Dreams & Images (Bonus Tracks) (Gate)

Digitally remastered edition. Released on Lee Hazelwood's LHI label, the haunted DREAMS AND IMAGES is the first of two albums from the Melbourne, Florida-born singer/songwriter. Though his lonely, intimate music, shy demeanor, and stutter might not have suggested a man of great ambition, Arthur moved to Hollywood chasing the music industry dream. He suffered hardships to do so, living hand-to-mouth in a YMCA hostel with two like-minded individuals: Mark Lindsey Buckingham and Stephen John Kalinich. While Kalinich and Buckingham were signed by the Beach Boys' Brother Records, Arthur allied with Hazelwood, having knocked on the door of the label's Sunset Boulevard HQ and auditioned on the spot. Entering the studio with Hazelwood, Donnie Owens, Tom Thacker, and arranger Don Randi, who brought baroque pop grandeur to the songs, Arthur let his music do the talking. A mixture of things conspired to make sure few people heard Arthur, including a packed release schedule at LHI, followed by the withdrawal of their major label funding and a lack of foundation on which to market the album.