The Cure To Everything

After years of recording with such diverse talents as Quincy Jones, Mark Mothersbaugh, Danny Kortchmar and Joe Cocker, as well as writing and recording theme songs for TV, film and commercials, Sarah Taylor decided it was time to record an album of her own.

Long time friends and collaborators, singer/songwriter Sarah Taylor and producer Bill Mumy decided to go into the studio and get to work on a collection of songs mostly penned by Mumy that would become The Cure To Everything.  And yes, that would be the same Bill Mumy who starred in the infamous Lost in Space, Babylon 5 and numerous iconic films and television shows.  They agreed to cut the basic tracks live to keep a spontaneous and honest energy in the music.

Sarah and Bill assembled a crack team of musicians in the studio for what became a week of tracking. The core rhythm section was blues/rock guitarist Doug Hamblin (Albert King, Johnny Rivers, Koko Taylor, Dr. John), bassist David Sutton (Lucinda Williams, Liz Phair, Ben Harper), with Fritz Lewak (Melissa Etheridge, Jackson Browne), and Chris Ross (Sam Moore, The Jenerators) on drums and percussion. Guiding the process was producer and guitarist Bill Mumy, who played on every track.

Apart from the core group, there are an eclectic variety of other musicians who contribute greatly wide tonal palette of the album.  Multi-platinum artist Weird Al Yankovic’s accordion can be heard on two songs.

Gerry Beckley from the band America, co-wrote one song, “Man Of Pride”.  He played acoustic guitar on that track as well as supplying the Wurlitzer piano on Sarah’s version of “I’ve Got A Feeling”.  The Lennon & McCartney classic began as an impromptu jam and made it on the album.

Pedal steel player Dave Pearlman (Merle Haggard, Marty Robbins, Michele Shocked) played on several songs as well as adding dobro and electric guitar.  A swampy trombone solo on “The Great Domain” was provided by Steve Baxter (Ray Charles, Prince, Beck) and the classically trained Sarah played violin on two tracks.

On “We’re One”, they took a different route. The track is just a vintage pump organ and a vocal. Oscar and Grammy winning producer Anibal Kerpel (Juanes, Café Tacuba, Molotov) invited Sarah, Bill and Paul to record his vintage pump organ at his studio, Surco.

There are surprising twists and turns through traditional Americana, country blues, front-porch gospel, folk and rock, all the while corralling these disparate musical styles into a rich, colorful and cohesive tapestry.   While Sarah Taylor may have taken a long time to release her first solo album, it is well worth the wait. It is after all, The Cure To Everything!