''Focus con Proby'' is the seventh studio album by the Dutch rock band Focus, released in 1977 on

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...

. It features five tracks with vocals from American singer

P. J. Proby P. J. Proby (born James Marcus Smith; November 6, 1938) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. Proby recorded the singles " Hold Me", " Somewhere", and "Maria". In 2008, EMI released the greatest hits album '' Best of the EMI Years 1961 ...

. The record also features guitarists Eef Albers and Philip Catherine, drummer Steve Smith (then with

Jean Luc Ponty Jean-Luc Ponty (born 29 September 1942) is a French jazz violinist and composer. Early life Ponty was born into a family of classical musicians in Avranches, France. His father taught violin, his mother taught piano. At sixteen, he was admitt ...

and later to become part of Journey), as well as the two Focus members from previous albums. Smith and Albers would later go on to collaborate on the first two albums of Smith's band Vital Information.

Reception

In a mixed review in the ''Richmond Review,'' reviewer Bob Beech preferred the instrumental tracks over the songs with vocals. He deemed Proby's voice more mellow than his previous records which he preferred, but felt it was out of place on a Focus album. Brian Brennan wrote in ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The ...

'' that while Albers is "an accomplished musician" he does not live up to the standard of past Focus guitarist Jan Akkerman. He thought the album consisted of "fussy instrumental work, aimless, hollow and rather uninviting".

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians * Thijs van Leer –

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

, piano, electric piano,

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

, synthesiser, flute *

Bert Ruiter Focus is a Dutch progressive rock band formed in Amsterdam in 1969 by keyboardist, vocalist, and flutist Thijs van Leer, drummer Hans Cleuver, bassist Martijn Dresden, and guitarist Jan Akkerman. The band has undergone numerous formations in its ...

– bass guitar * Steve Smith – drums * Philip Catherine – acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar, lead guitar on "Sneezing Bull", "Maximum" and "How Long" * Eef Albers – rhythm guitar, lead guitar (except above) *

– vocals on "Wingless", "Eddy", "Brother", "Tokyo Rose" and "How Long" Production * Yde de Jong – production * Jan van Vrijaldenhoven – engineer * Mike Stavrou – engineer * Jacques Heere – cover design

References

{{Authority control 1978 albums Focus (band) albums EMI Records albums P. J. Proby albums