A Vinyl Treasure

On Christmas Eve, 1970, my buddy Kevin Aspell gave me a copy of “Roll Over” by the New York Rock Ensemble. That album was so good I played it every day for almost five years and gave copies for Christmas presents for at least 10 years after that.

Long before Electric Light Orchestra, the New York Rock Ensemble combined classical music and rock that really rocked. Originally, the New York Rock & Roll Ensemble, the group was formed in 1966 by three graduates of Juilliard and two rockers.

The original lineup included Juilliard grads Michael Kamen on keyboards and oboe, Martin Fulterman on drums and oboe, and Dorian Rudnytsky on bass and cello. The rockers were Cliff Nivison on lead guitar and Brian Corrigan on rhythm guitar. Now here was a band that could play an aria by Thomas Morley, followed by a wild rock song and a sonata by Bach.

Corrigan left the band after three albums, leaving the quartet to record their magnum opus, “Roll Over.” A more seamless, tight album ain’t out there. Everything is precise, with not a wasted note, and the vocals are perfect. What else is there?

Although the band was a hit back East, they never made much of an impression out West and went away after a final album, “Freedomburger,” in 1971. I remember one time I called Columbia Records in New York, and, as it turned out, Kamen himself was there and I got to talk to him. After babbling something like “greatest rock band in the world,” Kamen sent me a collection of the band’s albums and a sticker, which to this day, lives long and prospers on my filing cabinet.

It turned out the band was going to play in Denver, and I was all set to go, even though I had never made it as far east as Lake Piru. But the show canceled, so I never got to see the New York Rock Ensemble play live, only with the Boston Pops on PBS and as a naked classical rock band in the first (and only) electric western movie, “Zachariah.”

After the band broke up, Kamen recorded a solo album, then went on to become one of the great eclectic composers of the rock era. He has scored countless films, including “Brazil,” “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen,” and “Time Bandits.” He has written and produced for the likes of Metallica, Eric Clapton, David Bowie and Kate Bush and written scores for ballets. He even played keyboards for Pink Floyd. Kamen has been nominated for seven Grammys, winning in 1992.

Thus, Kamen is in no danger of becoming a public charge, but what does “Roll Over” sound like 25 years later? Pretty darn good, I’m happy to report. It’s still a seamless effort of pure pop, and clearly the band’s “White Album.” It may be a bit too polished for some tastes these days, but I still think “Roll Over” is one of the top five albums of all time, and maybe better than that.

Although Columbia, through its Legacy division, has an extensive reissue program, “Roll Over” hasn’t been resurrected yet on CD. It remains somewhere in the used-record bins on vinyl only. It’s around. I’ve got three copies myself, two of which are totally worn out. “Roll Over” will set you back less than five bucks, and the other four albums are worth checking out as well.