Traces

AMG Review of Traces

Greg Adams
All Music Guide

Traces was the most successful album for Dennis Yost and Classics IV, nearly reaching the Top 40 in 1968. The title track was the group's biggest hit (although "Spooky" is better remembered) and "Everyday With You Girl" made the Top 20. The poetic lyrics and the soft instrumental blend of strings and an occasional flute were ubiquitous on easy listening records of this period, and although the songwriting of producer Buddy Buie and guitarist J.R. Cobb is vital, the lue-eyed soul of Yost's vocals is the focal point. A handful of low-key originals fill out the album, plus covers of the Fleetwoods' "Mr. Blue," Bobby Hebb's "Sunny," and Tommy Roe's "Traffic Jam" (the hardest-rocking cut on the album). That the covers surpass the non-hit originals in quality is no great criticism since the band chose excellent material to record.