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Due to copyright issues, we’re not able to offer you this particular title directly …
plus we don’t know of ANYwhere you can buy this CD … not even at Amazon!?!?!?
But, if you contact us directly, we may “know a guy!”
Orleans goes to Nashville!
The History:
Since John left the band in 1977, Larry and Lance had not spent much time with him. And, in October of 1984, the brothers were exhausted from an endless uphill-climb of touring. They were decidedly NOT “still havin’ fun” and, so, agreed to put Orleans to bed.
No sooner had they made that decision, they all got the sad news of Wells Kellys’ untimely death.
A memorial gig reunited Larry with John (Lance was unable to attend). That occasion was truly special on many levels. Larry confides, “One of the things we quickly realized was, that even though we’d not sung and played together for quite a while, we still sounded really good and enjoyed each other on stage immensely. The chemistry was very much still there between John and me. In a way, it was Wells’ death that provided the catalyst for some healing between us and opened the door to new beginnings. Thank you, Wells!”
Meanwhile …
There had been some interest from MCA in Nashville expressed to Johanna Hall about Orleans making an album there with Tony Brown. Tony, who is today one of the icons of the Nashville music industry, was a veteran of Elvis’ band and an upcoming producer under country label mogul Jimmy Bowen’s guidance.
John, Larry and Lance decided to “exhume” Orleans in order to pursue this possibility, making new demos of their best new songs at John’s studio in Saugerties, NY, and spending a lot of time as a group in Nashville.
The resulting album was the pop/country hybrid, “Grown Up Children”, released in 1986. It contains cool cameos by Ricky Skaggs, Chet Atkins, Bela Fleck, Steve Wariner … and it featured some of Nashville’s finest musicians on the tracks, including the late, great Larrie London on drums.
But this was at a time before the was such a thing as a Restless Heart … the band that arguably invented “Country Crossover.” Armed with Nashville’s most successful songwriters, they paved the way for others (Diamond Rio, Lonestar, Little Texas and later, Rascal Flatts, Lady Antebellum, etc.) to walk that fine line that could get you airplay on both Country and Adult Contemporary Pop radio. There was no model for Orleans to look to (other than possibly Alabama … but not really).
And so, the album got very little airplay. It was too Pop for Country radio and too Country for Pop radio, we conclude.
But, as always, Orleans fans liked it (if and when they could find it).
And now YOU have found it! Enjoy!
