B.J. Thomas - Most Of All 1970

There are Bacharach/David songs here -- “(They Long to Be) Close to You” had then been recently popularized by the Carpenters, but there are no new songs written expressly for B.J. Thomas. Instead, there’s a shift toward solid, generic, professional writers who could write toward the sound of the times without quite delivering memorable tunes. That said, they’re hardly unpleasant tunes. but, then again, the point of Thomas’ career at this point was to be pleasant, and in that regard, Most of All succeeds very well, trumping Everybody’s Out of Town. Part of its success is that the songs are designed to be pleasing soft rock -- there’s none of Bacharach/David’s neo-vaudeville, instead there’s subdued, symphonic Joe South soul in “No Love at All,” and a bit of trippy post-hippie pop in Chip Taylor’s “Circle Round the Sun” -- sounds that fit well with the dripping sentiments of “I Don’t Know Any Better.” Thomas never pushes forward on this material; he settles into its shag carpet, and if there’s not much distinction in that sound, there is at least a bit of period comfort. AMG

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B.J. Thomas - Everybody's Out Of Town 1970

Following up the success of “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” may have been the easiest thing B.J. Thomas ever had to do it professionally. He now had the sound, the style, and the songwriters, all he had to do was offer some more of the same, and that’s precisely what 1970’s Everybody’s Out of Town offered. The LP had the same mix of new tunes from major pop songwriters -- Bacharach & David, authors of “Raindrops,” being the most prominent, naturally -- covers of current popular tunes (“Everybody’s Talkin’,” “Oh Me, Oh My,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” Jr. Walker’s “What Does It Take”), and a host of pleasant MOR material. There are some subtle differences -- there’s a little bit of a heavier soul vibe here, and Bacharach/David’s shuffling neo-vaudeville tunes somewhat oddly build upon the old-timey vibe of Butch Cassidy -- but the chief allure of the album is its softness, how it can still seem smooth when Thomas is pouring whatever remnants of his soulful past into his phrasing. This may not have much grit, but it’s not meant to: it’s lush MOR, and in that regard, it does its job well, if not without a whole lot of distinction. AMG.

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B.J. Thomas - On My Way 1968

On My Way is an appropriate title for B.J. Thomas’ third album, as this is the record that put the Texas singer on a path toward the top of the charts thanks to the hit “Hooked on a Feeling.” Buzzing with sitars and draped in strings, this single is a quintessential piece of late-‘60s pop and it illustrates how far Thomas had moved from the rootless roots music of his first two Sceptre albums. Surely, there are traces of that country-soul singer, particularly on the slow ballad “Four Walls,” but a better indication of where B.J.’s head is at is in his loungey replica of Jose Feliciano’s reworking of “Light My Fire,” and a super-smooth reading of “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.” These two cuts are unapologetically adult contemporary, suggesting the direction he would later take in his career, but on the whole, On My Way doesn’t find Thomas idling in the middle of the road, preferring the paisley-colored pop of “Hooked on a Feeling” for the bulk of the record. “The Eyes of a New York Woman” is cut from the same cloth as “Hooked” -- appropriately enough, it’s written by the same songwriter, Mark James -- as is the beguilingly awkward stab at social relevancy “Mr. Businessman,” but this spangly production is also applied to the fuzz-guitar-and-organ ballad “Gone,” the syrupy strings of “Sandman,” and the tempered country-soul of “I Saw Pity in the Face of a Friend.” These are stronger songs than Thomas received on his first two records, and the production is richer, and more colorful, and it all results in his most satisfying LP to date. AMG.

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