Duet (Illinois Speed Press, 1970)

It turns out that I chronicled the Illnois Speed Press fairly well in my post from July of their first, self-titled album. So I won't delve into band history much here, other than to say that Illinois Speed Press and Duet sport two mostly-different lineups. Whereas the first album was the band Illinois Speed Press, Duet, as the name insinuates, is singer/guitarists Paul Cotton and Kal David backed by session musicians, including Wrecking Crew drummer Hal Blaine.

Throughout the album, listeners will notice not just the instrumental shift from "band" style tracks to more of a solo artist with a session backup band sound, but also that the vocal emphasis is far more centered on Cotton than David. This probably has much to do with the songs of the album being more suited to Cotton's more country-style delivery. David's approach is more bluesy; think of label-mate Chicago's Terry Kath. He gets his turn with "The Visit", but the day belongs to Cotton here, probably peaking with "Dearly", sporting an achingly emotional string section paired with what sounds like Chicago's horn section. One should probably keep in mind that the explosive success of Chicago was probably heavy on their common producer's mind. Also, bands like Crosby, Stills & Nash and the Flying Burrito Brothers were clearly making an imprint on the band at this point in ways not evident on the previous album.

I go back and forth on which album is the better of the two. If you like adventure, I'd recommend the first album with its mix of late-era psych and lush acoustic numbers. However, Duet is a more polished and consistent effort. That consistency, mind you, is a good deal more rural in flavor, so it isn't necessarily an across-the-board improvement. Unlike many bands of the period, however, the very fact they even released a second album is a remarkable fact in itself!

Soon after Duet was released and did not chart, Paul Cotton was drafted into Poco, where he would spend most of the next forty years (he would import this album's "Bad Weather" to their third album). Kal David mostly vanished. As noted above, these career trajectories were well in place during the recording of this album.