Hip Li'l Dreams
Sons of Champlin - Dig Music

It’s good to see Sons of Champlin back with their first album of new material in nearly 29 years.
Bill Champlin is a great songwriter, a fine guitarist/keyboardist and has a voice perfectly suited for the blue-eyed R&B/soul/funk that, along with their organ-and-horn-driven sound and beat-poet-philosophy lyrics, set the Sons apart from other late-’60s/early-’70s San Francisco bands.

Their last studio release was 1977’s “Loving Is Why.” Since disbanding in 1978, Champlin moved to Los Angeles to be a studio musician/songwriter, joined Chicago and released the occasional solo album. But by 1997, Chicago hadn’t – and still hasn’t – put out an album of original material since 1991’s “Twenty 1.” The time was right to reform the Sons.
A couple of live albums proved they still had their chops. Original lead guitarist Terry Haggerty has left again, but Geoff Palmer (keys), David Schallock (bass) and James Preston (drums) are still on board.

The material on “Dreams,” recorded over the last five years, includes new versions of “For Joy” and “Swim” (both from 1973’s “Welcome to the Dance”) and “Light Up the Candles” (from Champlin’s 1996 solo record, “Through It All”). As for the rest, the 15-minute songs and idealistic themes may be gone, but the groove is not; the Sons remain a viable concern.

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