View source for Alone Together (Dave Mason album)

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox album|
| name       = Alone Together
| type       = Album
| artist     = [[Dave Mason]]
| cover      = Alone_Together.jpg
| alt        =
| released   = July 1970
| recorded   = 1970
| venue      =
| studio     = *[[Sunset Sound Recorders|Sunset Sound]], Hollywood
*[[Elektra Sound Recorders|Elektra Sound]], Los Angeles
| genre      = {{hlist|[[Folk rock]]|[[blues rock]]}}
| length     = 34:38
| label      = [[Blue Thumb Records|Blue Thumb]]
| producer   = Dave Mason, [[Tommy LiPuma]]
| prev_title =
| prev_year  =
| next_title = [[Dave Mason & Cass Elliot]]
| next_year  = 1971
| misc       = {{Singles
| name        = Alone Together
| type        = Studio album
| single1     = [[Only You Know and I Know]]
| single1date = July 1970
}}
}}
'''''Alone Together''''' is the debut solo album by former [[Traffic (band)|Traffic]] member [[Dave Mason]], released in 1970. Mason was joined on the album by a roster of guest musicians, including [[Bonnie Bramlett]], [[Leon Russell]], [[Jim Capaldi]], [[Rita Coolidge]], [[Carl Radle]] and [[Jim Gordon (musician)|Jim Gordon]]. The song "[[Only You Know and I Know]]" reached number No. 42 on the [[Billboard charts|''Billboard'' charts]] in the US and was the record's major commercial success.<ref>[http://www.allmusic.com/album/alone-together-r168324/charts-awards/billboard-single Alone Together in the Billboard charts], Allmusic. Retrieved August 12, 2011.</ref>
== Packaging ==
About 30% of the [[LP record|records]] were produced in so-called ''marble vinyl'',{{citation needed|date=February 2016}} a swirled mix of pink, brown and beige, rather than the usual black [[Vinyl record|vinyl]].<ref>[http://www.erikarecords.com/marble.html commercial vinyl record website]</ref> The original record jacket is a tri-fold with a half-pocket on the inside to hold the record (originally issued without a paper inner sleeve). The top of the tri-fold has a die-cut image of Mason in a top hat and [[morning dress]], collaged behind a rocky outcrop, and there is a small die-cut hole at the top to permit the jacket to be hung on the wall as a poster.{{check|date=February 2016}}
[[File:Dave Mason - Alone Together LP, featuring marble vinyl disc.png|thumb|''Alone Together'' album and jacket, featuring "marble vinyl" disc.]]
== Critical reception ==
''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' magazine reviewed the album favourably in 1970: "Mason with help from friends Jim Capaldi and Leon Russell proves his mastery of the rock idiom once and for all. The lyric content and music content of every song catches the senses of the listener and creates excitement. There is no doubt about the power of this album, and it should prove a top chart item." [[Jon Carroll]] was less enthusiastic in ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', finding it technically accomplished but "more potential than realization", featuring often trivial lyrics and never soaring from its "vinyl bonds".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.superseventies.com/spmasondave.html|title=Dave Mason – Alone Together|website=SuperSeventies|accessdate=September 17, 2018}}</ref>
In ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]'' (1981), [[Robert Christgau]] found the music "both complex and likable-to-catchy, with a unique light feel that begins with the way Mason doubles on acoustic and electric", but believed Mason lacked the "poetic gift" to put across his evasive lyrics. He gave the album a "B" grade.<ref name="CG">{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]|publisher=[[Ticknor & Fields]]|isbn=0-89919-025-1|chapter=Dave Mason: Alone Together|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=944|accessdate=September 17, 2018}}</ref> Jim Newsom from [[AllMusic]] was more impressed in a retrospective review, regarding the album as Mason's best work, featuring "an excellent batch of melodically pleasing songs, built on a fat bed of strumming acoustic guitars with tasteful electric guitar accents and leads." He gave it four-and-a-half out of five stars.<ref>{{cite web|last=Newsom|first=Jim|date=n.d.|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/alone-together-mw0000193512|title=Alone Together|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|accessdate=September 17, 2018}}</ref>
==Track listing==
{{Track listing
| collapsed       =
| headline        =
| all_writing     = [[Dave Mason]], except where indicated
| all_lyrics      =
| all_music       =
| title1          = [[Only You Know and I Know]]
| length1         = 4:05
| title2          = Can't Stop Worrying, Can't Stop Loving
| length2         = 3:02
| title3          = Waitin' on You
| length3         = 3:05
| title4          = Shouldn't Have Took More Than You Gave
| length4         = 6:00
| title5          = World in Changes
| length5         = 4:30
| title6          = Sad and Deep as You
| length6         = 3:35
| title7          = Just a Song
| length7         = 2:59
| title8          = Look at You Look at Me
| writer8           = Dave Mason, [[Jim Capaldi]]
| length8         = 7:22
}}
==Personnel==
*Dave Mason – guitars, vocals
*[[Leon Russell]] — piano
*[[Larry Knechtel]], [[John Simon (record producer)|John Simon]] — keyboards
*[[Michael DeTemple]], [[Don Preston (guitarist)|Don Preston]] — guitars
*[[Chris Ethridge]], [[Larry Knechtel]], [[Carl Radle]] — bass
*[[John Barbata]], [[Jim Capaldi]], [[Jim Gordon (musician)|Jim Gordon]], [[Jim Keltner]] — drums
*[[Bonnie Bramlett]], [[Rita Coolidge]], Mike Coolidge, Lou Cooper, [[Claudia Lennear]], Bob Norwood, Jack Storti – backing vocals
;Production
*Dave Mason, Tommy LiPuma – production
*[[Bruce Botnick]], Douglas Botnick — [[audio engineer|engineering]]
*[[Al Schmitt]] — [[audio mixing|mixing]]
*[[Barry Feinstein]], Tom Wilkes – photography, design
==References==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
* {{Discogs master|type=album|36913|name=Alone Together}}
{{Dave Mason}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Dave Mason albums]]
[[Category:1970 debut albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Tommy LiPuma]]
[[Category:Harvest Records albums]]
[[Category:Blue Thumb Records albums]]
[[Category:MCA Records albums]]
[[Category:Rev-Ola Records albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Dave Mason]]