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During the 1960s and early 1970s, Greenwich Village was the scene of choice for many of the legendary singer-songwriters of that amazing era, and folk and folk-rock were their styles of choice. One of the many fascinating aspects of Buzzy Linhart’s career is that he was a significant part of that scene, but he was not only a folk or folk-rock songwriter. He did write songs that could be classified under those genres, but during that amazing era and since, he wrote songs of exceptional quality in just about every genre of American popular music.

Our organizing principal for this album was to use quality unreleased studio recordings from the Buzzart archive. It turned out that the eleven recordings that we decided to use were of songs written in eleven genres. From the opening rock anthem FREE SOUL SPIRIT SYMPHONY, to the closing rollicking rhythm and blues rendition of I MIGHT BE WRONG BUT I SAY WHAT I MEAN, the album shows the breath of Buzzy’s writing talent and musical know-how.

FREE SOUL SPIRIT SYMPHONY
In 1966, Buzzy Linhart was 23, living in New York, and in the process of becoming a famous Greenwich Village singer-songwriter. The Village was teeming with singer-songwriters, who thrived on its liberal atmosphere and the creative energy that sprang from the mixing and matching of all those gifted artists.
On the other side of the continent, the counter-culture movement was flowering in the Haight-Ashbury District of San Francisco, where it asserted its trademark values of liberation and inclusiveness at places like Hippy Hill in Golden Gate Park.
A decade later, Buzzy Linhart was living in Los Angels and with friends wrote the first song on this album, FREE SOUL SPIRIT SYMPHONY, a song that exquisitely evokes the sweet soul spirit of San Francisco in the Sixties and the joyful, inclusive consciousness of that time and place. The use of the chorus elevates the production into a kind of pop-rock anthem.

HURTS SO BAD THAT IT MUST BE LOVE
Buzzy produced this recording of HURTS SO BAD in 1982, and used it on an independently produced, extinct album called FOUR SIDES OF BUZZY LINHART. The lyrics play on the paradox that love also hurts, and move the singer-narrator progressively deeper into that strange and helpless feeling. Buzzy loved a chorus, and used one whenever possible. In producing this recording of HURTS SO BAD THAT IT MUST BE LOVE, he used the great Chambers Brothers, one of the iconographic choruses of the 1960s. Buzzy sings his heart out as usual, and the rest of the all-star big few roster includes Laurence Juber on guitar, Nicky Hopkins on piano, Denny Seiwell on drums, Tim Bogert on bass, Alfred Johnson on organ, and Chris Huston on tambourine.

CALICO
CALICO is an inspirational ballad about a young woman facing an emotional crisis, who gets a helping nudge from the singer-narrator. Of course, there is a chorus backing up Buzzy’s moving singing.
HAPPY BLUES

Buzzy loves to play upon contradictions and with HAPPY BLUES he turns the blues genre on its head. Buzzy is an eclectic writer, and has written songs in just about every genre. But as this recording demonstrates, deep down, Buzzy’s roots are in the blues.

I BELIEVE IT TONIGHT
This is straight ahead, up-tempo, rock and roll. Buzzy co-produced this recording with Moogy Klingman, an excellent musician, producer, and songwriter in his own right. Buzzy has collaborated with Moogy in writing many outstanding songs, including the mega hit FRIENDS, a song that became the signature song for their mutual friend Bette Midler.

HOLE IN MY LIFE
This is a love ballad in waltz time about yearning for the loss of a true lover. Like many of Buzzy’s songs, however, it has several levels of meaning, and can also be heard as a song about the yearning that comes about when one has lost faith. It is one of the few songs on this album that does not have back-up singers. Buzzy often used a soulful saxophone in his arrangements, as is heard in this recording.

CELEBRATE THE NIGHT
Buzzy uses a calypso rhythm, and somehow manages to create a kind of Caribbean surrealistic atmosphere with it. He learned percussion while in the Navy Band, and he uses that training to splendid effect in this production. In this recording Buzzy uses his vocalese chops, and he does so with virtuosity and wonderful inventiveness.

BAD GIRL
Buzzy collaborated with many outstanding songwriters, including Jordan Kaplan, with whom he co-wrote this song. In this recording, Buzzy uses his considerable talent for the theatrical. Musicians on this recording became Bette Midler’s back-up band in the motion picture ROSE.

I BET YOU GOTTA COME BACK TO ME
Buzzy and I produced the recording of this song in Minneapolis in 1986. The song starts out as straight ahead rock and roll, then takes on a circus atmosphere. Buzzy took on a kind of Peter Pan persona during his days in Minneapolis, and hung out with many of the fine local bands in the area. Many of these fine musicians formed the chorus for this production.

LOVE IS A SYMPHONY
This is a pop love song arranged in a grand, majestic setting. The musicians on this recording are the same as are on THE BAD GIRL, above, who appeared in the Bette Midler motion picture THE ROSE.

I MIGHT BE WRONG BUT I SAY WHAT I MEAN
This is another recording that Buzzy and I produced during the Minneapolis days. It is one of many very funny songs in the Buzzy Linhart body of works. In this song, Buzzy adopts the rhythm and blues form to make the point that “It will make you strong if you only learn to say what you mean.”
We have carefully re-mastered these recordings to bring out as much clarity as possible without compromising the original performances, and we proudly present the result of that effort with

“Buzzy Linhart-Studio.”

It is our hope that the release of this album and the launching of the Official Website www.buzzylinhart.com will begin to bring about a long overdue revival of the work of this extraordinary artist and to demonstrate the significant and almost forgotten role that Buzzy played in the history and evolution of American popular music.

