Dave Evans & River Bend – “Goin Round This World”
Somewhere along the lines I acquired four of Dave Evans and River Bend’s albums, their debut, the two subsequent follow-ups, skipped a year and got album five. I’ve never heard of them before, but it just looked too good to pass up. So, tonight I find out.
The album opens with some good old fashioned banjo playing as we go into the song “You Won’t Be Satisfied That Way” and you know, I wasn’t really expecting Dave to sound how he did, but I’m not turned away from it. He’s got a distinct sound, and I just feel the sound is missing something. We continue with “She Thinks I Still Care” and it’s a slower song, but I do find it to be more enjoyable than the previous. The use of the violin is quite nice. Definitely a nicer song. Continuing the album is “Pastures of Plenty” and it starts off a bit quieter, banjo playing before Dave begins to deliver his vocals, and you know I feel I could probably get into more of Dave’s albums at this specific point, but we’ll see by the end of this album. “You’ll Never Walk the Streets of Gold” comes next, and we go from that more quiet ballad type of song, to this fast, upbeat song and it’s pretty good. I’m still quite enjoying this album. We continue with “Somebody Loves You Darling” and it is a slower ballad type song again, it’s nice and you know, I get like this female sounding backing vocals on the chorus, but there are no females listed in the credits. The album closes out with another slower track, “Only One Was True” and it’s a nice relaxing song, the mandolin solo is quite beautiful. They just don’t make music like this anymore, do they?
The B-Side opens with “Be Proud of the Gray In Your Hair” and we get a nice little banjo solo opening before we start get accompanied by some bass and guitar, Dave starts to sing and we get some fiddle in the background. I think the banjo is a beautiful instrument. “Shenandoah Waltz” continues the album, and we go into a slower song once more, with some mandolin and banjo going together while Dave sings. Next we follow it “One Loaf of Bread” which according to the album credits features the duo of Landon Messer and Lundy Fields on guitar and mandolin, respectively. According to Discogs, they also performed on A4, but I feel like the credits only really state B3 (Peep the back cover and let me know your thoughts). It is a nice slow, relaxing song and the harmonies on the choruses are beautiful. “Road to Columbus” comes next, and it seems to be a banjo jam session, definitely loving this instrumental track. “The Drunkard’s Dream” follows next, and it starts off with the mandolin and banjo accompaniment before Dave begins to sing, and it is a slower song again, but it’s not bad. I do wish we had more of the instrumentals or faster paced songs, but we also have three more of Dave’s albums to listen to. The title track “Goin’ ‘Round This World” closes out the album, and it’s a faster paced song and it’s done really well.
It’s been an enjoyable listening, the music has been good. I think I’ll look into my other Dave Evans albums soon.
Catalog Number:
Banjo, Leads Vocals & Tenor Vocals on Choruses – Dave Evans
Guitar & Lead Vocals on Choruses – Clancy Fields
Fiddle – Tommy Cordell
Bass & Baritone Vocals on Choruses – Kevin Williamson
Guitar & Lead Vocals on Chorus (B3) – Landon Messer
Mandolin & Baritone Vocals on Chorus (B3) – Lundy Fields
Bass – Mike Smith
Recorded at Riverside Sound Studios, Ashland, KY.
Engineer – Lowell Varney
Cover Photography – Lynwood Atkins
Art Direction & Design – Ron Smith
Credits:
REB-1602
Released:
1981
Find it on Discogs
