FAMILY CIRCLE

Family Circle's 1973 LP draws a tight ring around the most beguiling soul tropes of its era, with its?full house of ambitious players and hook-laden originals. Newark, New Jersey's Simmons siblings - ?George, James, Mary, Don, and David - rallied around journeyman arranger George Andrews and?business maven/producer Randy Irwin, whose industry ties brought studio luminaries into the Simmons?orbit: session guitar giant Cornell Dupree, guitarist/songwriter Billy Vera, and the inimitable Bernard?Pretty Purdie on drums. Charles Simmons' Well Runs Dry dipped several toes into Jackson?5-saturated waters, while I Hope You Really Love Me stayed together with the Al Green ethos. Where?the bowling, basketball, and karate-obsessed Simmons fivesome was hitching to - thumbs unfurled?and dressed to impress in Central Park on Family Circle's back cover - is anyone's guess, but their?sparkling, layered sound, gospel-honed vocal chops, and instantly relatable melodies should've?dropped them off on everybody's turntable. Give Family Circle a lift, drive 'em around awhile.