Quarto Valley Records (QVR) announces the release of the new single from recording artists The Immediate Family titled “Cruel Twist,” available for purchase and streaming beginning June 12. The “Cruel Twist” music video premiered June 11 via Rolling Stone magazine. “Cruel Twist” is the band’s first single of new music for release in the U.S., Europe and South America, and the first offering from their upcoming EP set for release in October, with a full-length LP coming early 2021 on QVR. The Immediate Family is a rock & roll band composed of longtime friends and legendary musicians – Danny Kortchmar (guitar and vocals), Waddy Wachtel (guitar and vocals), Leland Sklar (bass), Russ Kunkel (drums) and Steve Postell (guitar and vocals).
Commenting on the creation of the song, Kortchmar remarks, “I wrote this song a while ago when I was living in Connecticut. The great Harvey Brooks, Charlie Karp and I had a little band called ‘Slo Leak,’ and I was writing for that band. Harvey came up with the title and I came up with the music very quickly. Basically, it’s a cautionary tale, like a lot of my songs. It kind of applies to today, because it’s about a reversal of fortune like what’s happening now with the virus and the economic downturn. Ultimately, it’s a blues song about what can happen if one gets too confident and too full of oneself.”
The band is the evolution of a lifetime of friendship of playing music together: it began in the 1970s as a collective of studio and live musicians known as “The Section,” best known for both their work in support of some of the top selling singer/songwriters and solo singers in the history of music, as well as their own acclaimed instrumental albums. Collectively, these musicians helped define the sound of a generation by supporting many of the most iconic artists of the last five decades, including James Taylor, Carole King, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Keith Richards, Neil Young, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Don Henley, Phil Collins, Bonnie Raitt, Warren Zevon, Stevie Nicks, Bryan Ferry, Lyle Lovett and Jimmy Buffett – and as well as for producers Lou Adler and Peter Asher.
Operating as The Immediate Family for the last few years, the band has been performing live and recording new original music, and most recently found its stateside home with QVR.
Speaking about “Cruel Twist,” Legendary DJ Jim Ladd (host of SiriusXM Deep Tracks Channel 27) remarks, “I love this timely new song from musicians that have seen their share of every stadium on the planet. “Cruel Twist” is a cool gem! The Immediate Family has years of experience performing on the road and in studios with so many talented artists. These amazing players are now a band of their own that we can all sing along with and be Immediate Family together. We need that now more than ever. It is their time to rock us through the 2020 struggles.”
Additionally, production continues on the group’s upcoming documentary The Immediate Family, filmmaker Denny Tedesco’s exploration of the band’s rich history, which also serves as the follow-up to his acclaimed feature The Wrecking Crew, which spotlighted an earlier group of Los Angeles studio pros.
“Cruel Twist” Credits:
Songwriters: Daniel Kortchmar, Harvey Brooks / Universal Publishing (ASCAP)
Produced by Danny Kortchmar, Steve Postell, Fred Mollin
Recorded at Groove Masters & Katonah Studios
Engineered by Niko Bolas & Steve Postell
Mastered by Richard Dodd
Performed by The Immediate Family with Jim Cox on Hammond B3
Video produced and directed by: The Immediate Family
Video editor: Michael Perlmutter
