The band re-grouped and eventually Bridge was born with songwriter Jon Benedich and Paul Tillman Smith in the frontline. The name Bridge was a rather conscious choice, recalls Benedich. "We were trying to bridge all styles and makets, we were trying to be universal, like earth, Wind & Fire or Stevie Wonder". Bridge spent two years playing around the San Fransisco Bay Area before they landed a deal with Bang Records in 1981.

The Bang deal turned out to be Bridge´s undoing. Arguments over money broke out, Smith and Benedich discovered that they were not going to get to produce the album themselves. Before the album was completed, most members had been sent back to Oakland. The producers brought in keyboardist Barry Becket, guitarist Jimmy Johnson and bassist David Hood from Muscle Shoals to complete the project. The album was never released and the band soon collapsed.

Now, after nearly twenty years comes a collection of the demos that helped Bridge to land the Bang deal.

At last we can hear Bridge the way Smith and Benedich intended it in the first place. These selections reveal a sophisticated fusion of soul, jazz and Latin elements that placed Bridge well ahead of its time.

Crying For Love and Rivers Of Love will surely please any soul ballad junkie. One of the best re-issues in years. Absolutely essential.