New album releases in 150 words or less…
Flat Duo Jets – Wild Wild Love (Daniel 13 Records)
Formed by singer/guitarist Dexter Romweber and drummer Chris “Crow” Smith, North Carolina’s Flat Duo Jets have been kickin’ the can since the mid-‘80s. The pair has cranked out psychobilly jams with reckless abandon on almost a dozen albums since the 1990 release of their indie debut, influencing artists like the White Stripes and the Drive-By Truckers. That hard-to-find Flat Duo Jets debut LP is included on Wild Wild Love, a double-disc compilation that also includes the band’s 1985 cassette-only mini-album In Stereo and a slew of studio outtakes. The Jets’ raw-boned sound and the primitive production afforded performances like “My Life, My Love” (with Dex channeling his inner Elvis), the ramshackle “Tribute to Gene” (i.e. Vincent), and the New Orleans-flavored “Strut My Stuff” make for hi-octane fun. The ‘outtakes’ disc has its sonic charms also, especially the rowdy surfabilly instrumental “Bumble Bee Boogie.” Well worth your time to check out... Grade: B BUY IT!
Focus – The Focus Family Album (In and Out of Focus Records)
An odd little bird, this The Focus Family Album collection – two discs with 20 tracks by the Dutch band best-known for its 1971 hit “Hocus Pocus.” Presented in an eight-panel digipak with artwork by Roger Dean, the set features ten tracks by Focus along with two solo tracks by each current band member, including founder Thijs van Leer and longtime drummer Pierre van der Linden, plus two by associated band Swing. Fifteen tracks are previously unreleased – an offering for the band’s cultish fans – but overall the results are mixed. The crooning solo vocals of van Leer are a little disconcerting while van der Linden’s slight voice is nevertheless disarming on his two charming efforts. The band’s signature jazz-flecked progressive-rock sound is expanded and unpredictable on tracks like “Santa Teresa” and “Victoria” but Menno Gootjes’ solo acoustic instrumental “Two-part Intervention” and Focus’s “Mosh Blues” prove him a knowledgeable and innovative guitarist. Grade: B- BUY IT!
The Original Blues Brothers Band – The Last Shade of Blue Before Black (Severn Records)
John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd’s hit 1980 movie The Blues Brothers was a paean to their love of R&B, the film boosting the careers of idols Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and James Brown. The pair was backed by as talented a group of musicians as you’ll ever find, a few of which carry on as The Original Blues Brothers Band. The Last Shade of Blue Before Black is the latest from the Steve Cropper/Lou Marini fronted band, a fine fourteen-song collection of heartfelt soul and blues tunes that features guests like guitarists Joe Louis Walker and Matt “Guitar” Murphy as well as Dr. John and Eddie Floyd, whose “Don’t Forget About James Brown” is the booty-shakin’ prescription for funk we all needed. A raucous cover of “I Got My Mojo Working” is a joyous romp while the title track is a haunting blues ballad that does Jake and Elwood proud. Grade: B+ BUY IT!
Uriah Heep – Raging Through The Silence (Uriah Heep Records)
Critically-reviled but beloved by fans, Uriah Heep had the last laugh on rockcrit types as they’re still kicking out the jams for rowdy audiences worldwide almost 50 years since their forming. Raging Through The Silence is a super-duper 2-CD/DVD set documenting Heep’s “20th anniversary concert” in London, the 1989 show released on VHS once upon a time and long since forgotten. Touring in support of Raging Silence with fairly-new frontman Bernie Shaw on the microphone, the show offers up fan faves in the form of “Easy Livin’,” “Stealin’,” and “Look At Yourself” as well as lesser-known fare like “Gypsy” and “July Morning.” It’s a solid performance, with beat-keepers Lee Kerslake and Trevor Bolder providing a foundation for Mick Box’s stinging fretwork. Shaw’s vox are a little raw (he’s much better on newer recordings), but he hits all the notes and the show is a true celebration of rock ‘n’ roll. Grade: B BUY IT!
John Wetton – Akustika/Akustika II (Primary Purpose Records)
John Wetton was a true rock ‘n’ roll journeyman, the over-hyped and yet oddly underrated singer, songwriter, and musician enjoying a lengthy solo career along with notable stints in legendary bands King Crimson, Family, Roxy Music, and Uriah Heep. He also recorded excellent albums with Roxy’s Phil Manzanera and Geoff Downes (Yes), but Wetton is best-known as one of the co-founders of 1980s-era rockers Asia. The two-CD Akustika/Akustika II is a gem among Wetton’s solo albums, combining the 1996 live Akustika with a previously-unreleased 2005 performance, displaying Wetton’s immense talents in an intimate acoustic setting with just voice, guitar, and piano. The Akustika disc has some fine moments like “Voice of America,” “The Smile Has Left Your Eyes,” and “Heat of the Moment” but Akustika II includes chilling takes on Crimson’s “Starless” and “Book of Saturday.” With these stark, beautiful performances, Wetton strips prog-rock bluster down to its rawest heartbeat. Grade: A- BUY IT!
Previously on That Devil Music:
Short Rounds, November 2017 - Tommy Castro, NRBQ, Radio Moscow & the Replacements
Short Rounds, October 2017 - Action Skulls, Arthur Adams, the Nighthawks & UFO
Friday, December 22, 2017
Short Rounds: Flat Duo Jets, Focus, The Original Blues Brothers Band, Uriah Heep & John Wetton (2017)
Labels:
CD Review,
Dexter Romweber,
Flat Duo Jets,
Focus,
John Wetton,
Short Rounds,
The Original Blues Brothers Band,
Uriah Heep
Location:
Buffalo, Rust Belt, USA
Bill Kopp’s Reinventing Pink Floyd
It’s only fitting that our final news story of 2017 should be about friend and colleague Bill Kopp. A veteran music journalist and critic, Bill has written for publications like Blurt magazine, Goldmine, Prog (U.K.), Ugly Things zine, and Record Collector (U.K.), among others, as well as tending to his own excellent Musoscribe blog. Now Kopp has another lofty credential to add to the list – his first book!
On February 15, 2018 Rowman & Littlefield will publish Kopp’s Reinventing Pink Floyd: From Syd Barrett to the Dark Side of the Moon. In celebration of the 45th anniversary of the band’s groundbreaking Dark Side of the Moon LP (released in ’73), Kopp takes a look at Floyd’s reinvention after the departure of band founder Barrett as well as the musical evolution of the band that would result in the aforementioned breakthrough album that would subsequently spend an unparalleled 741 weeks on the Billboard charts (that’s better than 14 years!).
Kopp explores the band’s attempts to establish a fresh musical identity and style after the loss of their brilliant band leader, including the obstacles, experiments, creative missteps, and eventual development of the influential “Pink Floyd” sound that would result in a handful of bona fide classic albums (Wish You Were Here being my personal favorite). Kopp worked from archival interviews and reviews to put together a history of the band circa 1968 through 1973, adding information glommed from exclusive interviews with folks like Steve Howe (Yes), Jerry Shirley (Humble Pie), Davy O’List (The Nice), Robyn Hitchcock, and many others.
The result is a tome that every Pink Floyd fan or any lover of the classic rock era is going to want on their bookshelf! You can pre-order Revinventing Pink Floyd right now from Amazon.com...
On February 15, 2018 Rowman & Littlefield will publish Kopp’s Reinventing Pink Floyd: From Syd Barrett to the Dark Side of the Moon. In celebration of the 45th anniversary of the band’s groundbreaking Dark Side of the Moon LP (released in ’73), Kopp takes a look at Floyd’s reinvention after the departure of band founder Barrett as well as the musical evolution of the band that would result in the aforementioned breakthrough album that would subsequently spend an unparalleled 741 weeks on the Billboard charts (that’s better than 14 years!).
