RICK SPRINGFIELD – Working Class Dog [Rock Candy remaster]

Two of the more celebrated RICK SPRINGFIELD‘s albums from the ’80s have received a Remaster treatment by Rock Candy Records specialists.”Working Class Dog” is one of his finest moments, plenty of guitar-driven mainstream rock&pop / melodic rock songs expertly crafted.

Of Australian origin, Springfield moved to the US in the seventies and put his musical facet aside while his acting career was growing in leaps and bounds, affording him am envious profile.
It wasn’t long before record companies came knocking and by 1981 Rick had secured a contract with RCA and released the album “Working Class Dog”, a triumph of melody and muscle.

Recorded in his adopted home of Los Angeles, at the now famed Sound City studios with a production combination of Springfield, Bill Drescher and ‘polish master’ Keith Olsen, the album exploded out of the box to become one of the biggest selling records of the year achieving over three million units.
For the album, Springfield was awarded the next year with the Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male.

In addition, the massive hit “Jessie’s Girl” reached #1 on the charts, helping to define his clean cut rock&pop style and providing a watershed mark for the rest of his career.
Penning nine of the ten songs himself, it was left to fellow rocker Sammy Hagar to provide the second hit single taken from this record, the rocking “I’ve Done Everything For You”, a song originally written in 1977 but never recorded.
More pearls are found on “Love is Alright Tonite”, “Hole In My Heart” and “Carry Me Away” with the same tasty guitar playing and polished vocals.

As impressive as the songs themselves are some of the players involved. Neil Giraldo of Pat Benatar fame was possibly the best pop/rock guitarist of the time (though he never has gotten the respect he deserves) and his fingerprints are all over this album. He has a knack for creating cool guitar hooks and jaw dropping solos like nobody else in this genre.

The album also features the guitar work of virtuoso Robben Ford. With those cats in tow, let’s just say Rick Springfield had his guitar bases covered. But Rick is actually a solid guitarist, and he plays most of the rhythm riffs here.
And there’s more; the drum work by legends Mike Baird and Jack White, the precise bass lines of Jeff Rich nad the keyboards of Gabe Katona (Player, Fortress), and we have a top class studio team.

As near a perfect melodic album as you could wish for, “Working Class Dog” set the standard for radio friendly rock for much of the ’80s.
The Rock Candy Special Deluxe Collector’s Edition features as well 3 bonus tracks, fully remastered shaped from 24 BIT digital technology.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

01 – Love Is Alright Tonite
02 – Jessie’s Girl
03 – Hole In My Heart
04 – Carry Me Away
05 – I’ve Done Everything For You
06 – The Light Of Love
07 – Everybody’s Girl
08 – Daddy’s Pearl
09 – Red Hot And Blue Love
10 – Inside Silvia
BONUS TRACKS:
11 – Easy To Cry
12 – Taxi Dancing [original version]
13 – Jessie’s Girl [demo version]

Rick Springfield – vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards
Robben Ford – guitar
Neil Giraldo – guitar, bass
Gabriel Katona – keyboards
Jeff Eyrich – bass
Mike Baird, Jack White – drums
Jeremiah Cox – winds, background vocals
Tom Kelly – background vocals

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www.barnesandnoble.com/w/working-class-dog-rick-springfield/27535417
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