Playin' It Cool

This is the first solo album by Timothy B. Schmit, known for succeeding Randy Meisner in Poco and then the Eagles. Considering how he joined those groups, he may not be the kind of artist who projects a conspicuous presence. Yet his high tenor and way of singing are extremely attractive, at least from an adult-contemporary perspective.

Especially striking are the cover of the Tymes' ‘So Much in Love,’ recorded for Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and ‘Voices,’ on which he performs entirely alone. Those reveal the unmistakable poignancy and weight of his layered voices, the full richness of the harmonies and their sweet attraction. He is perhaps rebuilding, through his own sensibility, the beauty of the early Beach Boys as a vocal group, likely his deepest roots. Carl Wilson also appears here. Harder tracks with Toto's Jeff Porcaro and Steve Lukather may have helped it catch its moment's commercial current, but even then I felt it belonged in a thoroughly soft direction...