Bill Champlin - No Place Left To Fall

Bill Champlin is best known for being a member of the legendary band, Chicago, which he joined in 1981. However, his career encompasses a whole lot more.

Bill's first band, The Opposite Six, was formed in 1961, while he was still in high school. Later, The Sons of Champlin formed in 1965 as a 5 piece band, and later expanded to 7 members. The Sons recorded 7 commercially released albums between 1968 and 1977 and gained a devoted fan base. However, they never quite made it on the national scene, and disbanded in 1977.

At this point, Bill moved to L.A. to begin his solo career and also to write and record on many other artist's albums. Bill received 2 grammy awards for his song writing and has released 7 solo albums. He has recording credits on numerous albums by various artists that cover a 30 year period, in addition to recording and touring with Chicago.

In 1997, the Sons of Champlin reformed and are performing again, whenever Chicago's schedule permits. Over the past few years, the Sons have also released 2 live albums and a DVD, as well as their first new studio album in almost 30 years, Hip Li'l Dreams.

REVIEW

With over a decade since his last album release, fans of Bill Champlin will find No Place Left To Fall to well worth the wait. Champlin's soulful voice, writing, guitar, B3 organ and masterful musicianship are all featured on this album.

The musicians on this album clearly love being creative and organic; no surprise that Billy Ward is holding the drum/percussion chair for the entire project! Drummers will want to check out Billy's diversity, listening to how he makes use of different sounds, weaving his drum and percussion parts to create a solid groove rhythmic bed. For Billy, it's obviously all about the music; nothing to prove here.

A vintage potpouri of R&B, Rock, Pop, Folk and Gospel sounds with meticulous arrangements and lush melodies, No Place Left To Fall will give you something new each and every time you listen.