Pan - Pan 1973

Released three years after his post-Beau Brummels solo album "Candlemaker", 1973's "Pan" found Ron Elliott returning to the recording environment with the band Pan. Showcasing the talents of singer Keith Barbour, drummer Don Francisco, bassist Sherman Hayes, and lead guitarist Arthur Richards, the high-powered line-up quickly scored a contract with Columbia Records. With Elliott responsible for all of the material, musically the album was quite diverse. Tracks such as 'Long Way Home', 'Garbage Man', and 'More Than My Guitar' made it clear Elliott had been listening to more than his share of early-'70s country-rock bands - echoes of The Flying Burrito Brothers, Michael Nesmith, and Poco abounded throughout the collection. That wasn't to say Elliott had totally lost his fascination with more commercial genres. 'Love Glow (Calamity Jane)' was near-perfect top-40 pop, while 'Lady Honey' and 'Dancing To The Band' both included buoyant CS&Y-styled harmonies. Mind you, the album wasn't perfect. 'Delinga de Mattei' was a throwaway old-timey ballad, while Barbour's performance on 'The Puppet' came precariously close to the MOR material that made him a mid-'60s solo star (though there was no denying he had a killer voice). Speaking of voices, as much as I enjoyed this album, to my ears one of the set's most interesting dynamics lay in how different Barbour and Elliott were. Exemplified by tracks like ' Love Glow (Calamity Jane)', Elliott had a light, commercially-friendly voice. In contrast, Barbour had a deep, gruff, soulful voice. Hearing them sharing lead vocals on the same song ('Long Way Home'), was interesting, if somewhat jarring.

Columbia doesn't seem to have done much to promote the LP. No singles seem to have been released and you seldom run across a copy of the album. Anyhow, anyone expecting to hear Beau Brummels-styled top-40 pop was probably going to be disappointed by the set, which would be unfortunate since the album was quite enjoyable.

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