Blue Chip is the third album by Acoustic Alchemy, released under the MCA Master Series label in 1989, and again under GRP in 1996. The album presented an experiment with pop music in the band's signature style using strong memorable melody lines.
The most successful track is "Catalina Kiss", the album opener and a longstanding live favourite. Using a shuffle rhythm, the track calls upon the saxophone for embellishments, whilst tonal harmonies between the two guitars evoke a strong melody. JazzTrax host Art Good suggested that the song was inspired by a performance the band performed at the Catalina Island Jazz Festival in 1988.
Track listing # Title Writers Duration 1 "Catalina Kiss" Webb/Carmichael/Parsons 4:33 2 "The Blue Chip Bop" Webb/Carmichael/Parsons 3:41 3 "Making Waves" Webb/Carmichael/Parsons 4:51 4 "With You In Mind" Webb/Carmichael/Parsons 3:58 5 "Bright Tiger" Webb/Carmichael 4:47 6 "Ariane" Webb/Carmichael/Parsons 4:53 7 "Highland" Webb/Carmichael/Parsons 4:42 8 "Boulder Coaster" Webb/Carmichael/Parsons 5:26 9 "Hearts In Chains" Webb/Carmichael 3:29 10 "No More Nachos (Por Favor)" Webb/Carmichael 3:34
Personnel
Acoustic Alchemy Greg Carmichael – acoustic guitars Nick Webb – acoustic guitars
Additional musicians Rainer Bruninghaus – acoustic piano, keyboards John Parsons – electric guitars, guitar synthesizer Klaus Sperber – basses Bert Smaak – drums, drum programming, percussion Mario Argadoña – percussion Klaus Genuit – percussion programming, sound design Karl Heinz Wiberny – saxophones, woodwinds
Production John Parsons – producer Klaus Genuit – engineer, mixing Milan Bogdan – digital editing Benny Quinn – digital editing, mastering Masterfonics (Nashville, Tennessee, USA) – editing and mastering location Acoustic Alchemy – art direction Virginia Team – design Kevin Calvert – photography Stewart Coxhead for Bullet Management, Ltd. – management
References