Genre: rock
Rating: 3 stars ***
Title:  Anna Divina
Company: Enterprise
Catalog: ENS 1027
Year: 1972
Country/State: Fayetteville, Arkansas
Grade (cover/record): VG+ / VG+
Comments: gatefold sleeve
Available: 1
Catalog ID: 6070
Price: $10.00

I've never bothered to track it down, but under the abbreviated moniker River City, the band released a second LP and a couple more singles:

Ha ... naturally a couple of weeks after I wrote that I found a copy of the second album, 1972's "Anna Divina" at a yard sale ...

Produced by Tim Riley, the band's sophomore release wasn't a major change in direction. With Boyd and Johnson again responsible for penning the majority of material, their sound remained firmly entrenched in early-197s horn-rock (think along the lines of Blood, Sweat, and Tears, Chase, or Chicago). That said, this time out the horns were actually a bit less prominent and on a couple of tracks ('Statue of Liberty' and 'Marlow's Catfish Song') there were no horns. So here's the funny thing - they were actually far stronger without the horns ...

- 'If You Don't Quit Changing' started the album off with one of their better melodies, but the intrusive horn arrangement sort of took the steam out of the song. rating: ** stars
- With an uplifting lyric on racial harmony, the pretty acoustic ballad 'Hawkin's Farm' sounded like something off of a Lobo album ... by the way that was actually meant as a compliment. rating: *** stars
- 'Sunshine Won't You Help Me' offered up another country-rock flavored track recalling something a band like Firefall, Poco, or Pure Prairie League might have recorded. The song highlights came in the form of some gorgeous harmony vocals and Heath's always tasteful keyboards. rating: *** stars
- 'Magic Country Music Box' was simply a bit too country-tinged for my tastes. rating: * star
- 'Complete with Bill Foster wah wah guitar solo, the first part of 'Pimp Song (Come With Me)' was side one's most rock oriented effort, making it possible to overlook the Chicago-styled horn arrangement. Unfortunately, out of the blue the song morphed into a bluesy instrumental designed to showcase Foster and trumpet players Ethridge Hill and Dale Marlow. rating: *** stars
- Penned by producer Riley, 'Roll Another Joint-Fuzz' was a weird little acapella effort. I'm guessing it was meant to be funny, but apparently hasn't aged all that well. rating: * star
- Completely abandoning the horns, Boyd's 'Statue Of Liberty' was a conventional rocker with a great melody and some tasty Foster lead guitar. Shame they didn't do more stuff in this vein. Probably my favorite track on the album. rating: **** stars
- In sharp contrast to most of the album, 'All The Sunshine' was a spare, acoustic ballad with one off the album's prettiest melodies. rating: *** star
- Ah life in a band ... 'My Friends And The Band' well for a horn rocker, this one wasn't bad. I'll leave it at that. rating: *** star
- So 'Seems Like Yesterday' was the song where my anti-horn sentiments took a beating. Yeah, this rocker had plenty of horns, but the rest of the track was strong enough to overcome that disadvantage. The song also sported Foster's best guitar solo. rating: *** star
While I've always liked Boyd's craggy voice, it was wasted on country-tinged numbers like 'Sittin' Here On The Porch'. The scat section didn't do much to save the track. rating: ** stars
- The instrumental 'Marlow's Catfish Song' was basically a set up for a Marlow harmonica solo. It was pretty, but along with the running water sound effects, ultimately sounded like a piece of incidental film music. rating: ** stars

Elsewhere the album spun off a pair of singles:

- 1973's 'Marlow's Theme (Marlow's Catfish Song)' b/w 'Magic Country Box' (Enterprise catalog number ENA 9064) 
- 1973's 'Hawkins Farm' b/w 'Sunshine Won't You Help Me' (Enterprise catalog number ENA 9078) 
- 1973's 'Wind Me Up' b/w 'Marlow's Theme' (Enterprise catalog number ENA 9097)

Nope, it wasn't a lost classic, but there were a couple of tracks that were worthwhile ...

"Anna Divina" track listing:  
(side 1)
1.) If You Don't Quit Changing   (Dick Johnson) -
2.) Hawkin's Farm   (Dick Johnson) -
3.) Sunshine Won't You Help Me   (Dick Johnson) -
4.) Magic Country Music Box (Tommy Boyd) -
5.) Pimp Song (Come With Me)   (Dick Johnson - Tommy Boyd) -
6.) Roll Another Joint-Fuzz (instrumental) (Tim Riley) -

(side 2)
1.) Statue Of Liberty   (Tommy Boyd) -
2.) All The Sunshine   (Tommy Boyd) -
3.) My Friends And The Band   (Dick Johnson) -
4.) Seems Like Yesterday   (Tommy Boyd) -
5.) Sittin' Here On The Porch (Tommy Boyd) -
6.) Marlow's Catfish Song (instrumental)  (Dick Johnson - Dale Marlow) -

Keyboardist Blan returned to his hometown of Blytheville, Arkansas and became a farmer. Sadly he died in July 2000 farming accident. 

A quick check of the internet showed Byrd remained active in music. After the band called it quits he relocated to Austin where he turned his attention to commercial jingles and then joined the Geezinslaw Brothers for several years. From there he became a partner in an Austin recording studio before setting up his own studio where he's some solo material, as well as a collection as Byrd and Kathy Ship. He has a small website at:

http://www.andrestitt.com/akshun/2003/bedfordmain/bedfordpancea/main.html

Hill also stayed engaged in music playing on a steady stream of albums including Sarah Hickman's 1994 album "Necessary Angels".