Homegrown: Don Agrati

Album: Homegrown

Artist: Don Agrati

Year: 1973

Songs of Note: Bloodstream, Sunny Day, Protoplasm Blues

Who is Don Agrati? Apparently he is Don Grady of "My Three Sons" fame. I have never seen the program so I am basing my impression of him on the album cover, I would guess he is the character on the left with the Hollywood sign reflecting in his glasses. The other images, a grass field with a marching band, a tambourine, lovers in the sunset, a pot (hehe). This reeks of hippy. I'm not a an expert on the hippy species but I thought they flourished in the 60's and petered out with the Nixon Era. This probably explains why this album never found an audience. The music is very well played, Agrati even plays most of the instruments on the disc. Mr. Agrati also has a pleasant voice but the lyrics are clumsy in places and there are no sing-a-long choruses.

The highlights are "Bloodstream", "Sunny Day", and "Protoplasm Blues". "Bloodstream" stands out for it's jazzy sound and dreamy lyrics. A nice way to lead off the album. "Sunny Day" is about a love triangle where one party is asking the other to stop jerking him around and leading him on. A timeless theme. "Protoplasm Blues" jumps around between styles. There are some bongo drums and a blues jam at the end. The character in the song sounds like he is getting tired of the party boy life-style and is looking to settle down. Not to short change the rest of the album but despite covering a variety of musical styles, big band, marching band, honky tonk, I was never that interested in the songs. I could respect the variety but the songs did not capture my attention.

My copy of this record was a "for promo only copy" sent to radio stations and includes a publicity write up from the record company. Reading these types of documents always brings a smile to my face. They are always so positive and sound as if the author never actually listened to the record but just read the lyric sheet and filled in some biographical information. This piece boldly proclaims that you will be singing along to all 11 compositions after only a few listens! I found this very surprising because one of the 11 tracks is an instrumental.

Overall this is not a bad album. The musicianship is excellent, as is the singing. The songs are just not that strong. If someone likes a diverse musical style with some pop sensibility, this may be your match.