Family Circle's 1973 LP draws a tight ring around the most beguiling soul tropes of its era, with its full house of ambitious players and hook-laden originals. Newark, New Jersey's Simmons siblings--George, James, Mary, Don, and David--rallied around journeyman arranger George Andrews and business maven/producer Randy Irwin, whose industry ties brought studio luminaries into the Simmons orbit: session guitar giant Cornell Dupree, guitarist/songwriter Billy Vera, and the inimitable Bernard "Pretty" Purdie on drums. Charles Simmons' "Well Runs Dry" dipped several toes into Jackson 5-saturated waters, while "I Hope You Really Love Me" stayed together with the Al Green ethos. Where the bowling, basketball, and karate-obsessed Simmons fivesome was hitching to--thumbs unfurled and dressed to impress in Central Park on Family Circle's back cover--is anyone's guess, but their sparkling, layered sound, gospel-honed vocal chops, and instantly relatable melodies should've dropped them off on everybody's turntable.
