Where Have I Known You Before
Studio album by
Return to Forever
ReleasedSeptember 1974
RecordedJuly–August 1974
StudioRecord Plant Studios, New York City
GenreJazz fusion
Length41:27
LabelPolydor
ProducerChick Corea
Return to Forever chronology
Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy
(1973)		 Where Have I Known You Before
(1974)		 No Mystery
(1975)
Chick Corea chronology
Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy
(1973)		 Where Have I Known You Before
(1974)		 No Mystery
(1975)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Sputnikmusic[2]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[3]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings [4]

Where Have I Known You Before is a studio album by Return to Forever, the first featuring guitarist Al Di Meola, and the second since leader Chick Corea switched to mostly electric instrumentation, playing music heavily influenced by progressive rock, funk and classical.

Background, instrumentation, compositions

Although Return to Forever's style remained unchanged since its previous album, Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy (1973), important changes took place in the band's sound and line-up. Chick Corea started to use synthesizers, such as the Minimoog and ARP Odyssey. An equally important change was the replacement of guitarist Bill Connors with 19-year-old Al Di Meola.[5] Connors left the band before the recording of this album to concentrate on his acoustic solo career. Another reason for his departure was his reluctance to travel; he preferred to stay in the San Francisco area. Also, Bill was not happy with Chick pushing certain aspects of Scientology on him.[6][7]

Between the album's longer tracks are three of Corea's short piano improvisations that all bore a title beginning with "Where Have I...".[8]

The first track is Stanley Clarke's "Vulcan Worlds" with melodic motifs that appear on Clarke's second solo album Stanley Clarke, also released in 1974. The song shows Clarke is "one of the fastest and most facile electric bassists around".[8] Each player except for drummer Lenny White took long solos.

The next long track is Lenny White's composition "The Shadow of Lo", a piece with many changes in mood. The last track on Side A is Corea's "Beyond the Seventh Galaxy", a sequel to his "Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy", the title track from the group's previous album. Side B begins with the collective jam "Earth Juice". Most of Side B was is taken up by Corea's 14-minute epic "Song to the Pharaoh Kings", a song notable for its use of the harmonic minor scale.[9] The track has a long keyboard introduction, after which Chick Corea is joined by the full band, and an "Eastern" theme appears. Each member of the band plays a long solo.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Chick Corea except where noted

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Vulcan Worlds"Stanley Clarke7:51
2."Where Have I Loved You Before?" 1:02
3."The Shadow of Lo"Lenny White7:32
4."Where Have I Danced with You Before?" 1:14
5."Beyond the Seventh Galaxy" 3:13
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."Earth Juice"Corea, Clarke, White, Al Di Meola3:46
7."Where Have I Known You Before?" 2:20
8."Song to the Pharaoh Kings" 14:21
Total length:41:27

Personnel

Musicians

Production

  • Shelly Yakus – engineer
  • Tom Rabstenek – mastering
  • Herb Dreiwitz – front cover photography

Chart performance

YearChartPosition
1974 Billboard 200 32[10]
1975 Billboard Jazz Albums 5[10]

References

  1. ↑ Yanow, Scott. "Return to Forever - Where Have I Known You Before (1974) album review | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
  2. ↑ Campbell, Hernan M. (1 November 2012). "Return to Forever - Where Have I Known You Before (1974) album review | Sputnikmusic". sputnikmusic.com. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  3. ↑ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. US: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 50. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  4. ↑ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 304. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  5. ↑ Cooke, Mervyn; Horn, David (2002). The Cambridge Companion to Jazz. Cambridge Companions to Music. Cambridge UP. p. 228. ISBN 9780521663885. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  6. ↑ Goodall, Mark (2013). Gathering of the Tribe: Music and Heavy Conscious Creation. Headpress.
  7. ↑ Bivins, Jason (2015). Spirits Rejoice! Jazz and American Religion. Oxford University Press. p. 52.
  8. 1 2 Martin, Henry; Waters, Keith (2010). Jazz: The First 100 Years, 3rd ed: The First 100 Years. Cengage. p. 335. ISBN 9781439083338. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  9. ↑ Bufe, Charles (1994). An Understandable Guide to Music Theory: The Most Useful Aspects of Theory for Rock, Jazz & Blues Musicians. See Sharp. p. 6. ISBN 9781884365003.
  10. 1 2 "Return to Forever - Where Have I Known You Before (1974) album review | Awards | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
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