1. FREE SOUL SPIRIT SYMPHONY
Words and music by Buzzy Linhart (Buzzart Enterprises Inc/BMI), Marty Kupersmith, Danny Meehan, and Peter Andreoli (Andreoli Music, Ltd)
Recorded at Shelter Studio, Los Angeles, 1976.
Produced by Buzzy Linhart
Vocal Buzzy Linhart
Bass Jim Fielder
Drums Steve Turner
Lead guitar Ralph Hammer
Piano Nissan Eventoff

2. IT HURTS SO BAD THAT IT MUST BE LOVE
Words and Music by Buzzy Linhart (Buzzart Enterprises Inc/BMI)
Recorded and mixed at Far Out Studios, Hollywood CA, 1982
Produced by Buzzy Linhart
Engineered by Chris Huston
Vocal Buzzy Linhart
Guitar Laurence Juber
Piano Nicky Hopkins
Drums Denny Seiwell
Bass Tim Bogert
Organ Alfred Johnson
Tambourine Chris Huston
Chorus The Chambers Brothers

3. CALICO
Words and music by Buzzy Linhart (Buzzart Enterprises Inc/BMI)
Recorded at Shelter Studio, Los Angeles, 1976.
Produced by Buzzy Linhart
Vocal Buzzy Linhart
Bass Jim Fielder
Drums Steve Turner
Lead guitar Ralph Hammer
Piano Nissan Eventoff

4. HAPPY BLUES
Words and music by Buzzy Linhart (Buzzart Enterprises Inc/BMI)
Recorded at Shelter Studio, Los Angeles, 1976.
Produced by Buzzy Linhart
Vocal Buzzy Linhart
Bass Jim Fielder
Drums Steve Turner
Lead guitar Ralph Hammer
Piano Nissan Eventoff
Sax Frank Eventoff

5. I BELIEVE IT TONIGHT
Words and music by Buzzy Linhart (Buzzart Enterprises Inc/BMI)
Recorded at High Five Studio, NYC, 1983
Produced by Buzzy Linhart and Moogy Klingman
Lead Vocal, Acoustic Guitar and Tom Tom Drum Buzzy Linhart
Lead guitars Joe Berger and Jeff Sigman
Synthesizer Moogy Klingman
Bass John Seigler
Drums Keith John
Percussion Andrew Friedman
Chorus Kati Mac, Michael Gladstone, G Parker and Buzzy Linhart

6. HOLE IN MY LIFE WITHOUT YOU
Words and music by Buzzy Linhart (Buzzart Enterprises Inc/BMI)
Recorded at Mountain High Studio, Boulder, Colorado, overdubbed at Bias Recording Studio, and mixed by Marty Feldman at Paragon Studio, Chicago, 1985
Produced by Buzzy Linhart
Co-producer Jeffry Blumenauer
Vocal Buzzy Linhart
Sax Tim Eyermann
Drums Michael Clarke
Guitar Buzzy Linhart

7. CELEBRATE THE NIGHT
Words and music by Words and music by Buzzy Linhart (Buzzart Enterprises Inc/BMI) and Marty Kupersmith
Recorded at High Five Studio, NYC, 1983
Produced by Buzzy Linhart and Moogy Klingman
Lead Vocal, Acoustic Guitar and Tom Tom Drum Buzzy Linhart
Lead guitars Joe Berger and Jeff Sigman
Synthesizer Moogy Klingman
Bass John Seigler
Drums Keith John
Percussion Andrew Friedman
Chorus Kati Mac, Michael Gladstone, G Parker and Buzzy Linhart

8. BAD GIRL
Words and music by Buzzy Linhart (Buzzart Enterprises Inc/BMI) and Jordan Kaplan (Hidden Music Inc-BMI)
Recorded at Nimbus Nine Studio, Toronto, 1974
Produced by Buzzy Linhart
Vocal Buzzy Linhart
Guitar and Banjo Steve Hunter
Bass Prakash Jahn
Drums Penti “Whitey” Glan

9. I BET YOU GOTTA COME BACK TO ME
Words and music by Buzzy Linhart (Buzzart Enterprises Inc/BMI)
Recorded in at Maple Plain Studio, Minnessota, 1986
Produced by Buzzy Linhart and Art Berggren
Vocal Buzzy Linhart
Lead G uitar Jeff Loven
Drums Mike
Bass Paul
Percussion Neil Sundet
Sax Ric O’Dell

10. LOVE IS A SYMPHONY
Words and music by Buzzy Linhart (Buzzart Enterprises Inc/BMI) and Doug Rodrigues
Recorded at Nimbus Nine Studio, Toronto, 1974
Produced by Buzzy Linhart
Lead Vocal Buzzy Linhart
Guitar and Banjo Steve Hunter
Bass Prakash Jahn
Drums Penti “Whitey” Glan

11. I MIGHT BE WRONG BUT I SAY WHAT I MEAN
Words and music by Buzzy Linhart (Buzzart Enterprises Inc/BMI)
Recorded at Maple Plain Studio, Minnessota, 1986
Produced by Buzzy Linhart and Art Berggren
Lead Vocal Buzzy Linhart
Lead Guitar Jeff Loven
Piano Bruce McCabe
Bass Paul
Drums Mike

Produced by Art Berggren
Conceived and re-mastered by Bill Black
Artwork by Lamont Robinson
Artwork and design layout by Richard De Siato
Special thanks to
Jesse Colin Young, Moogy Klingman, Xeno Rasmussen, Shelly Toscano, David Schlossberg, Shannon Reily, Cathy Cavella, and Alex Merino.

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Genre: Rock: Folk Rock
Release Date: 2006