Clifford/Wright – For All The Money In The World (Cosmo’s Vault/Cliffsong Records)
It may have taken 35 years, but CCR drummer Doug “Cosmo” Clifford’s supergroup, Clifford/Wright, is finally seeing the light of day. His concept was to assemble a mix of brilliant musicians, write an album’s worth of original songs, then record, mix and master the record. Once completed, he intentionally shelved the album and safely stored it in “Cosmo’s Vault.” Waiting for the right time to release the music. He brought in bassist and longtime friend Steve Wright from the Greg Kihn Band to help. Clifford and Wright, not only served as the rhythm section, but also worked as songwriting team, penning more than a dozen original songs for the album.
Apparently 2021 is the right time to release the music.
For All The Money In The World is the first from this trove of music by Clifford/Wright. It’s an impressively solid mix of rock with elements of pop and blues throughout. The albums was recorded in 1986 and there are definitely moments when this record feels like a mid-1980s album, especially the liberal use of keyboards throughout (most notably on “Lost Pride Fever” and the closing track, “You’re Gonna Love Again”). But there are also plenty of songs here that are more timeless, that could have just have easily been recorded last year. Keith England was brought in to handle vocals for this project and it’s obvious why; he has a great raspy voice, not unlike a Faces’ era Rod Stewart, that lends perfectly to the songs here. Among the strongest ones are the title track which opens the album, the driving “She Told me So,” and stellar, bluesy “I see Your Silhouette.”
Along with Clifford, Wright and England, the group included guitarists Greg Douglass (Steve Miller Band), Jimmy Lyon (Eddie Money) and Joe Satriani, keyboard players Tim Gorman (The Who) and Pat Mosca (Greg Kihn Band). As the first album of songs from Cosmo’s Vault to see the light of day, For All The Money In The World serves as a great prelude for what will hopefully be the first of many releases from these archives.