Take It Easy On Me By LITTLE RIVER BAND

Take It Easy On Me By LITTLE RIVER BAND

It used to be so easy to be your lover
We wandered through the days like they had no end
But now that you are gone I'm under cover
I just can't think about you as a friend
Take it easy on me
It should be easy to see
I'm getting lost in the crowd
Hear me crying out loud
Just want you to know
I know that you have to go
It's all up to you
But whatever you do
Take it easy on me
So now I'll go the minstrel road
Without you
I know there will be times
When I need you there
And each night as I sing those songs
About you
I'll think back to the time
When you used to care
Take it easy on me
It should be easy to see
I'm getting lost in the crowd
Hear me crying out loud
Just want you to know
I know that you have to go
It's all up to you
But whatever you do
Take it easy on me
Take it easy on me
Oh baby, don't leave me crying
Should be easy to see
I've needed you for so long
Just one more chance with you
One more chance will you
Take a chance
Come on and take a chance
[Instrumental Interlude]
Take it easy on me
It should be easy to see
I'm getting lost in the crowd
Hear me crying out loud
Just want you to know
I know that you have to go
It's all up to you
But whatever you do
Take it easy on me
It's still up to you but whatever you do
Take it easy on me

Little River Band are an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1975 and named after a road sign for the Victorian township of Little River, on the way to Geelong. They were the first Australian rock group to enjoy sustained commercial success in the United States. During their career the band have sold more than 25 million records and scored 13 American Top 40 hits.

The band's original members were lead singer Glenn Shorrock, guitarists/vocalists Graeham Goble and Beeb Birtles, lead guitarist Ric Formosa, bassist Roger McLachlan and drummer Derek Pellicci.

History

The group evolved from the harmony laden country rock group Mississippi in 1975. Prior to that, Birtles had been the bassist in 1960s pop band Zoot (which also included singer-guitarist Rick Springfield), and Shorrock had been the lead singer of leading Australian 60s pop band The Twilights and early 1970s country rock band Axiom.

They found immediate success in Australia, but individual members had greater ambitions. Like many other Australasian groups of the period, both Axiom and Mississippi had tried to break into the UK record market without success. After Axiom disbanded after moving to the U.K., Shorrock sang for a short period with the more progressive rock outfit Esperanto before meeting and joining forces with Birtles, Goble & Pellicci in 1974. They agreed to meet back in their homeland by early 1975. Remembering the indifferent reaction they had received in the UK, they decided their new band would focus on establishing themselves in the United States.

A key factor in their eventual success was a fellow Aussie they'd also met while in England who became their manager, Glenn Wheatley. Wheatley had been the bassist in the highly-regarded Australian rock band The Masters Apprentices. Wheatley's first-hand experiences of the rip-offs in the 1960s music scene, combined with his subsequent experience working in music management in Britain and the United States in the early 1970s, enabled him to help Little River Band become the first Australian group to enjoy consistent commercial and chart success in the United States.

Fueled by a very successful Australian hit single "Curiosity Killed the Cat", the band began making promotional visits to the U.S. in 1976. This resulted in a U.S. hit single, "It's a Long Way There" (edited down from an album track over 8 minutes long) , which broke into the Top 30 and galvanised the commitment of the band members. More concert performances in the US followed, and in 1977 "Help Is on Its Way" (an Australian number one single) and "Happy Anniversary" both narrowly missed the US Top 10. From 1978 until 1981, Little River Band achieved six consecutive US Top 10 singles with "Reminiscing" (#3, their biggest hit), "Lady" (#10), "Lonesome Loser" (#6), "Cool Change" (#10), "The Night Owls" (#6) and "Take It Easy on Me" (#10). During their career the band has sold more than 25 million records and has scored 13 American Top 40 hits.

Personnel changes

Just before they began touring abroad in the fall of 1976, bassist Roger McLachlan, apparently not enthusiastic about touring outside of Australia, left the group and was replaced by George McArdle, while lead guitarist Ric Formosa, who quit the band in order to pursue other musical interests, was replaced by David Briggs. However, Formosa remained in touch with his former bandmates and conducted and wrote string parts for several Little River Band songs after he officially left the band.