Kopp explores the band’s attempts to establish a fresh musical identity and style after the loss of their brilliant band leader, including the obstacles, experiments, creative missteps, and eventual development of the influential “Pink Floyd” sound that would result in a handful of bona fide classic albums (Wish You Were Here being my personal favorite). Kopp worked from archival interviews and reviews to put together a history of the band circa 1968 through 1973, adding information glommed from exclusive interviews with folks like Steve Howe (Yes), Jerry Shirley (Humble Pie), Davy O’List (The Nice), Robyn Hitchcock, and many others.
The result is a tome that every Pink Floyd fan or any lover of the classic rock era is going to want on their bookshelf! You can pre-order Revinventing Pink Floyd right now from Amazon.com...
Alice Cooper Guitarist Michael Bruce’s No More Mr. Nice Guy
Guitarist Michael Bruce was an integral part of the sound and fury that was the original Alice Cooper band. Co-writer of many of the band’s best-known and beloved songs, Bruce was around for classic Alice Cooper albums like Love It To Death, School’s Out, and Billion Dollar Babies. After Alice left the band to pursue solo stardom, Bruce and fellow bandmates carried on under the name Billion Dollar Babies at first, recording a single album titled Battle Axe. The guitarist would later forge a lengthy and impressive solo career that includes a half-dozen albums as well as a pair of recordings with the band Ant-Bee.
In February 2018, Gonzo Multimedia will be reissuing Bruce’s critically-acclaimed biography No More Mr. Nice Guy as part of a limited edition box set. The box includes the book, written by Bruce and his Ant-Bee bandmate Billy James, originally published in 1996 and recently updated; as well as a signed certificate, a 1996 interview CD, and reproductions of Alice Cooper group memorabilia. The box set is limited to 250 copies and is currently available for pre-order through PledgeMusic.
For Michael Bruce/Alice Cooper fans there are also a couple of other items on the Pledge Music page that might pique your interest. If you don’t want to pony up $67 for the deluxe box set, you can buy Bruce’s No More Mr. Nice Guy bio by itself for a very reasonable $13.50 (plus shipping) and/or pick up a copy of the very first show by Billion Dollar Babies on CD for a mere $12.15 (plus shipping). Performed in Flint, Michigan in 1977, Billion Dollar Babies included Bruce, Dennis Dunaway, and Neal Smith from the original Alice Cooper band as well guitarist Mike Marconi and keyboardist Bob Dolin. The book and the CD are available in a bundle for $24 (plus shipping).
In a press release for the box set, Bruce says “it’s not often we get a chance to redo, remake or, in this case, re-release a book...my book. It is with much thought, great enjoyment, many thanks, and heartfelt appreciation for family, friends, and fans that I present the re-release of No More Mr Nice Guy, a compilation of hilarious rock ‘n’ roll stories and life events that made me the man I am today.” Check it all out on the PledgeMusic website.
In February 2018, Gonzo Multimedia will be reissuing Bruce’s critically-acclaimed biography No More Mr. Nice Guy as part of a limited edition box set. The box includes the book, written by Bruce and his Ant-Bee bandmate Billy James, originally published in 1996 and recently updated; as well as a signed certificate, a 1996 interview CD, and reproductions of Alice Cooper group memorabilia. The box set is limited to 250 copies and is currently available for pre-order through PledgeMusic.
For Michael Bruce/Alice Cooper fans there are also a couple of other items on the Pledge Music page that might pique your interest. If you don’t want to pony up $67 for the deluxe box set, you can buy Bruce’s No More Mr. Nice Guy bio by itself for a very reasonable $13.50 (plus shipping) and/or pick up a copy of the very first show by Billion Dollar Babies on CD for a mere $12.15 (plus shipping). Performed in Flint, Michigan in 1977, Billion Dollar Babies included Bruce, Dennis Dunaway, and Neal Smith from the original Alice Cooper band as well guitarist Mike Marconi and keyboardist Bob Dolin. The book and the CD are available in a bundle for $24 (plus shipping).
In a press release for the box set, Bruce says “it’s not often we get a chance to redo, remake or, in this case, re-release a book...my book. It is with much thought, great enjoyment, many thanks, and heartfelt appreciation for family, friends, and fans that I present the re-release of No More Mr Nice Guy, a compilation of hilarious rock ‘n’ roll stories and life events that made me the man I am today.” Check it all out on the PledgeMusic website.
Sunday, December 17, 2017
CD Review: The Searchers' Another Night: The Sire Recordings 1979-1981 (2017)
The Searchers were one of the leading lights of England’s 1960s-era ‘Merseybeat’ scene, the band holding its own on the charts with contemporaries like the Beatles, the Hollies, and Gerry and the Pacemakers. Originally formed in 1959 in Liverpool as a skiffle band by guitarists John McNally and Mike Pender, the band scored its first chart-topper with a cover of the Drifters’ 1961 hit “Sweets For My Sweet.” They’d subsequently enjoy hits with covers of songs like Jackie DeShannon’s “Needles and Pins” and “When You Walk In the Room”; the Orlons’ “Don’t Throw Your Love Away”; and the Clovers’ “Love Potion No. 9.” Best known as interpreters of other artist’s songs, the Searchers nevertheless scored the occasional hit with original tunes like 1965’s “He’s Got No Love” (#12 U.K.).
By the end of the 1960s, the hits had dried up as rock ‘n’ roll moved towards harder and more progressive directions. The Searchers continued to tour throughout the ‘70s, however, performing contemporary songs by artists like Neil Young and Loggins & Messina alongside their ‘60s hits. When rock music began to turn back to the past as younger ‘new wave’ artists incorporated ‘60s-era sounds and influences into their songs, the Searchers had hung around long enough to take advantage of the musical evolution. They were the real deal, ‘60s-era music-makers who had updated their sound with enough of a contemporary edge to land the band a deal with Sire Records. The Searchers recorded a pair of excellent albums for Sire – 1979’s The Searchers and the following year’s Love’s Melodies – both of which stand proudly among the best power-pop releases of the era. Both of these long out-of-print albums have been combined as the two-disc Another Night: The Sire Recordings 1979-1981 by archival specialists Omnivore Recordings, with seven bonus tracks added to the original albums.
The Searchers’ trademark jangly-pop sound was tailor-made for the new wave ‘80s, and their ‘60s rock pedigree should have served them well in the new decade, but an audience was hard to find in spite of the overall high quality of the Searchers’ self-titled 1979 album. Take, for instance, the band’s cover of the Will Birch/John Wicks gem “Hearts In Her Eyes,” as delightful a slab of shimmering power-pop as will ever melt your ears. Pender’s wistful vocals are as smooth as honey and his and McNally’s cross-cutting guitars shine with the light of a thousand suns as the rest of the band joyfully bangs along with reckless aplomb. Wicks recorded the song a year later for the Records’ sophomore album, and while both performances will heal your soul, when released as a single, the Searchers’ version failed to move the needle at all.
The only other single released from the album – the kinetic “It’s Too Late” – also failed to chart in spite of its delicious start/stop dynamic, bouncy harmony vocals, and infectious melodic hook. The performance sounds like a new wavish take on British rockers Argent (with a dash of the Zombies, perhaps…), the band coming full circle artistically while delivering a solid radio-ready ‘should-have-been-a-hit’ that easily trounces rivals, er…contemporaries like the Babys, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, Split Enz, Squeeze, the Rezillos, the Undertones, the Tourists, the Knack, and the Cars…all of which released similar ‘60s-flavored power-pop LPs during the year. The band’s cover of Nick Lowe’s transcendent “Switchboard Susan” (penned by his pub-rock pal Micky Jupp) is more languid and lusty than Lowe’s original and falls short of the mark only because Lowe’s reading is so definitive.
