Lorna Wright - Circle of Love

All Music Guide

The former Lorna Doone who recorded under that name for Island Records according to that label's first A R man, the late Jimmy Miller, is actually "The Dreamweaver" Gary Wright's sister, Lorna Wright, and this excellent album on Elton John's Rocket Records is a true lost classic. Guitarist Jay Lewis has a nice production touch which shimmers underneath a voice which would be perfect in a band with Rita Coolidge and Bonnie Bramlett. As it is, Kim Carnes, David Pomeranz, Gary Wright, Leland Sklar, Larry Carlton, Jim Keltner, David Foster, Klaus Voorman and others help bring songs like "You Can't Find Yesterday," "Night Music," "Stranger" and "Magic In Your Eyes" to life with the professionalism and care they are all known for. The title track, "Circle of Love," is one of nine tunes written by Lorna, and it is a slinky, creeping blues ballad about romantic karma. It's actually quite wonderful, as is the entire album which shifts gears to the cello and harp of "My Song," that mid-70's piano/vocal blending beautifully with the strings. Like the work of David Pomeranz' friendHarriet Schock or Pomeranz himself who shows up performing backing vocals with Gary Wright on "You Can't Find Yesterday," this is a wonderful collection of strong material that almost makes it mandatory someone develop a radio station to re-discover these underplayed performances. "What's Gonna Happen" is a combination of funk, Latin, and just a tad of reggae (those days on Island Records no doubt), and an exotic vocal that brings the song home. The album cover is a pastiche of a photo of the singer underneath strokes of a paintbrush, and it is as artistic as the music inside. While Kiki Dee and The Hudson Brothers had the opportunity to put out numerous recordings, how Rocket Records allowed this album and artist to slip into obscurity is really the question. Dave Ellingson's "Night Music" has his wife Kim Carnes adding her vocal talents while Bobby Ray Appleberry and pianist Bill Cuomo provide the second track on side two, "Love Is Forever." Those are the only two compositions which come outside of Lorna's own songbook, and they work as well as any other track on this classic recording which employs many of the same musician's from Kim Carnes' 1975 self-titled disc on A M. "Stranger" moves like Alan O'Day's "Easy Evil," Jim Keltner's drums and Steve Forman's ever present percussion creating a mood for Wright's voice. Given the success of her brother and all the players involved, this should have put Lorna Wright into that elite class of singer / songwriters from the seventies. It is a remarkable project you don't hear much about and which would be an excellent two-fer with the Carnes lp from three years earlier.

- Joe Viglione, All Music Guide