track "Gonna Move". The Grateful Dead-inspired "Venutian Lady" echoes their hit "Bertha".

Albert Grossman, owner of Bearsville Records, stopped release of the record after a dispute, possibly over the marketability of the record,{{cite news |url=http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/uniontrib/20051009/news_lz1j9pena.html |title=Paul Pena; musician endured difficult life |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=October 9, 2005 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} or, according to Sidran, Pena's refusal to relocate to the East Coast to work more closely with Grossman.{{cite web |url=http://bensidran.com/production/new-train |title=New Train / Paul Pena |publisher=Ben Sidran |accessdate=2016-01-20}}

Ben Sidran gave an unreleased copy of New Train to Steve Miller, who recorded Pena's "Jet Airliner" with his band for their 1977 album Book of Dreams. The "Jet Airliner" single went to #8 on the Billboard chart. Pena's primary source of income in his later years were royalties from that single.

The album remained unreleased for 27 years. After years of unsuccessful attempts, Pena's attorney (and original executive producer on the album) Jon Waxman negotiated for the album's release in 2000 on the New York-based Hybrid Recordings label.{{cite news |title=Blues Singer Fighting For His Life, Career / Paul Pena's record out despite many setbacks |first=James |last=Sullivan |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |date=October 30, 2000 |url=http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Blues-Singer-Fighting-For-His-Life-Career-Paul-3238453.php}}

All songs written by Pena except as indicated.

1. "Gonna Move" – 4:31
2. "New Train" – 4:53
3. "Jet Airliner" – 5:42
4. "Wait On What You Want" – 3:28
5. "Venutian Lady" – 4:43
6. "Cosmic Mirror" – 5:23
7. "Let's Move And Groove Together" (Johnny Nash) – 4:13
8. "Indian Boy" – 4:37
9. "A Bit Of All Right" – 3:43
10. "Taking Your Love Down" – 2:52

• Paul Pena - guitar, piano and vocals
• Ben Sidran - piano and organ
• Harvey Brooks - bass guitar
• Gary Mallaber - drums and percussion

• Jerry Garcia - pedal steel guitar on "Venutian Lady" and "New Train"
• Merl Saunders - keyboards on "Venutian Lady" and "New Train"
• The Persuasions - background vocals on "Gonna Move"
• Charles Greene - background vocals on "Let's Move and Groove Together"
• Arthur Adams - guitar on "A Bit of All Right"
• Dave Woodward - saxophone on "Cosmic Mirror"
• Nick DeCaro - arranged strings
• The Funky ladies - additional background vocals

• Producer: Ben Sidran
• Executive Producers: Jon M. Waxman and Gunther Weil
• Engineers: Adam Taylor and Bruce Botnick
• Mixing: Ben Sidran and Marty Feldman
• Mastering: George Marino
• Liner Notes: Ben Sidran
• Slipcase photograph: Jennifer Cheek Pantaleon
• Recorded at Intermedia in Boston and Wally Heider Studios in San Francisco

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Category:1973 albums

Category:2000 albums

Category:Paul Pena albums