The ignorance of the record-buying public notwithstanding, there’s a heck of a lot of great music to be found on The Searchers. “Feeling Fine” is an upbeat rocker with downbeat lyrics about a lost love, the song’s protagonist lying to himself above the din of twangy guitars and propulsive drumbeats. A cover of Tom Petty’s “Lost In Your Eyes” takes the song into the stratosphere, Pender’s echoed vox achieving an ethereal tone while guest Bob Jackson’s gorgeous piano underlines the song’s pathos. The band does Dylan equally proud, a cover of the Scribe’s “Coming From The Heart” provided a heartfelt reading of the lyrics above lush instrumentation. Among the band’s few original tunes, “Don’t Hang On” offers a rockabilly heartbeat with the soul of the performance fueled by bassist Frank Allen’s jaunty vocals while “This Kind of Love Affair” buries Pender’s vocals beneath swirling guitar licks and heavy rhythms that do nothing to dislodge the song’s undeniable melodic hook.
In spite of its feeble chart showing, The Searchers evidently garnered enough critical acclaim that Sire put the band back in the studio for a second shot at the brass ring. Released in the U.K. as Play For Today and stateside as Love’s Melodies in 1981, the album displayed the same incredible mix of inspired cover tunes and timely originals as its predecessor. The album is best-known for its lead-off single, a cover of Ducks Deluxe’s “Love’s Melody.” Written by that band’s Andy McMasters – a skilled songwriter in a band that included similar major talents in Sean Tyla and Nick Garvey – the Searchers imbue the song with a larger-than-life performance, Pender’s lovelorn vocals teetering atop lush instrumentation and supported by lofty backing harmony vocals and Billy Adamson’s ricocheting snare-drumbeats. The band’s original “Another Night” was the album’s second single, a somewhat atypical choice of songs with skewed guitars, chaotic harmonies, and angry drumbeats propelling an otherwise wiry rocker.
Much like its predecessor, Love’s Melodies/Play For Today offers a plethora of solid cross-genre performances all anchored by the band’s innate sense of melody and the twin jangle-pop guitars of Pender and McNally. The album’s opening track, “Silver,” is as maximum ‘new wave’ as a band could crank out at the time, the song challenging similar outfits like Blondie, the Rubinoos, or Katrina & the Waves with a delightfully 1960s-era pop/rock vibe comprised of glimmering guitar strings, on-point harmonies, and solid percussion work. “Radio Romance” comes courtesy of the band’s pal Will Birch (The Records), the song seemingly handcrafted for FM airplay with taut fretwork, whipsmart lyrics, and a fierce jangly sonic vibe that could blast effortlessly above the din from a car radio. The Searchers’ choice of cover songs are among the best I’ve seen and heard in four-and-a-half decades of poring over rock ‘n’ roll vinyl and they picked some tasty treats for Love’s Melodies/Play For Today, starting with John Fogerty’s “Almost Saturday Night.”
Performed with the same sort of ramshackle charm as the original, Pender’s vocals on “Almost Saturday Night” mimic those of Fogerty’s original as the band lays down a mighty rhythmic bedrock embroidered upon by twangy guitarplay. Big Star’s “September Gurls,” recorded years before the Chilton revival, captures the magic of the original with echoed harmonies and melancholy guitars matched by rollicking percussion. Whereas The Searchers disc included bonus tracks in the form of alternative mixes of “It’s Too Late,” “Love’s Melody,” and “Silver” that display a different facet of the band’s talents, the bonus tracks appended to Love’s Melodies include the engaging band original “Changing,” the B-side to the album’s first single, while John Hiatt’s “Back To The War” is an electrifying take on a then-obscure songwriter. Released as a B-side to the “Another Night” single, the song’s angular dynamics and Pender’s vocal approach make it the most ‘new wave’ sounding tune they had recorded. The band liked Hiatt’s material so much that they also recorded his “Ambulance Chaser,” unreleased until now, the song a definite stylistic throwback with charming vocals and distinctive instrumentation that would sound more at home in 1968 than 1980.
With The Searchers and Love’s Melodies/Play For Today, the band reached the creative pinnacle of their lengthy career. More than mere interpreters of song, the Searchers imbued every recording with their own unique sound – gorgeous vocal harmonies, innovative use of twelve-string guitar, driving rhythms – making each performance their own, no matter who wrote the song. It’s no different with these two albums, the band rising to the occasion to deliver a pair of power-pop treasures that, while sorely overlooked at the time, nevertheless proved why the Searchers were a major influence on everybody from the Byrds and Big Star to Tom Petty and R.E.M. If you’re a fan of any of these bands, you owe it to yourself to discover the Searchers. Grade: A (Omnivore Recordings, released December 8, 2017)
Buy the CD from Amazon.com: The Searchers’ Another Night: The Sire Recordings 1979-1981
By the end of the 1960s, the hits had dried up as rock ‘n’ roll moved towards harder and more progressive directions. The Searchers continued to tour throughout the ‘70s, however, performing contemporary songs by artists like Neil Young and Loggins & Messina alongside their ‘60s hits. When rock music began to turn back to the past as younger ‘new wave’ artists incorporated ‘60s-era sounds and influences into their songs, the Searchers had hung around long enough to take advantage of the musical evolution. They were the real deal, ‘60s-era music-makers who had updated their sound with enough of a contemporary edge to land the band a deal with Sire Records. The Searchers recorded a pair of excellent albums for Sire – 1979’s The Searchers and the following year’s Love’s Melodies – both of which stand proudly among the best power-pop releases of the era. Both of these long out-of-print albums have been combined as the two-disc Another Night: The Sire Recordings 1979-1981 by archival specialists Omnivore Recordings, with seven bonus tracks added to the original albums.
The Searchers’ Another Night: The Sire Recordings 1979-1981
The Searchers’ trademark jangly-pop sound was tailor-made for the new wave ‘80s, and their ‘60s rock pedigree should have served them well in the new decade, but an audience was hard to find in spite of the overall high quality of the Searchers’ self-titled 1979 album. Take, for instance, the band’s cover of the Will Birch/John Wicks gem “Hearts In Her Eyes,” as delightful a slab of shimmering power-pop as will ever melt your ears. Pender’s wistful vocals are as smooth as honey and his and McNally’s cross-cutting guitars shine with the light of a thousand suns as the rest of the band joyfully bangs along with reckless aplomb. Wicks recorded the song a year later for the Records’ sophomore album, and while both performances will heal your soul, when released as a single, the Searchers’ version failed to move the needle at all.
The only other single released from the album – the kinetic “It’s Too Late” – also failed to chart in spite of its delicious start/stop dynamic, bouncy harmony vocals, and infectious melodic hook. The performance sounds like a new wavish take on British rockers Argent (with a dash of the Zombies, perhaps…), the band coming full circle artistically while delivering a solid radio-ready ‘should-have-been-a-hit’ that easily trounces rivals, er…contemporaries like the Babys, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, Split Enz, Squeeze, the Rezillos, the Undertones, the Tourists, the Knack, and the Cars…all of which released similar ‘60s-flavored power-pop LPs during the year. The band’s cover of Nick Lowe’s transcendent “Switchboard Susan” (penned by his pub-rock pal Micky Jupp) is more languid and lusty than Lowe’s original and falls short of the mark only because Lowe’s reading is so definitive.
The ignorance of the record-buying public notwithstanding, there’s a heck of a lot of great music to be found on The Searchers. “Feeling Fine” is an upbeat rocker with downbeat lyrics about a lost love, the song’s protagonist lying to himself above the din of twangy guitars and propulsive drumbeats. A cover of Tom Petty’s “Lost In Your Eyes” takes the song into the stratosphere, Pender’s echoed vox achieving an ethereal tone while guest Bob Jackson’s gorgeous piano underlines the song’s pathos. The band does Dylan equally proud, a cover of the Scribe’s “Coming From The Heart” provided a heartfelt reading of the lyrics above lush instrumentation. Among the band’s few original tunes, “Don’t Hang On” offers a rockabilly heartbeat with the soul of the performance fueled by bassist Frank Allen’s jaunty vocals while “This Kind of Love Affair” buries Pender’s vocals beneath swirling guitar licks and heavy rhythms that do nothing to dislodge the song’s undeniable melodic hook.
