The isolation of the American Northwest and naive ambition, a strong sense of family and a talent for music would prove to be an unbeatable combination for teenage brothers Donnie and John Emerson
Originally released in 1979, “Dreamin ‘Wild” is the Emerson boys’ vision , recorded in a family-built recording studio in rural Washington State. Based in the tiny town of Fruitland and far removed from the punk wave of the seventies and the even bigger disco boom, the brothers tilled their own musical soil of bedroom pop jams, raw funk and yacht rock
Already fuelled by the “Music Program” at their high school, their father, a devoted farmer, added more fuel to the fire by making a deal to support his sons’ ambitions with his own recording studio as long as they focused on original material – not bad for a man who knew nothing about the music business
After taking out a second mortgage to cover the costs, Don Sr. built his kids a concert hall (“Camp Jammin ‘”) that not only held 300 people, but also had an advance ticket booth, a stage, and a fully functioning snack bar. The only problem was that the intended audience stayed away, even though the Brothers were featured on a prime time TV series called “The Rock And Roll Farmers.” Despite all this,
Reviews”A lo-fi pop marvel.” (stereoplay, September 2012)
“This is one of those LPs that helps one understand why people bother to even look for records to begin with. Lovely, surprising mix of folk, soul, psych and funk.” – Oliver Wang, Soul-Sides
Review
AllMusic rating: AllMusic users: (44 votes) Read the AllMusic.com review