Where Have I Known You Before

Where Have I Known You Before is the fourth album by the band Return to Forever and the second since leader Chick Corea changed the line-up and moved to electric instrumentation, playing jazz fusion influenced by progressive rock.[4]

Where Have I Known You Before
Studio album by
Return to Forever
ReleasedSeptember 1974
RecordedJuly–August 1974
StudioRecord Plant Studios, New York City
GenreJazz fusion
Length41:27
LabelPolydor
ProducerChick Corea
Return to Forever chronology
Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy
(1973)		 Where Have I Known You Before
(1974)		 No Mystery
(1975)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Sputnikmusic[2]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[3]

Background, instrumentation, compositions

Although Return to Forever's style remained unchanged since its previous album, Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy (1973), important changes took place in the band's sound and line-up. Chick Corea started to use synthesizers, such as the Minimoog and ARP Odyssey. An equally important change was the replacement of guitarist Bill Connors with 19-year-old Al Di Meola.[5] Connors left the band before the recording of this album to concentrate on his acoustic solo career. Another reason for his departure was his reluctance to travel; he preferred to stay in the San Francisco area.

Between the album's longer tracks are three of Corea's short piano improvisations that all bore a title beginning with "Where Have I...".[6]

The first track is Stanley Clarke's "Vulcan Worlds" with melodic motifs that appear on Clarke's second solo album Stanley Clarke during the same year 1974. The song shows Clarke is "one of the fastest and most facile electric bassists around".[6] Each player except for drummer Lenny White took long solos.

The next long track is Lenny White's composition "The Shadow of Lo", a piece with many changes in mood. The last track on Side A is Corea's "Beyond the Seventh Galaxy", a sequel to his "Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy", the title track from the group's previous album. Side B begins with the collective jam "Earth Juice". Most of Side B was is taken up by Corea's 14-minute epic "Song to the Pharaoh Kings", a song notable for its use of the harmonic minor scale.[7] The track has a long keyboard introduction, after which Chick Corea is joined by the full band, and an "Eastern" theme appears. Each member of the band plays a long solo.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Chick Corea except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Vulcan Worlds" (Stanley Clarke)7:51
2."Where Have I Loved You Before?"1:02
3."The Shadow of Lo" (Lenny White)7:32
4."Where Have I Danced with You Before?"1:14
5."Beyond the Seventh Galaxy"3:13
Side two
No.TitleLength
6."Earth Juice" (Corea, Clarke, White, Al Di Meola)3:46
7."Where Have I Known You Before?"2:20
8."Song to the Pharaoh Kings"14:21
Total length:41:27

Personnel
Musicians
Technical personnel
  • Shelly Yakus – engineer
  • Tom Rabstenek – mastering
  • Herb Dreiwitz – front cover photography

Chart performance
YearChartPosition
1974 Billboard 200 32[8]
1975 Billboard Jazz Albums 5[8]

References
  1. Yanow, Scott. "Return to Forever - Where Have I Known You Before (1974) album review | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
  2. Campbell, Hernan M. (1 November 2012). "Return to Forever - Where Have I Known You Before (1974) album review | Sputnikmusic". sputnikmusic.com. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  3. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. US: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 50. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  4. Hegarty, Paul; Halliwell, Martin (2011). Beyond and Before: Progressive Rock Since the 1960s. Continuum. p. 134. ISBN 9780826444837. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  5. Cooke, Mervyn; Horn, David (2002). The Cambridge Companion to Jazz. Cambridge Companions to Music. Cambridge UP. p. 228. ISBN 9780521663885. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  6. Martin, Henry; Waters, Keith (2010). Jazz: The First 100 Years, 3rd ed: The First 100 Years. Cengage. p. 335. ISBN 9781439083338. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  7. Bufe, Charles (1994). An Understandable Guide to Music Theory: The Most Useful Aspects of Theory for Rock, Jazz & Blues Musicians. See Sharp. p. 6. ISBN 9781884365003.
  8. "Return to Forever - Where Have I Known You Before (1974) album review | Awards | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
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