Play For Today
In spite of its feeble chart showing, The Searchers evidently garnered enough critical acclaim that Sire put the band back in the studio for a second shot at the brass ring. Released in the U.K. as Play For Today and stateside as Love’s Melodies in 1981, the album displayed the same incredible mix of inspired cover tunes and timely originals as its predecessor. The album is best-known for its lead-off single, a cover of Ducks Deluxe’s “Love’s Melody.” Written by that band’s Andy McMasters – a skilled songwriter in a band that included similar major talents in Sean Tyla and Nick Garvey – the Searchers imbue the song with a larger-than-life performance, Pender’s lovelorn vocals teetering atop lush instrumentation and supported by lofty backing harmony vocals and Billy Adamson’s ricocheting snare-drumbeats. The band’s original “Another Night” was the album’s second single, a somewhat atypical choice of songs with skewed guitars, chaotic harmonies, and angry drumbeats propelling an otherwise wiry rocker.
Much like its predecessor, Love’s Melodies/Play For Today offers a plethora of solid cross-genre performances all anchored by the band’s innate sense of melody and the twin jangle-pop guitars of Pender and McNally. The album’s opening track, “Silver,” is as maximum ‘new wave’ as a band could crank out at the time, the song challenging similar outfits like Blondie, the Rubinoos, or Katrina & the Waves with a delightfully 1960s-era pop/rock vibe comprised of glimmering guitar strings, on-point harmonies, and solid percussion work. “Radio Romance” comes courtesy of the band’s pal Will Birch (The Records), the song seemingly handcrafted for FM airplay with taut fretwork, whipsmart lyrics, and a fierce jangly sonic vibe that could blast effortlessly above the din from a car radio. The Searchers’ choice of cover songs are among the best I’ve seen and heard in four-and-a-half decades of poring over rock ‘n’ roll vinyl and they picked some tasty treats for Love’s Melodies/Play For Today, starting with John Fogerty’s “Almost Saturday Night.”
Performed with the same sort of ramshackle charm as the original, Pender’s vocals on “Almost Saturday Night” mimic those of Fogerty’s original as the band lays down a mighty rhythmic bedrock embroidered upon by twangy guitarplay. Big Star’s “September Gurls,” recorded years before the Chilton revival, captures the magic of the original with echoed harmonies and melancholy guitars matched by rollicking percussion. Whereas The Searchers disc included bonus tracks in the form of alternative mixes of “It’s Too Late,” “Love’s Melody,” and “Silver” that display a different facet of the band’s talents, the bonus tracks appended to Love’s Melodies include the engaging band original “Changing,” the B-side to the album’s first single, while John Hiatt’s “Back To The War” is an electrifying take on a then-obscure songwriter. Released as a B-side to the “Another Night” single, the song’s angular dynamics and Pender’s vocal approach make it the most ‘new wave’ sounding tune they had recorded. The band liked Hiatt’s material so much that they also recorded his “Ambulance Chaser,” unreleased until now, the song a definite stylistic throwback with charming vocals and distinctive instrumentation that would sound more at home in 1968 than 1980.
The Reverend’s Bottom Line
With The Searchers and Love’s Melodies/Play For Today, the band reached the creative pinnacle of their lengthy career. More than mere interpreters of song, the Searchers imbued every recording with their own unique sound – gorgeous vocal harmonies, innovative use of twelve-string guitar, driving rhythms – making each performance their own, no matter who wrote the song. It’s no different with these two albums, the band rising to the occasion to deliver a pair of power-pop treasures that, while sorely overlooked at the time, nevertheless proved why the Searchers were a major influence on everybody from the Byrds and Big Star to Tom Petty and R.E.M. If you’re a fan of any of these bands, you owe it to yourself to discover the Searchers. Grade: A (Omnivore Recordings, released December 8, 2017)
Buy the CD from Amazon.com: The Searchers’ Another Night: The Sire Recordings 1979-1981
Cleveland Rock Royalty The Choir’s Unreleased Album
Years before the Raspberries would tear up the charts with early ‘70s hits like “Go All The Way,” “I Wanna Be With You,” “Overnight Sensation (Hit Record),” and other tunes, its members performed with other Cleveland, Ohio area outfits like the Choir and Cyrus Erie. The Choir is especially notable as future Raspberries band members Wally Bryson (guitar), Dave Smalley (guitar/bass), and Jim Bonfanti (drums) were members; future Raspberries frontman Eric Carmen, a member of Cyrus Erie, had auditioned for the Choir but was passed over in favor of another vocalist.
A popular garage-rock outfit, the Choir is largely remembered for the band’s first single, the minor hit “It’s Cold Outside.” Released in December 1966, the song was featured on the garage-rock compilation Pebbles, Volume 2 and would subsequently appear on a number of dodgy import comps of garage and psychedelic-rock. Although the band would never release a full-length album during its tenure (roughly 1966 through 1970), Bomp! Records released a five-song self-titled EP in 1976, and Sundazed Records released Choir Practice on CD and vinyl in 1994, the album featuring the five songs from the previous EP along with a number of previously-unreleased tracks.
On February 16, 2018 Ominivore Recordings will release Artifact: The Unreleased Album, featuring ten tracks recorded by the Choir in 1969 and making their very first appearance in any format. Restored in the studio by Tommy Allen and Ducky Carlisle, who worked on the Raspberries’ recent Pop Art Live, the album includes new liner notes by Eric Carmen and Choir band members Denny Carleton and Phil Giallombardo as well as a Choir family tree and rare photos from the band’s collections.
In his liner notes for the album, Eric Carmen wrote, “I went to see the Choir when I was 16, and immediately wanted to join their band. They were a great group that had many lives and many members. This album was made by one of the last and final versions of the band. This recently discovered recording is sure to rekindle fond memories for the many fans of the Choir, including myself. Give it a spin, and enjoy a special piece of Cleveland rock history.”
Also on That Devil Music: The Raspberries’ Pop Art Live CD review
Buy the CD from Amazon.com: The Choir’s Artifact: The Unreleased Album
A popular garage-rock outfit, the Choir is largely remembered for the band’s first single, the minor hit “It’s Cold Outside.” Released in December 1966, the song was featured on the garage-rock compilation Pebbles, Volume 2 and would subsequently appear on a number of dodgy import comps of garage and psychedelic-rock. Although the band would never release a full-length album during its tenure (roughly 1966 through 1970), Bomp! Records released a five-song self-titled EP in 1976, and Sundazed Records released Choir Practice on CD and vinyl in 1994, the album featuring the five songs from the previous EP along with a number of previously-unreleased tracks.
On February 16, 2018 Ominivore Recordings will release Artifact: The Unreleased Album, featuring ten tracks recorded by the Choir in 1969 and making their very first appearance in any format. Restored in the studio by Tommy Allen and Ducky Carlisle, who worked on the Raspberries’ recent Pop Art Live, the album includes new liner notes by Eric Carmen and Choir band members Denny Carleton and Phil Giallombardo as well as a Choir family tree and rare photos from the band’s collections.
In his liner notes for the album, Eric Carmen wrote, “I went to see the Choir when I was 16, and immediately wanted to join their band. They were a great group that had many lives and many members. This album was made by one of the last and final versions of the band. This recently discovered recording is sure to rekindle fond memories for the many fans of the Choir, including myself. Give it a spin, and enjoy a special piece of Cleveland rock history.”
Also on That Devil Music: The Raspberries’ Pop Art Live CD review
Buy the CD from Amazon.com: The Choir’s Artifact: The Unreleased Album
Sunday, December 10, 2017
Archive Review: Goodbye Nashville Hello Camden Town (2007)
Aaah...pub rock. A uniquely British construct – albeit one based on American music styles – pub rock represented a “back to the roots” aesthetic years before punk would rear its (often times) ugly head. Make no mistake, however…punk rock was heavily influenced by the pub rock scene, and the bands of the “Revolution of ‘77” benefited greatly from the trailblazing efforts of their forebears in opening up pubs and clubs to live performances (and rock music).
