Insane Asylum
Studio album by Kathi McDonald
Released 1974
Recorded 1973
Genre Rock
Length 38:02
Label Capitol
Producer David Briggs
Insane Asylum is the first solo album by Kathi McDonald featuring an all-star cast of musicians. Kathi has vocals with many bands, including Ike & Tina Turner, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Joe Cocker, Leon Russell, Delaney & Bonnie, Freddie King, Nils Lofgren, The Rolling Stones and Long John Baldry among others.
Professional Ratings:
allmusic 2/5 stars
Review by Joe Viglione of allmusic:
Kathi McDonald was one of the friends recruited by Big Brother & the Holding Company to perform on their two post-Joplin releases, Be a Brother and How Hard It Is. David Briggs, producer of the second Alice Cooper album Easy Action and multiple early Neil Young discs is at the helm on Insane Asylum. With arrangements by The Jefferson Starship's Pete Sears, this is a showcase for the chops and musicianship of McDonald. There's a terrific reading of the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody" (which Janis Joplin covered years earlier), and an interesting first track co-written by McDonald and Pete Sears, "Bogart to Bowie," with Nils Lofgren on guitar and Bobbye Hall on percussion. The photos of McDonald on the back cover are chaotic and beautiful, a cartoon caricature of these adorns the cover, the illustration by Seiko Kashihara. With Ronnie Montrose on guitar and Pete Sears on keys for a heavy version of "(Love Is Like A) Heatwave," you basically have Big Brother & the Holding Company/ Montrose/Jefferson Starship covering Martha & the Vandellas. This 1974 recording was a year before Linda Ronstadt repeated Martha's feat of going Top Five with the song. There is something about the record that feels like the band is holding back. That evaporates with what may be the best performance on the disc, "Threw Away My Love," the second Sears/McDonald original. Kathi's great, bluesy vocal fights and Journey's Neal Schon on guitar give the track lots of soul, which is missing in much of the record. Surprising because Briggs is usually intuitive enough to bring out the best in artists. There is an abundance of talent here, creating a nice platform for this important singer. "Freak Lover" features the late Starship violinist Papa John Creach and is appropriately manic for an album about insanity. Willie Dixon's composition, "Insane Asylum," with Pete Sears and Nils Lofgren, is a blues workout deluxe. Neal Schon and Pete Sears accompany Kathi on a Peter Frampton tune, "All I Want to Be." Lofgren and Sears do a heavy cover of Neil Young's "Down to the Wire" for the singer to display her wonderful voice. With such a stellar cast and so much input this record could have been much more. It's still a respectable showcase for the talents of Kathi McDonald.
Review on rateyourmusic:
With a strong and commanding singing voice that immediately brings Janis to mind, there is no denying the fact that Kathi McDonald was primed to take over as the front woman in Big Brother and the Holding Company. Born Kathryn Marie McDonald in 1948, Kathi jetted Seattle for San Francisco at the age of nineteen, where she instantly hooked-up with Ike and Tina, showcasing her proud pipes as an Ikette.
Despite the fact that Kathi was cast in the long shadow of the combustive Turner couple, she managed to attract attention. Eventually signed to Capitol Records, with lasting ties to the bay area music scene, Kathi cut the tracks for Insane Asylum with host of friends assisting during the studio sessions. Produced by David Briggs and Pete Sears, Insane Asylum was issued in 1974.
Blues and soul rules the eleven song recording, that is dotted with numerous short, but oh so sweet songs that are punctuated by McDonald's vivacious voice, as well as a who's who of backing musicians. Nils Lofgren, Ronnie Montrose, Neal Schon, Papa John Creach, Jim McPherson, Ansley Dunbar, Boots Hoghtson and John Cipollina contributed, but it's the tag-team effort of Sly Stone and K.M. on the tight closing title track that pulls the most weight from the LP. Sly opens the six-minute blooze track with his fly vocals, before Kathi joins in with a bitchin' performance from behind the mic, while mean Tower of Power horns accent the get-down-on-your-knees "Insane Asylum".
My track-by-track notes:
"Bogart to Bowie" kicks off the album right away with a great original tune.
"To Love Somebody" is a bold choice since Janis had also covered it a few years before.
"Heat Wave" is another great cover.
"Threw My Love Away" is a powerful original tune.
"Freak Lover" spotlights the fantastic bow work of Papa John Creach to complement Kathi's strong voice.
"Down to the Wire" is a great Neil Young tune that he didn't get around to releasing his own version of until his Decade compilation.
"Heartbreak Hotel" one-ups Elvis' version by adding Ronnie Montrose's screaming guitar.
"If You Need Me" is a great take on a Wilson Pickett tune with the Tower of Power horns blending in with Ronnie's guitar.
"Somethin' Else" is a great rave-up with John Cipollina providing some great guitar licks to this Eddie Cochran signature song.
"All I Want to Be" is a nice reading of the Peter Frampton song with Neil Schon's fine guitar work.
"Insane Asylum" is a great version of the Willie Dixon composition with Sly Stone trading vocals with Kathi, along with Nils Lofgren providing the guitar.
Personal Note:
This album came into the record shop where I worked during my college years, and it became an instant hit with my friends and I. A few months later, just after graduation, I was in Loveland, Colorado for a job interview with Hewlett Packard. The next day, I drove south through Boulder on my way back to the Denver airport. I drove past a nightclub named Tulagi and there on the marquee was Kathi McDonaldÕs name. I stopped and stayed the night so that I could see her perform there. It was a great concert that IÕll never forget!
Unfortunately, Kathi is no longer with us, having passed on October 3, 2012.
Here's a great performance of "I'd Rather Go Blind" with Long John Baldry and Kathi in Germany, 1993.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwcKFWbuIuQ
LP track listing
Side One
1. "Bogart to Bowie" (Kathi McDonald, Pete Sears) - 4:07
2. "To Love Somebody" (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb) - 4:32
3. "(Love is Like a) Heat Wave" (Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Eddie Holland) - 2:03
4. "Threw My Love Away" (Kathi McDonald, Pete Sears) - 2:56
5. "Freak Lover" (Mark Unobski) - 3:36
6. "Down to the Wire" (Neil Young) - 2:53
Side Two
7. "Heartbreak Hotel" (Elvis Presley, Hoyt Axton, Tommy Durden) - 2:32
8. "If You Need Me" (Robert Bateman, Sonny Sanders, Wilson Pickett) - 2:52
9. "Somethin' Else" (Eddie Cochran, Sharon Sheeley) - 2:45
10. "All I Want to Be" (Peter Frampton) - 3:41
11. "Insane Asylum" (Willie Dixon) - 6:05
NOTE: I don't know why they list the last track as 6:05 - it's actually only about 4:52. The CD track runs a similar time as this vinyl.
Personnel:
* Kathi McDonald - vocals
* Ronnie Montrose - guitar
* Pete Sears - bass, keyboards
* Bobbye Hall - percussion
* Greg Douglas - guitar
* Neal Schon - guitar
* Jim McPherson - bass
* Papa John Creach - violin
* Mark Unobski - guitar
* Nils Lofgren - guitar
* John Cipollina - guitar
* Gary Philippet - guitar
* Stuart "Boots" Hogdston - horns
* The Pointer Sisters - vocals
* Sly Stone - vocals
* Tower of Power - horns
* Ansley Dunbar - drums