My Family (studio album)
by Dan Casamajor

From Mercury 10/19/2017 20:20

Gosh! I am surprised at how great this album is! I keep coming back to it just to check if its really as solid, beautiful, and well-written as I thought the last time I heard it. And each time I find myself loving it a bit more.

This was the only album released by Dan Casamajor. It was apparently a very limited pressing. Dan was a 20 year old college kid from Nprthern California. Or as the liner notes of this 1969 vinyl put it - "Dan Casamajor is a sensitive, twenty year old college student from the quiet Northern California community of Chico. His message is so pure and right you just might take a closer look at your own life. Dan has a way of putting into words all the frustrations and restlessness of the inquiring youth of today - - - the youth that no one seems to be able to figure out." lol.

I laughed but that isn't too far from what I take from this album. The record is warm, relatable and very nicely rooted in the feelings of a young college student in 1969, encountering the world. Its romantic, simple, plaintive, sensitive, and just really really "authentic". It doesn't give off a vibe like its trying to be the cleverest album, or most hip, or the most psychedelic, etc. Its just, by and large, Dan with an acoustic, some drum, some bass, the occasional electric guitar to spice it up. The words are nice and earnest, and the voice is so approachable and warm. In many ways this is the quintessential example of a late 60s singer/songwriter album. It is soooo goooood though!

Really this is a lovely album.

Rating: 8.9/10