''Moxy'', also informally known as ''The Black Album'' or ''Moxy I'', is the self-titled debut studio album by the

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band Moxy. Their independently produced album was released in 1975 by

Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

in Canada, then under

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

label was reissued in 1976 for worldwide distribution, both labels were owned by PolyGram at the time (they are now owned by

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

). The album was picked up by many radio stations in the United States and was one of the most requested albums in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. As a consequence, Moxy was picked up by the larger

label in the US and a national distribution deal was made and the album was reissued in 1976. The album produced the hit songs "Can't You See I'm a Star", "Train", "Out of the Darkness" and with "Sail On Sail Away" and "Moon Rider" that are still in the 2000s (decade) on regular rotation on several rock radio stations in

. The album sold well because of heavy promotion by the label who released the album on 8 Track in large numbers.

Tommy Bolin Thomas Richard Bolin (August 1, 1951 – December 4, 1976) was an American rock guitarist who played with Zephyr (from 1969 to 1971), the James Gang (from 1973 to 1974), Deep Purple (from 1975 to 1976), with Billy Cobham on his first record tit ...

was a guest musician on the album. He had previously been the lead guitarist for the

James Gang James Gang was an American rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1966. The band went through a variety of line-up changes until they recorded their first album as a power trio consisting of Joe Walsh (guitars, lead vocals), Tom Kriss (bass) a ...

and would go on to replace

Ritchie Blackmore Richard Hugh Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is an English lead guitarist. He was a founding member and the guitarist of Deep Purple, one of the pioneering bands of hard rock. After leaving Deep Purple in 1975, Blackmore formed the band Rainbow ...

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...

. Bolin does all but two guitar solos. Earl Johnson performed all rhythm guitar and the solos on "Sail On Sail Away", "Can't You See I'm A Star" and the ending of "Train". Johnson was supposed to do all the guitar parts, but got into a disagreement with the producer and was tossed out of the studio. Bolin, being nearby, was asked by Moxy's manager Roland Paquin to fill in for Johnson. Paquin knew Bolin from when he was road manager for the James Gang. Bolin was only in the studio for this album, contrary to popular belief that he appears on

Moxy II ''Moxy II'' is the second studio album by the Canadian rock band Moxy, released in 1976. It was recorded at Sound Stage studio in April 1976 in Toronto with Jack Douglas producing. Two songs from the album entered the charts in Canada, "Take It ...

. Though Bolin's time with Moxy was short, the album is popular with his fans. Bolin's tone and phrasing were very similar to his classic

sound. Buddy Caine, who is listed on the album cover, did not join the band until after the album was finished. Caine was initially brought on board by the band as a rhythm guitarist to free up Johnson so he could play the solos on stage that Bolin had played in the studio.

Track listing

# "Fantasy" - 5:40 (Earl Johnson) # "Sail On Sail Away" - 4:52 (Earl Johnson) # "Can't You See I'm a Star" - 3:36 (Earl Johnson) # "Moon Rider (Moonrider)" - 4:25 (Earl Johnson, Buzz Shearman) # "Time to Move On" - 4:09 (Earl Johnson, Buzz Shearman) # "Still I Wonder" - 4:16 (Earl Johnson) # "Train" - 4:37 (Earl Johnson, Robert Bonnell) # "Out of the Darkness" - 4:57 (Earl Johnson, Buzz Shearman)

Single (1974)

Single (

Yorkville Records Yorkville Records was a Canadian record label formed in 1966. The label, which itself was a subsidiary of the larger Arc Records (Canada), Arc Records, was founded by Arc Records president Phil Anderson originally under the name Yorktown Records. ...

1974) # "Can't You See I'm a Star" (Solo by Johnson) # "Out of the Darkness"

Personnel

* Buzz Shearman -

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

* Earl Johnson -

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular r ...

and

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

(solos on track 2 and 3; joint solos on track 7) * Terry Juric -

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

* Bill Wade -

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Additional personnel

- lead guitar on tracks 1, 4–6 and 8; joint solos on track 7) * Tom Stephenson -

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

on "Fantasy" * Buddy Caine - rhythm guitar (listed as member but did not join until after record was done)

Production

* Arranged by Moxy * Produced by Moxy and Mark Smith * Recorded and mixed by Mark Smith and Richard Dashut at

Sound City Studios Sound City Studios is a recording studio in Los Angeles, California, United States, known as one of the most successful in popular music. The complex opened in 1969 in the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles. The facility had previously been a p ...

Van Nuys Van Nuys ( ) is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1 ...

* Jacket sleeve photo by Larry Nickels

Reissued

Moxy's original catalogue of albums were again available starting in 1994 when Valerie Shearman (Buzz' widow) oversaw the release of all of Moxy's back catalogue of albums on CD through Pacemaker Records, and again in 2003, this time through Unidisc Music Inc.

References

External links

Moxy Official Web Site

Moxy's official MySpace Page

CD/Album Review
Review of Moxy a
VistaRecords.us

on

Angelfire Angelfire is an Internet service that offers website services. It is owned by Lycos, which also owns Tripod.com. Angelfire operates separately from Tripod.com and includes features such as blog building and a photo gallery builder. Free webpag ...

{{Authority control 1975 debut albums Albums recorded at Sound City Studios Mercury Records albums Moxy (band) albums