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though, shall we? As reflected by David Wells’ comprehensive liner notes for Goodbye Nashville Hello Camden Town, a two-CD set subtitled “a Pub Rock anthology,” the origins of the so-called movement lie with the American band Eggs Over Easy. The band had traveled to England in late 1970 to record an album with producer Chas Chandler, but the coming of the new year found them stranded in the country with no record deal. Convincing the management of the Tally Ho pub in the London neighborhood of Kentish Town to allow them to play on normally slow Monday nights, Eggs Over Easy quickly developed a loyal following.
Among the growing legion of Eggs Over Easy fans were several musicians looking for a new direction. Nick Lowe and Brinsley Schwarz attended many an Eggs Over Easy show at the Tally Ho, even sitting in with the band at times; other fans included ‘60s U.K. rocker Zoot Money and members of bands like Bees Make Honey and Kilburn & the High Roads. When Eggs Over Easy’s work visas expired, the band returned to the states, releasing a single album (Good ‘N’ Cheap) in 1972 before breaking up and disappearing into the rock ‘n’ roll ether.
Although Eggs Over Easy would quickly slip into obscurity, the seed that the band had planted with its Tally Ho residency took root and sprouted into dozens of bands suddenly emancipated from the constraints of expectations. Providing an attractive alternative to the prog-rock and singer/songwriter fare of the day, pub-rock represented a welcome “back to the country” vibe, bands like Brinsley Schwarz (with Schwarz and Lowe), Bees Make Honey, Chilli Willi & the Red Hot Peppers, Dr. Feelgood, and others pursuing original mixes of rock, country, blues, and bluegrass, performing in receptive pubs and clubs in and around London. None of the bands got rich, or even made a lot of money, but they enjoyed playing the music they wanted to play while honing their skills, and the top-of-the-card performers made daring, original music based on old standards that hits the ears hard, even 30+ years later.
From start to finish, Goodbye Nashville Hello Camden Town provides a fascinating and entertaining glimpse into the world of pub rock. Kicking off with the title track, Chilli Willi & the Red Hot Peppers sound like Gram Parsons fronting the Flying Burrito Brothers with a British accent, the song’s innocence overwhelming its tentatively twangy instrumentation. The band’s “Choo Choo Ch’Boogie” swings with a Western flair and jazzy undertones, kind of Cab-Calloway-meets-Bob-Wills in good old London town. Pioneers Eggs Over Easy deliver the simple, charming, countryish “Runnin’ Down To Memphis,” the band’s only cut on the anthology.
Fronted by Ian Dury, who would go on to become a U.K. punk icon, Kilburn & the High Roads mixed a British Dance Hall sound with Dury’s keen lyrical observations and slightly-skewed sense of humour. Kilburn’s “Billy Bentley” is pretty snazzy while the band’s other cut here, “Rough Kids,” is a horn-driven blast of fresh air with honky-tonk piano and screaming guitars. Bees Make Honey could have just as easily come from Laurel Canyon circa 1971, with laid-back songs like “What Have We Got To Lose” showcasing delicious harmonies while “Indian Bayou Saturday” mixes Levon Helm and The Band with Goose Creek Symphony (?!). Perhaps the best-known pub rock band of them all, Brinsley Schwarz, is represented here by a single tasty cut, the free-flowing roots-rock “Country Girl.”
One of the most interesting aspects of the short-lived pub rock phenomena was its inclusive nature; it was a big tent over a small scene, and everybody was welcome. Because of the honest, sincere nature of the music, old ‘60s rockers like Zoot Money, Mick Farren, Albert Lee, Stray, and McGuiness Flint found a new home within the genre. Session guitar-for-hire Lee, who was also part of the unabashedly country-honk outfit Country Fever, gets to show off his six-string skills with the transcendent “Best I Can.” Money’s “Arkansas” sounds like a throwback to the hillbilly ‘50s, a low-fi production with sparse instrumentation and wickedly somber vocals. Featuring members of Manfred Mann and John Mayall’s bands, McGuinness Flint pursued a guitar-driven rock sound with just a trace of rootsy influence on the band’s rollicking “Ride On My Rainbow.”
Some pub rockers would go on to find significant careers in the coming punk revolution. Aside from the aforementioned Dury and Brinsley Schwarz’s Nick Lowe, the raw, stripped-down sound of bands like Eddie & the Hot Rods (kicking out the jams here with the uber-cool garage rock vibrations of “Do The Monkey Man” and “All I Need Is Money”) or the Count Bishops (best known for their haunting Link-Wray-meets-Screamin’-Jay rave-up “Train Train”) finding a receptive audience for their hard-rocking tunes among the Mohawk-tressed masses.
The scene also embraced bands that didn’t subscribe to the typical pub rock band’s rustic country sound. The Fabulous Poodles, for instance, didn’t really fit in anywhere with songs like the boisterous “Roll Your Own” or a spot-on soulful cover of the Amazing Rhythm Aces’ “Third Rate Romance” offering slightly-tilted guitar, off-kilter vocals, and a sound that was more rock than roots. Elevated to royal status by pub rock fans, the influential Dr. Feelgood brought an R&B influence to the genre, although the band’s lone song here, “Roxette,” could pass for a ‘60s-era British blooze-rocker with distorted guitar and some dirty mouth harp work. Raucous ‘50s-styled rockabilly was a favorite route for many on the scene, the Brunning Sunflower Band crossing Jerry Lee with Duane Eddy on the track “Good Golly Miss Kelly” while Matchbox, which would kick around well into the ‘80s, kicks out the spirited and electric “Rock’n’Roll Band” here. Another ‘60s-era holdover, the Pirates, evince an anarchic blue suede sound with their rocking “Gibson Martin Fender” (an off-the-tracks live version, no less).
Out of the 49 total tracks on Goodbye Nashville Hello Camden Town, there are a lot of lesser-known bands included on the anthology that nevertheless made good music and deserve mentioning, such as the Cartoons, Country Fever, Mickey Jupp, and the Kursaal Flyers. Late-period pub rockers like the Tyla Gang or Nine Below Zero made more of a splash amidst late ‘70s/early ‘80s audiences loosened up by the triumphs of punk rock while others, cult favorites like the Downliners Sect or Unicorn, recorded albums that have become a sort of holy grail to collectors who prefer a little well-intentioned obscurity as they dig through the crates.
There are some obvious omissions hereabouts, most notably Ducks Deluxe, who had a unique Chuck Berry-influenced boogie-rock sound and which later provided musicians to both the Tyla Gang and Graham Parker’s Rumour; the Motors, who scored several U.K. chart hits; soulful vocalist Frankie Miller, whose oeuvre would fit firmly into the pub rock milieu; and even Joe Strummer’s pre-Clash band the 101’ers. I would have dropped the third Kilburn & the High Roads song and included a second Dr. Feelgood cut, but it would be easy to have bumped the anthology up to a third disc considering the wealth of material available.
Given the relative scarcity of much of this excellent music, however, and the unfamiliarity of American rock fans with most of these bands, Goodbye Nashville Hello Camden Town does a fine job of documenting the pub rock genre. The anthology provides newcomers with a valuable roadmap to bands worth checking out and, indeed, many of the bands mentioned here have import albums readily available. If you’re looking for an antidote to the brutal reality of what passes for modern rock these days, or if you’re a roots-rock fan thirsty for something new, I’d heartily recommend checking out the pub rock scene; this anthology is as good a place as any to start... (Castle Music UK, released April 16, 2007)
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though, shall we? As reflected by David Wells’ comprehensive liner notes for Goodbye Nashville Hello Camden Town, a two-CD set subtitled “a Pub Rock anthology,” the origins of the so-called movement lie with the American band Eggs Over Easy. The band had traveled to England in late 1970 to record an album with producer Chas Chandler, but the coming of the new year found them stranded in the country with no record deal. Convincing the management of the Tally Ho pub in the London neighborhood of Kentish Town to allow them to play on normally slow Monday nights, Eggs Over Easy quickly developed a loyal following.
