10. Phase III – The Osmonds “is the third studio album by the American singing group The Osmonds, released in 1972. The album reached number ten on the Billboard Top LPs chart on March 11, 1972. Two singles released from the album, “Yo-Yo” and “Down by the Lazy River“, reached No. 3 and No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, respectively. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA on May 29, 1972. Phase III was, as its name implied, a shift in direction for the band, after its 1960s era as variety-show child stars and the band’s early breakthrough as bubblegum pop idols, much of this album featured the band moving into a hard rock sound and writing more of their own material.” When I heard the first track I actually couldn’t believe it was The Osmonds! It sounded like CCR! They really were trying to change their image into a more rock oriented sound. I also checked out the songwriters and they were part of the rock scene. Here are the tracks I enjoyed:
“Down By the Lazy River” – this is the opening track I was referring to that reminded me a bit of CCR. It’s a pretty fun song and I dare you to play it for friends who are into rock and see if they can guess who it is. I’m betting they won’t be able to figure it out.
“Yo-Yo” – the beginning of the song reminds me of a Beatles riff and then it takes a Jackson 5 turn. Not a bad jam. This was originally done in 1966 by Billy Joe Royal.
“He’s The Light of The World” – of course the Osmonds had to have a Jesus song right? I guess this could be inspiration for “Christian Rock” right?