Foolish Pleasures [Signature Series]

Heartsfield's third album was the first recorded in San Fransico when they moved there from Chicago. The name came from the Kentucky Derby winner that year, so the boys went to track to do some photo shootin' for the artwork on the LP jacket.

Foolish Pleasures sure fit the crazy life style they were goin' through at the time. Constantly touring, the road created the backdrop to indulge in a huge variety of pleasures, many of which could have fallen into the category of foolish.

The music took a slight turn to more variety in styles on this album. With "Another Man Down," they broke their record for song length (about 11 minutes), added a sax solo by sound mixing engineer Tom Geving, and delivered a harder edge.

"Magic Mood" also stretched out with a more ethereal approach and Phil won the sustain award for the longest sustaining guitar note on a Heartsfield record. "Honest Junkie" was an extreme boogie woogie with some harmonica added and, of all things, some swing harmonies.

With "As I Look Into The Fire," kind of a country/island thing, the boys were again going to some new places. But you can't take the country rock out of the boys for too long so with "Nashville," "Rockin' Chair," "Drummer Boy," and "Needing Her," that heritage was coming on strong. Banjo, fiddle, pedal steel and sweet harmonies flowed like warm honey on a buttermilk biscuit.

The Signature Series Edition of Foolish Pleasures brings all eight original tracks to CD, and features rarely seen photography of the band inside the album booklet.