The reformed
Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds replaced
Tommy Reynolds with
Alan Dennison on piano and vocals for this beautiful pop album,
Fallin' in Love. A far cry from their 1965 Top Five hit as The T-Bones and more elegant than their 1971 Top Five hit on ABC Dunhill, "Don't Pull Your Love," the late
Dan Hamilton penned two-and-a-half brilliant middle of the road classics: the top 25 "Winners And Losers" (that being the half-classic), the number one title track "Fallin' in Love," and the phenomenal "Everyday Without You," a 45 that failed to crack the top 40. This album is a paradox; the piano and orchestration pull you into the blue-eyed version of the Philly sound on "Winners and Losers" while side two goes nowhere fast. A cover of McDaniel's classic "Who Do You Love" on this easy listening album is as absurd as
Aerosmith opening for
Mahavishnu Orchestra in the '70s, which they did, which just goes to show the need of a
George Martin or David Foster to keep the self-indulgence down. But, on the plus side, the sterling "Everyday Without You" is every bit as good, if not better, than "Fallin' in Love," in every way. In production, instrumentation, and composition side one of this disc is a pop masterpiece, vocally and spiritually. That's not to say side two doesn't have its moments: the little dips into country are actually C&W meets adult contemporary, and that's not a bad formula, despite how rough and out of place "Badman" and "Barroom Blues" seem here. They can't compare to side one's mellow majesty, the nick of
Neil Young/
Gene Pitney performances on "Only Love (Will Break Your Heart)," and the poppy "What Kind of Love Is This." Add the earlier hit "Don't Pull Your Love," with its
Tony Burrows/
Edison Lighthouse/
White Plains influences, into this heavy vocal mix, remove the superfluous material, and you have an adult contemporary pop phenomenon. "Fallin' in Love" was so universal in melody and theme that soulful versions found their way into clubs and set lists.
Dan Hamilton was certainly an underrated and creative talent, and this album is an achievement by an artist who should have had many more hits leading a multi-talented band.
–
Joe Viglione, Rovi