AL BARTON - Precious (1991)

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ALAN BARTON born in Great Britain and during the seventies was part of the successful pop act Black Lace, representing the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979.
In the middle '80s, Al replaced singer Chris Norman in Smokie recording six albums with them, including the awesome 'Boulevard Of Broken Dreams' and 'All Fired Up' (I don't know why I didn't posted these very good albums here yet).
In the middle, Barton released his one and only solo album, this "Precious", in 1991.

As you can listen in the video-song below, "Precious" is Melodic Rock with an European sound and some rock&pop in between, driven by melodious guitars, nice keyboards and Al's velvety vocals.
All songs are good and easy to the ears with polished arrangements, wrapped by a pristine, crystal clear production.
Two singles were taken from "Precious"; "July 69" in 1990 as advance, and "Carry Your Heart" in 1991, a duet with Norwegian female singer Kristine Pettersen which obtained some airplay in Scandinavia. In fact, as far I know, this CD edition of "Precious" only was released in Norway.



Sadly, Barton died in '95 at the age of 41 from injuries incurred when Smokie's tour bus crashed during a storm in Germany.
"Precious" is one of these rare little gems unheard by most Melodic Rock fans and collectors, quite hard to find on CD (out of print).


01 - Being With You
02 - White Dust
03 - Precious
04 - Carry Your Heart
05 - Soakin' Up The Sun
06 - Drive, Drive, Drive
07 - These Feellings For You
08 - July '69
09 - Running Away From Heaven
10 - All Fall Down

Al Barton: Lead Vocals, Guitars
Andy Wheelan: Guitar, Mandolin, 6 string Bass
Neil Ferguson: Guitar, Keyboards
Marin Bullard: Keyboards
Marcus Cliffe: Bass
Steve Pinell: Drums
Neil Hardcastle: Percussion
Jackie Ross, Kath Parker: Backing Vocals
Kristine Pettersen: guest Lead Vocals on 4




AL BARTON Precious (1991)
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