Ed Ames - Love of the Common People (1969/2019) [Hi-Res]

AllMusic Review by Greg Adams
After enjoying major solo hits with adult pop songs like "My Cup Runneth Over" and the socially conscious "Who Will Answer?," Ed Ames decided to combat his slipping sales by embracing message-oriented music with a hipster veneer. He had found an artistically rewarding style on his albums My Cup Runneth Over and When the Snow Is on the Roses, but commercial desperation drove him to create the misbegotten mess that is Love of the Common People. Ames' trained baritone crooning "Let's Get Together" and Wally Whyton's "Leave Them a Flower" might have gone over well on a television variety show in 1969, but on record it wears thin fast and bears an unfortunate resemblance to the worst of Jim Nabors. The album has a bit of a flower power theme with most of the songs advocating brotherly love or expressing uplifting sentiments, but the mismatch between the singer and the songs is a serious problem. Jerry Reed's "A Thing Called Love" holds up to Ames' faux hipster treatment and is about the only bright spot on the album.