THE SUPER 70s SOUNDS OF TOMMY PELTIER'S ECHO PARKJust east of Hollywood, Tommy Peltier’s made sweet music in the Echo Park hills for over sixty years. A jazzman first, he recast himself in 1970 as an LA troubadour, crafting a set of glitter-light pop tunes that somehow missed release — until now! Dating back to the early-mid-1970s, Echo Park is an encompassing trip through a whole other time and place, mixed and mastered with great zest by Jim O’Rourke.
First single “Flight of the Dancer” was tracked in 1976 at Heritage Studios in Hollywood. There, Tommy & Co. unleashed an uptempo pop ballad breathing itself higher and higher in ecstatic reverie, bejeweled with a sensuous slide guitar refrain. Carrying the grace and elegance of George Harrison & Elton John, Tommy’s ethereal spirit guides this tune into the glossy night with the refrain: “I want to be there / when the light comes on / and we see who we really are.”
A trumpet player since childhood, Tommy felt no need for pop music; he’d come of age during the west coast jazz explosion of the 1950s, founding The Jazz Corps in 1963. After an injury ended his trumpet-playing days, Tommy turned to the guitar and started writing songs, encouraged by a new friend he made in ‘68, singer/songwriter Judee Sill. Tommy honed his new music throughout the 70s inspired by Sill, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and others, pairing his soulful songs and high-pitched vocals (he was once called “Tom Rapp on helium”) with the requisite chopsy, jazz-enriched LA players. On top of appearances from Judee and some former Jazz Corpsmen across Echo Park, the album features guitarist Art Johnson (John Klemmer, Paul Horn, Tim Weisburg), keyboardist Richard Thompson (The Association, John Hartford), and bassist Wolfgang Melz (Hedge & Donna, Mark-Almond).
At the ripe young age of 90(!), Tommy continues to play music today! It's high time these songs make it out there — so take a high-flying journey through the past with us when Echo Park releases on March 27, 2026.
― dow, Saturday, 31 January 2026 22:00 (two weeks ago)