Goodbye Nashville Hello Camden Town
Among the growing legion of Eggs Over Easy fans were several musicians looking for a new direction. Nick Lowe and Brinsley Schwarz attended many an Eggs Over Easy show at the Tally Ho, even sitting in with the band at times; other fans included ‘60s U.K. rocker Zoot Money and members of bands like Bees Make Honey and Kilburn & the High Roads. When Eggs Over Easy’s work visas expired, the band returned to the states, releasing a single album (Good ‘N’ Cheap) in 1972 before breaking up and disappearing into the rock ‘n’ roll ether.
Although Eggs Over Easy would quickly slip into obscurity, the seed that the band had planted with its Tally Ho residency took root and sprouted into dozens of bands suddenly emancipated from the constraints of expectations. Providing an attractive alternative to the prog-rock and singer/songwriter fare of the day, pub-rock represented a welcome “back to the country” vibe, bands like Brinsley Schwarz (with Schwarz and Lowe), Bees Make Honey, Chilli Willi & the Red Hot Peppers, Dr. Feelgood, and others pursuing original mixes of rock, country, blues, and bluegrass, performing in receptive pubs and clubs in and around London. None of the bands got rich, or even made a lot of money, but they enjoyed playing the music they wanted to play while honing their skills, and the top-of-the-card performers made daring, original music based on old standards that hits the ears hard, even 30+ years later.
From start to finish, Goodbye Nashville Hello Camden Town provides a fascinating and entertaining glimpse into the world of pub rock. Kicking off with the title track, Chilli Willi & the Red Hot Peppers sound like Gram Parsons fronting the Flying Burrito Brothers with a British accent, the song’s innocence overwhelming its tentatively twangy instrumentation. The band’s “Choo Choo Ch’Boogie” swings with a Western flair and jazzy undertones, kind of Cab-Calloway-meets-Bob-Wills in good old London town. Pioneers Eggs Over Easy deliver the simple, charming, countryish “Runnin’ Down To Memphis,” the band’s only cut on the anthology.
The Pub Rock Scene
Fronted by Ian Dury, who would go on to become a U.K. punk icon, Kilburn & the High Roads mixed a British Dance Hall sound with Dury’s keen lyrical observations and slightly-skewed sense of humour. Kilburn’s “Billy Bentley” is pretty snazzy while the band’s other cut here, “Rough Kids,” is a horn-driven blast of fresh air with honky-tonk piano and screaming guitars. Bees Make Honey could have just as easily come from Laurel Canyon circa 1971, with laid-back songs like “What Have We Got To Lose” showcasing delicious harmonies while “Indian Bayou Saturday” mixes Levon Helm and The Band with Goose Creek Symphony (?!). Perhaps the best-known pub rock band of them all, Brinsley Schwarz, is represented here by a single tasty cut, the free-flowing roots-rock “Country Girl.”
One of the most interesting aspects of the short-lived pub rock phenomena was its inclusive nature; it was a big tent over a small scene, and everybody was welcome. Because of the honest, sincere nature of the music, old ‘60s rockers like Zoot Money, Mick Farren, Albert Lee, Stray, and McGuiness Flint found a new home within the genre. Session guitar-for-hire Lee, who was also part of the unabashedly country-honk outfit Country Fever, gets to show off his six-string skills with the transcendent “Best I Can.” Money’s “Arkansas” sounds like a throwback to the hillbilly ‘50s, a low-fi production with sparse instrumentation and wickedly somber vocals. Featuring members of Manfred Mann and John Mayall’s bands, McGuinness Flint pursued a guitar-driven rock sound with just a trace of rootsy influence on the band’s rollicking “Ride On My Rainbow.”
Some pub rockers would go on to find significant careers in the coming punk revolution. Aside from the aforementioned Dury and Brinsley Schwarz’s Nick Lowe, the raw, stripped-down sound of bands like Eddie & the Hot Rods (kicking out the jams here with the uber-cool garage rock vibrations of “Do The Monkey Man” and “All I Need Is Money”) or the Count Bishops (best known for their haunting Link-Wray-meets-Screamin’-Jay rave-up “Train Train”) finding a receptive audience for their hard-rocking tunes among the Mohawk-tressed masses.
Brinsley Schwarz, Dr. Feelgood & the Fabulous Poodles
The scene also embraced bands that didn’t subscribe to the typical pub rock band’s rustic country sound. The Fabulous Poodles, for instance, didn’t really fit in anywhere with songs like the boisterous “Roll Your Own” or a spot-on soulful cover of the Amazing Rhythm Aces’ “Third Rate Romance” offering slightly-tilted guitar, off-kilter vocals, and a sound that was more rock than roots. Elevated to royal status by pub rock fans, the influential Dr. Feelgood brought an R&B influence to the genre, although the band’s lone song here, “Roxette,” could pass for a ‘60s-era British blooze-rocker with distorted guitar and some dirty mouth harp work. Raucous ‘50s-styled rockabilly was a favorite route for many on the scene, the Brunning Sunflower Band crossing Jerry Lee with Duane Eddy on the track “Good Golly Miss Kelly” while Matchbox, which would kick around well into the ‘80s, kicks out the spirited and electric “Rock’n’Roll Band” here. Another ‘60s-era holdover, the Pirates, evince an anarchic blue suede sound with their rocking “Gibson Martin Fender” (an off-the-tracks live version, no less).
Out of the 49 total tracks on Goodbye Nashville Hello Camden Town, there are a lot of lesser-known bands included on the anthology that nevertheless made good music and deserve mentioning, such as the Cartoons, Country Fever, Mickey Jupp, and the Kursaal Flyers. Late-period pub rockers like the Tyla Gang or Nine Below Zero made more of a splash amidst late ‘70s/early ‘80s audiences loosened up by the triumphs of punk rock while others, cult favorites like the Downliners Sect or Unicorn, recorded albums that have become a sort of holy grail to collectors who prefer a little well-intentioned obscurity as they dig through the crates.
There are some obvious omissions hereabouts, most notably Ducks Deluxe, who had a unique Chuck Berry-influenced boogie-rock sound and which later provided musicians to both the Tyla Gang and Graham Parker’s Rumour; the Motors, who scored several U.K. chart hits; soulful vocalist Frankie Miller, whose oeuvre would fit firmly into the pub rock milieu; and even Joe Strummer’s pre-Clash band the 101’ers. I would have dropped the third Kilburn & the High Roads song and included a second Dr. Feelgood cut, but it would be easy to have bumped the anthology up to a third disc considering the wealth of material available.
The Reverend's Bottom Line
Given the relative scarcity of much of this excellent music, however, and the unfamiliarity of American rock fans with most of these bands, Goodbye Nashville Hello Camden Town does a fine job of documenting the pub rock genre. The anthology provides newcomers with a valuable roadmap to bands worth checking out and, indeed, many of the bands mentioned here have import albums readily available. If you’re looking for an antidote to the brutal reality of what passes for modern rock these days, or if you’re a roots-rock fan thirsty for something new, I’d heartily recommend checking out the pub rock scene; this anthology is as good a place as any to start... (Castle Music UK, released April 16, 2007)
Country Joe & the Fish Celebrate the Summer of Love
Folk-rock outfit Country Joe & the Fish – formed in 1965 by singer/songwriter Country Joe McDonald and guitarist Barry “Fish” Melton – are best known for their infamous August 1969 appearance at Woodstock, McDonald leading the audience in shouting “The Fish Cheer” (“gimme an ‘F’…”) before launching into a memorable performance of the anti-war “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag.” One of the most innovative and popular bands in the San Francisco area, Country Joe & the Fish were steeped in the psychedelic-rock of the time, but tempered their flower-power excesses with elements of folk, blues, and even jazz to underscore their often politically-charged lyrics.
