Granted, no one would confuse their music with, say, Led Zeppelin. But to say their music was "soft" is just a lazy characterization. Quite often, their songs combined influences as far flung as bop jazz, R&B, acoustic blues, bluegrass, Eastern classical music, as well as straight up rock & roll, played with real virtuosity and soul. (Actually, in many ways, their eclectic, world-embracing output is actually closer to Zep than the music of their supposed soft rock contemporaries.)
Although they had a string of hit songs in the early 70s, their very first hit single "Summer Breeze" (off the 1972 album of the same name) is my personal favorite.
On the surface, it's a carefree tune about warm July evenings and all of the familiar sights/sounds/smells that welcome you home after a hard week's work. But I've always sensed something more melancholy in the song; its minor-hued hook (played in unison on toy piano, alto sax, and clarinet) always seemed to express longing for something more.
Consider the lyrics: the protagonist finds comfort in the simplicity of a summer breeze, the smell of jasmine, and the affection of his mate. Everything else (his job, the newspaper on the sidewalk, the music from the neighbor's house) is a distraction. It seems to be a song about seeking what is real and true in life.
Whatever your interpretation, the song has an undeniable R&B groove. (It's no wonder The Isley Brothers covered it on their album 3+3, giving it a sultry 6-minute workout.) Bobby Lichtig's dynamic bassline, which is as melodic as it is funky, almost has a Motown/James Jamerson quality about it. It, along with Louie Shelton's fuzzed out guitar riff on the chorus and the duo's close harmony vocals throughout, make it one of the few AM radio hits of that era that I actually want to hear, over and over.
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