Amram, David - Summer Nights, Winter Rain

Tracks

Side 1

		Track Name	Length
	1	Summer Nights, Winter Rain	03:38
	2	Little Momma	04:04
	3	Your Smile On My Mind	03:34
	4	Song for Kenya	04:16
	5	Old Man and the Children	04:48

Side 2

		Track Name	Length
	1	Greasy Spoon	03:25
	2	Deep South Evening Light	03:22
	3	The Mountain Song	03:15
	4	Pull My Daisy	04:18
	5	Alfred the Hog	03:19

Photos

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Information/Write-up

Although No More Walls was conceived by American composer, multi-instrumentalist, and author David Amram (born November 17, 1930, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), it was very much a Canadian production — and a blend of both live and studio recordings. Captured in Toronto in March 1976 with an all-Canadian supporting cast including Shirley Eikhard, Shingoose, Herb Spanier, and members of the country’s jazz and folk scenes, the album reflected Amram’s boundary-defying approach to music-making.

Amram’s career by that point was already wide-ranging — he had worked with Thelonious Monk, Leonard Bernstein, Charles Mingus, Jack Kerouac, and Willie Nelson, scored films for Elia Kazan, and served as the New York Philharmonic’s first composer-in-residence. A passionate advocate for cross-cultural music-making, he was equally at home in symphonic halls, jazz clubs, and folk festivals such as Mariposa and Winnipeg.

In interviews from the period, Amram described No More Walls as an extension of his “one world of music” philosophy — blending jazz, folk, Native American, Latin, and world influences into a collaborative, communal sound. The Toronto sessions captured that spirit, bringing together musicians from diverse traditions in a live-in-studio atmosphere that reflected the improvisatory energy of his festival appearances.

Issued exclusively in Canada by RCA, the album came with a lyric sheet and included selections recorded in concert. It stands as a testament not only to Amram’s boundary-erasing musical vision but also to the strength and versatility of Canadian players in the 1970s who embraced his open-ended approach to music-making.
-Robert Williston

David Amram: lead vocals, steel string and electric guitars, acoustic and electric piano, flutes, whistles, kazoo, French horn, assorted percussion
Charlie Chin: acoustic guitar (lead and rhythm), banjo
Shirley Eikhard: vocal harmonies
Beaver Harris: drums, assorted percussion
Ray Mantilla: congas, percussion
Tony Markellis: fretless electric bass, acoustic bass
Shingoose: plains rattle, percussion
Herb Spanier: trumpet

Arranged by David Amram
Produced by Gerald O’Brien
Executive producer: Dennis F. O’Brien
Recording engineer: David Green
Assistant engineers: Wayne Kubow, Barry Parrott
Digital editing by Larry Keough
Recorded and mixed at RCA Studios, Toronto, Ontario
Additional recording at Manta Sound, Toronto, Ontario
Special thanks to The Music Annex, South San Francisco; Montreal; and Cathy Young of Seneca Theatre Centre

Front jacket photography and design consultation by Bruce Cole, Blic Photography Ltd.
Back jacket photography by Chris Allioace, Art Usheron

Thanks to Yve Offrand, Madeline Bruser, Hugh Romney, Wavy Gravy
Thanks to Nairobi’s Fanik Ju Ju Band and Claire Aca for the inspiration for “Song for Kenya”
Special appreciation to the World Council of Churches for the opportunity to go to Nairobi, Kenya

All songs written by David Amram except “Pull My Daisy” (words by Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, music by David Amram)
Some selections recorded in concert, Toronto, Canada, March 1976

"His accomplishments and his grasp of various musics and styles are something to marvel at."
—Bob Palmer, Rolling Stone

"The response to his work from the capacity audiences, drawn from high school and other East Toronto area schools and students of East York and West Toronto was so spontaneous that, long after Amram had stopped conducting and playing, they had to be literally shooed out of the hall."
—John Fraser, Globe and Mail, Toronto, Canada

"Amram commands respect and gets it without sacrificing his personality, his humor, or his sense of joy. The man himself is a walking, talking, composing, improvising and performing celebration of the wondrous multiplicity of the world's music and music makers."
—Ann Holmes, Houston Chronicle

"America's Renaissance Man of American Music"
—M. Rensel, Philadelphia Inquirer

"An unselfish, imaginative musician, a conductor of vision and a jazz musician of rare intuition, rare intent and rare honesty."
—Don Nelson, Chicago Daily News

"Because his multi-racial and multi-musical background he is known as 'The Prince of Peace' "
—Geoff Chapman, Toronto Star and Whitchurch Times, Canada

"He has the wit to know when to stop."
—Beryl Wright, Down Beat

"Being with David Amram has something to say and says it well."
—Peter Guralnick, Boston Globe

"A natural entertainer ... his boundless enthusiasm and versatility guarantee him a place on anyone's list of the most gifted people in music today."
—Martin Bookspan, CBS Television

"A natural man for All Musical Seasons"
—L. Peatman, Los Angeles Times

"David Amram is what music is all about."
—Oliver Roosevelt, The Brattleboro Reformer

"It is not the instrument which makes the music come alive but the musician himself ... Amram has the natural storyteller's gift."
—Ann Holmes, Houston Chronicle

"David Amram is a universalist who embraces all styles and all people."
—John Fraser, Globe and Mail, Toronto, Canada

"He is one of the few musicians I know who gets you talking and thinking about music as much as he plays it."
—Ann Krekeland, Globe and Mail, Toronto, Canada

"He is what music is all about."
—Bill Zimmerman, The Evening Star, Washington, D.C.

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