Country Joe & the Fish released their first two albums during 1967, their debut Electric Music For the Mind and Body appearing just in time for the “Summer of Love” while I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die, recorded in July, bookended the debut LP later that year. Both albums were groundbreaking, influential efforts by a then-veteran band, musically-adventurous with McDonald’s songs offering up intelligent political commentary and satire. On January 26th, 2018 Craft Recordings will celebrate Country Joe & the Fish’s “Summer of Love’ with the release of a limited-edition vinyl box set, The Wave of Electrical Sound. Both re-mastered albums will also be reissued as stand-alone LPs and have already been released digitally on iTunes and elsewhere.
Limited to 2,000 copies worldwide, The Wave of Electrical Sound is a four-album box set offering both mono and stereo version of Electric Music For the Mind and Body and I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die pressed on audiophile quality 180-gram vinyl. The albums are packaged in old-school-style tip-on jackets, with the mono versions of both albums sporting rare alternative cover artwork while the stereo versions of both feature replicas of their original cover art. The box set also includes a bunch of cool band memorabilia from the era including replicas of The Fish Game, a Fish Fan Club book, and a Fish calendar designed by Tom Weller as well as a DVD of How We Stopped The War, a 30-minute documentary film on the band and a 24-page book with rare photos and artwork and new liner notes from writer, producer, and musician Alec Palao.
In his liner notes for the box set, Palao writes, “what makes both albums Country Joe & the Fish recorded in 1967 so significant is not just the presentation, but the repertoire...the writing is extraordinary. Whatever influence from Dylan, Richard Farina and others McDonald might have absorbed, his muse was his own, and fully on display with idiosyncratic material that dripped with imagery and allusion.”
Buy the vinyl box set from Amazon.com: Country Joe & the Fish’s The Wave of Electrical Sound
Country Joe & the Fish released their first two albums during 1967, their debut Electric Music For the Mind and Body appearing just in time for the “Summer of Love” while I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die, recorded in July, bookended the debut LP later that year. Both albums were groundbreaking, influential efforts by a then-veteran band, musically-adventurous with McDonald’s songs offering up intelligent political commentary and satire. On January 26th, 2018 Craft Recordings will celebrate Country Joe & the Fish’s “Summer of Love’ with the release of a limited-edition vinyl box set, The Wave of Electrical Sound. Both re-mastered albums will also be reissued as stand-alone LPs and have already been released digitally on iTunes and elsewhere.
Limited to 2,000 copies worldwide, The Wave of Electrical Sound is a four-album box set offering both mono and stereo version of Electric Music For the Mind and Body and I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die pressed on audiophile quality 180-gram vinyl. The albums are packaged in old-school-style tip-on jackets, with the mono versions of both albums sporting rare alternative cover artwork while the stereo versions of both feature replicas of their original cover art. The box set also includes a bunch of cool band memorabilia from the era including replicas of The Fish Game, a Fish Fan Club book, and a Fish calendar designed by Tom Weller as well as a DVD of How We Stopped The War, a 30-minute documentary film on the band and a 24-page book with rare photos and artwork and new liner notes from writer, producer, and musician Alec Palao.
In his liner notes for the box set, Palao writes, “what makes both albums Country Joe & the Fish recorded in 1967 so significant is not just the presentation, but the repertoire...the writing is extraordinary. Whatever influence from Dylan, Richard Farina and others McDonald might have absorbed, his muse was his own, and fully on display with idiosyncratic material that dripped with imagery and allusion.”
Buy the vinyl box set from Amazon.com: Country Joe & the Fish’s The Wave of Electrical Sound
CD Preview: Chris Hillman’s The Asylum Years
The legendary Chris Hillman released his first solo album in seven years in 2017 with the Tom Petty-produced Bidin’ My Time. A charming collection of Hillman co-writes and inspired cover songs (including Petty’s “Wildflowers”), the album is just another gem in a lengthy, critically-acclaimed career that spans six decades and includes tenures with the Byrds; the Flying Burrito Brothers; Stephen Stills & Manassas; McGuinn, Clark & Hillman; and the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band (yeah, the dude has made a lot of great music...).
Sadly, a number of Hillman’s solo albums have long been out-of-print, including the artist’s excellent 1979 debut Slippin’ Away. Luckily, the folks at Omnivore Recordings are Chris Hillman fans, and the label’s upcoming 20-track collection The Asylum Years – scheduled for February 9, 2018 release – combines Slippin’ Away and Hillman’s sophomore effort, Clear Sailin’, on a single CD for the first time.
For the recording of Slippin’ Away, Hillman dove into his rolodex and enlisted friends and former bandmates like Memphis soul legends Steve Cropper and Donald “Duck” Dunn as well as fiddle-player Byron Berline, guitarists Al Perkins and Bernie Leadon, drummers Jim Gordon and Russ Kunkel, and backing singers Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (The Turtles). The assembled talents created a classic of country-flavored rock. A year later, Hillman went into the studio to record Clear Sailin’ with a band that included future star Richard Marx on guitar, keyboardist Skip Edwards (who’d played with Johnny Rivers), and drummer Joe Lala (Joe Walsh, Manassas).
Clear Sailin’ was produced by Jim Mascon (Poco, Firefall) and included a number of songs written by Hillman and Crawdaddy magazine co-founder Peter Knobler as well as covers of Smokey Robinson-penned Marvin Gaye hit “Ain’t That Peculiar” and Danny O’Keefe’s “Quits.” Hillman’s The Asylum Years also includes an essay by writer Scott Schinder featuring a new interview with the singer/songwriter. Kudos to Omnivore for rescuing these two fine examples of 1970s-era L.A. avocado rock from obscurity for a new generation of fans to discover!
Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Chris Hillman’s The Asylum Years
Sadly, a number of Hillman’s solo albums have long been out-of-print, including the artist’s excellent 1979 debut Slippin’ Away. Luckily, the folks at Omnivore Recordings are Chris Hillman fans, and the label’s upcoming 20-track collection The Asylum Years – scheduled for February 9, 2018 release – combines Slippin’ Away and Hillman’s sophomore effort, Clear Sailin’, on a single CD for the first time.
Chris Hillman photo courtesy Omnivore Recordings |
Clear Sailin’ was produced by Jim Mascon (Poco, Firefall) and included a number of songs written by Hillman and Crawdaddy magazine co-founder Peter Knobler as well as covers of Smokey Robinson-penned Marvin Gaye hit “Ain’t That Peculiar” and Danny O’Keefe’s “Quits.” Hillman’s The Asylum Years also includes an essay by writer Scott Schinder featuring a new interview with the singer/songwriter. Kudos to Omnivore for rescuing these two fine examples of 1970s-era L.A. avocado rock from obscurity for a new generation of fans to discover!
Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Chris Hillman’s The Asylum Years
Sunday, December 3, 2017
CD Review: Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers' More Yesterdays Than Tomorrows (2018)
Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Joe Grushecky is a music biz lifer, a survivor whose first band of note – the Iron City Houserockers – delivered four near-perfect albums of intelligent, unbridled rock ‘n’ roll circa 1970-1983. With a sound and lyricism inspired by blue-collar scribes like Bruce Springsteen and Bob Seger, tho’ often displaying more blues and soul influences, the I.C. guys earned a lot of critical acclaim but few record sales. When the band broke up after being dropped by MCA Records, Grushecky worked on his songwriting chops while pursuing a career as a teacher for “at risk” youths in his hometown of Pittsburgh. He would resurface in 1989 with the album Rock & Real, credited to “Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers.” Minor masterpieces like the Springsteen-produced American Babylon (1995) and True Companion (2004) would follow, yielding great reviews but providing no breakthrough.
