Doug Ashdown - Winter In America (1974)

(Australian 1965-Present)
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Doug Ashdown was born 1942 in Adelaide, South Australia, at the age of 17 he travelled to England to play in a rock band. In 1961 he was back in Adelaide and played guitar alongside Bobby Bright as vocalist in The Bowmen. By 1965, as a solo singer-songwriter, he released his first album, This Is Doug Ashdown. His 1960s popular singles were "Something Strange" in 1968, and in 1969, "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On" (cover of the Jerry Lee Lewis' hit).
In 1970 he signed with the independent label, Sweet Peach, and issued "The Saddest Song of All" in August which peaked at No. 53 on the Australian Go-Set Singles Chart. The song was written by Ashdown and Jim Stewart, who became his long-term producer and co-writer. The associated album, The Age of Mouse, was the first double LP album of original material released by an Australian. Ashdown and Stewart relocated to the United States, living in Nashville. While in Nashville, the pair co-wrote "Just Thank Me", for David Rogers, who released it in 1973—it peaked at No. 17 on the US Country Music Singles Chart. They also co-wrote "Leave Love Enough Alone" which Ashdown released in 1974 upon relocation to Sydney. He had a minor hit with it when it was renamed as "Winter in America" and released in 1976, it peaked at No. 14 in Melbourne and No. 30 in Sydney. In 1977, his album, Trees won the TV Week, an Australian television entertainment magazine, King of Pop Award for 'Best Album Cover'. He continued to release singles and albums and had minor chart success into the 1980s. As from April 2010, his most recent album was The Folk Centre Concert in 2007 [extract from wikipedia].
For a more extensive coverage of Ashdown's musical career see both his website and Milesago.
To hear Doug talk about his early day's and recordings and his writing of country songs, and a song written for Marty Robbins, have a listen to the following podcast
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This album is one of my favourties although I also like 'Trees' and consider these two albums as a pigeon pair. From what I can gather, Ashdown writes the music while Jim Stewart provides the lyrics - a partnership not unlike that of Elton John and Bernie Taupin, where the lyricist stays very much in the background but provides just as an important role as the musician who delivers the goods.
The rip provided here was taken from Vinyl at 320kps and includes full album artwork and lyrics.
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Track Listing
01 - Leave Love Enough Alone (Winter In America) (4:08)
02 - Willie's Shades (4:14)
03 - (I Know You) You're The Song (2:40)
04 - Love Ain't Worth The Livin' When It Dies (2:45)
05 -The Flowers And The Wine (2:10)
06 - Skid Row (2:29)
07 - Sally Broome (3:36)
08 - You Are All I Need To Know Of Love (2:54)
09 - Jeannie (3:10)
10 - They Always Seem To Look Like Marianne (2:28)
11 - Tomorrow Is The Last Time (4:13)
12 - No Other Words (2:41 )
13 - Winter In America Reprise (2:00)
14 - The Saddest Song Of All (Bonus Track) (7:43)
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Band Members:
Acoustic Guitar - Troy Seals
Acoustic Guitar, Vocals, Producer - Doug Ashdown
Backing Vocals - David Cooper , Norma Stoneman
Bass - Joe Allan , Tim Partridge
Drums - Laurie London , Russell Dunlop
Electric Guitar - Mark Punch
Keyboards, Arranged By [Strings] - Wayne Findlay
Mellotron - Roy Ritchie
Percussion - Ian Bloxsom
Piano - David Briggs
Saxophone, Flute - Tony Buchanan
Steel Guitar - Pee Wee Clark , Stu BaseoreProducer - Jim Stewart
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.Doug Ashdown Link (99Mb) New Link 03/9/2015
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