Product Description:
2LP's on 2 CD's: DEDICATON(1982)/ON THE LINE(1982).
2 LPs on 1 CD: DEDICATION/ON THE LINE.
Personnel: Gary U.S. Bonds (vocals); Clarence Clemons (vocals, saxophone); J.T. Brown (vocals); Miami Steve (guitar, bongos); Bruce Springsteen (guitar); Danny Federici (accordion); Chuck Jackson , Ben E. King (background vocals).
Liner Note Author: John Tobler.
New Orleans R&B singer Gary U.S. Bonds had a major hit in the early 1960s with "Quarter to Three," but quickly faded into obscurity. One man who never forgot Bonds was Bruce Springsteen, who made "Quarter to Three" a staple of his live set and oversaw the release of Bonds's 1981 comeback album, DEDICATION. Springsteen produced, supplied his E Street Band, and wrote a batch of songs for the album, which captured the spirit of Bonds's early material filtered through a more contemporary sensibility, courtesy of the Boss. The album, whose Bruce-penned hit "This Little Girl" put Bonds back on the pop charts, is paired here with the follow-up record ON THE LINE. The latter repeated its predecessor's successful Springsteen-assisted formula, with Bruce contributing an even bigger percentage of the material. While it wasn't as big a success as DEDICATION, it still proved that this was no one-shot phenomenon. In retrospect its hard to believe that in the wake of two albums as strong as these it took Bonds another 22 years to return to the studio, though he seemingly never tired of playing the Comeback King role to the hilt.
