A bit more background. I'd hesitate to say "better than the original," but...
Revived Mason Proffit is better than the original
By TERRY PERKINS
Special to the Post-Dispatch
Thursday, Jul. 15 2004
Many rock bands of the 1960s and '70s have exhibited a zombie-like strain over
the past few years - rising from their graves by re- uniting after several
decades apart and touring with other resurrected groups on the rock-revival
circuit.
Unfortunately, most of these reformed bands feature only one or two members
from the lineup that attracted a loyal following in the first place. The
resulting music is usually predictable - competent but unexciting versions of
the original hits played by guys who look like they would be more comfortable
in a recliner in front of a TV than onstage at a rock concert.
But every now and then a revived version of a band from the past proves to be
just as good - maybe even better - than the original lineup. That certainly
appears to be the case with Mason Proffit (photo below), a band that built a
strong following in St. Louis and throughout the Midwest from 1969-73 - riding
memorable tunes such as "Two Hangmen" and "Buffalo."
"When we broke up back in '73, it wasn't because we didn't like each other
anymore," said Terry Talbot, one of Mason Proffit's founding members. "We had
been doing 300 concerts a year for almost three years, and we were just plain
tired!"
Talbot, along with brother and fellow band member John Michael Talbot, began
performing Christian music after Mason Proffit broke up. That musical approach
brought the Talbots considerable success over the years. John Michael Talbot
became the top-selling musician in the Christian-music field, and Terry also
won acclaim for his recordings in the genre.
So why did Terry Talbot decide to focus his energy on reviving a band that had
been split up for three decades?
"I was playing a concert in Wisconsin last year," Talbot said, "and the
promoter kept asking me to do "Two Hangmen." I didn't want to do it, but
finally I gave in. I actually had to look the song up on the Internet to recall
the lyrics, and I ended up changing five or six words to update it. When I did
the song, the audience response was fantastic. I had been getting lots of
inquiries about a revival of Mason Proffit, so I thought I'd see if the band
was up for it - and they were."
Original members Bruce Kurnow and Tim Ayres came back on board - as did Terry's
brother Michael (although he only plays with the band in studio because he's
now a Franciscan monk). The original band is now augmented by country-rock
stalwart Al Perkins - a former member of the Flying Burrito Brothers who has
worked with everyone from Emmylou Harris to Dan Fogelberg - and guitarist Chris
Eddy, the son of legendary rocker Duane Eddy.
"I met Al back in 1976," Talbot said. "We worked on some gospel albums
together, and he produced some of my records. My brother told me I should call
up Al and see if he might be interested in being part of the new Mason Proffit,
and it turned out he was. And Al brought along Chris, who had been playing in
Nashville with him."
According to Talbot, the reformed Mason Proffit is better than the original,
and a four-song CD of the band live in the studio backs up his claim with
strong, well-crafted takes of "Two Hangmen," "Old Joe Clark," "Lilly" and
"Victoria."
"We'll be finishing up recording this coming week in Nashville for a complete
Mason Proffit CD before we head out on tour and come to St. Louis," Talbot
said. "It's the Show Me State, so we'll have to prove ourselves like we did in
the past when we played places like Kiel Auditorium. We're really looking
forward to it."