After suffering through record deals with both major and minor labels, Grushecky launched his own indie Schoolhouse Records imprint years before many of today’s critically-acclaimed indie-rockers were born. When Grushecky wanted to explore other facets of his music, he recorded solo albums like 2002’s Fingerprints, 2006’s A Good Life, and 2013’s Somewhere East of Eden. He has always drifted back to the Houserockers, though, and this year’s model – More Yesterdays Than Tomorrows – finds Joey G. and cohorts in fine form as they deliver their first studio album together since 2009’s exceptional East Carson Street. In spite of an impressive body of work comprised of better than a dozen studio and live albums, Grushecky remains one of the best-kept secrets in rock music, forever marginalized by his association with a coterie of talented ‘70s-era rockers including Willie Nile and Elliott Murphy and bands like the Del Lords.
From the new album’s title to the music in the grooves, Grushecky seems preoccupied with mortality and morality. Not a sort of Goth kid’s black-eyeliner and mopey obsession with death, but rather that of a middle-aged man staring down, as the title suggests, the reality that their existence holds “more yesterdays than tomorrows.” Turning 60 this year, I’m well aware of the Reaper’s stare – my father made it less than two months past his 60th birthday before passing, my mother a little more than a year and change beyond that before her death. The Oglala Lakota Indian chief Low Dog is famously quoted as saying “today is a good day to die” and I suppose that’s true, but many of us are dragged screaming to the grave. While the specter of death permeates our culture, it’s seldom addressed musically outside of blues and gospel songs.
Opening with the mid-tempo title track, Grushecky ponders the situation with his keen lyrical eye and takes stock of where he sits in life. Rather than mourning the days behind him, the singer’s joy at each “brand new day” soars atop a transcendent guitar solo and jangly instrumentation. Never a quitter, Grushecky wears his scars proudly as he soldiers on, headfirst, into whatever tomorrow has to bring. His reverie broken by reality’s intrusion, Grushecky launches into “Got To Go To Work Today,” a no-frills rocker with more than a little boogie backbeat hidden beneath the din. Burnishing his blue collar bona fides, Grushecky creates a protagonist who begrudgingly accepts his fate, the songwriter’s vague description of the workplace spinning a tale of an everyman’s curse, albeit one set to stinging guitar solos and clamorous rhythms.
Released earlier this year as a single, “That’s What Makes Us Great” is an incredible duet with Joe’s buddy Bruce (as in Springsteen), the song itself a call to arms for those resisting the loss of our country to greedy businessmen and craven politicians, the slipping away of the American dream to jackboots of fear and hate as refugees in need are turned away in our ignorance and the country itself seems under siege. The words are sung passionately, Grushecky and Springsteen’s voices surrounded by chaotic instrumentation, clanging guitar licks sounding like the Liberty Bell ringing the chimes of freedom.
Both men realize that we’re collectively witnessing a brutal turning point in our nation’s savage history, the song asking “is there a difference I can make,” its creators choosing love above all else in what may be Springsteen’s most overtly political statement yet (and I’m sure that I’m not alone in wishing that Bruce would record a full album with Joey G and the Houserockers). If “That’s What Makes Us Great” is an unabashed rocker with a political edge that pulls few punches, “Burn Us Down” is the body-builder’s roid-rage – a muscular, feverish, powerful cry from the darkness, the song’s bluesy undercurrent matched by Grushecky’s anguished vocals and empathetic, electrifying fretwork, both aspects of the song perfectly capturing the angst-ridden zeitgeist suffered by at least half of the country.
Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers have frequently been referred to as the best “bar band” in America, but they’ve always been much more than that. The core of the band has been playing together for decades, long past the point where rock ‘n’ roll dreams are realized, talented musicians reveling in the mere act of music-making. They’re professionals by any standard, with a lengthy history of thousands of performances and a couple dozen albums trailing in their wake. Grushecky and the Houserockers are the standard to which a “bar band” should aspire, but that doesn’t mean the Joe and his gang haven’t torn up a tavern a time or two. Grushecky isn’t above using a bar setting for a song, either (“Junior’s Bar” comes to mind), and “Blood Sweat and Beers” is really just a country song waiting for the addition of steel guitar to strut shamelessly down Nashville’s ‘Music Row’. A classic barroom tearjerker set to a twangy, rollicking rhythm, the singer lays out his romantic woes in a manner that would make ol’ Hank proud.
From haunting, 1970s-styled Southern-fried riffs and wiry fretwork to gorgeous, ethereal backing vocals, Grushecky imbues “The Voice” with an undeniable Stax soul sound. Singing above muted rhythms with his underrated, soul-drenched vox, Grushecky creates an incredibly charming vibe for a song that, lyrically, offers a light that pierces the darkness, the cosmos reaffirming that our inner strength and moral compass will win out in the end. A sort of thematic bookend to “The Voice,” the wonderfully poetic and insightful “Work In Progress” offers up a positive message riding upon an infectious melody with self-aware lyrics that are applicable to any of our lives, the reckless abandon of pure rock ‘n’ roll creating what would be a surefire hit if corporate radio – with its crippling playlists and overly-conservative consultants – hadn’t neutered the airwaves. Nevertheless, “Work In Progress” is a completely joyful slab of classic rock music.
With syncopated guitar licks, squealing six-strings, and explosive percussion pounding out a tribal Bo Diddly beat, Grushecky’s mesmerizing vocals leap out of the wall of sound with a sense of urgency on “Hell To Pay” as he sings of wasted lives and lost opportunities, praying for “love to conquer hate” and surmising that “something’s gotta change” or else there’ll be “hell to pay.” The addition of a wailing sax to the arrangement is sheer genius, the instrument offering a strident, sobbing counterpoint to the Bacchanalian instrumentation that bangs and crashes in the background, running amok as society burns. As many of us do, Grushecky sees a country that has strayed from its core values, teetering on the edge of decline with a conman at the helm.
Grushecky’s thoughts turn back to mortality with a contemporized cover of the 1930s-era gospel song “Ain’t No Grave,” which has most notably been recorded by Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Johnny Cash. Grushecky brings a gospel-blues spirit to the well-worn song with energetic acoustic guitar strum and locomotive blasts of high-lonesome harmonica before the entire band kicks in to take the song to the Promised Land, turning the performance from a plaintive plea to a tent-show revival complete with glossolalia. More Yesterdays Than Tomorrows closes with the acoustic “Don’t Mourn For Me Like That,” a hauntingly beautiful song where the protagonist says ‘goodbye’ to his loved one with words of reassurance and kindness, the belief in “today is a good day to die” reimagined as a gossamer ballad.
Forty years since the creation of the Iron City Houserockers, Joe Grushecky continues to create vital, complex music that is lyrically eloquent and relevant while remaining timeless in scope. After so many years, Grushecky continues to find new ways to express his muse in song, and while time-to-time he may revisit familiar themes that he first touched upon years ago, he does so with new perspective and insight. The music shows surprising instrumental flourishes that prove that old dogs can learn new tricks, and Grushecky’s status as an unheralded guitar hero is embellished by his fiery performances here.
More Yesterdays Than Tomorrows is an entertaining, exciting work that takes full advantage of the Houserockers’ immense musical chemistry – forged by decades of hard knocks and a shared faith in the religion of rock ‘n’ roll – to create a wonderful collection of songs that rock recklessly but pump the brakes when needed. Reunited with his longtime band after a handful of solo albums, Grushecky displays a renewed fervor and commitment to rock music as both soapbox and as a catalyst for social change. With More Yesterdays Than Tomorrows, Grushecky delivers a career milestone, outdoing himself once again. Grade: A+ (Schoolkids Records, released February 2018)
Get More Yesterdays Than Tomorrows through the band’s PledgeMusic crowdfunding effort
Related content:
Joe Grushecky’s It’s In My Song CD review
Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers’ American Babylon Live CD review
After suffering through record deals with both major and minor labels, Grushecky launched his own indie Schoolhouse Records imprint years before many of today’s critically-acclaimed indie-rockers were born. When Grushecky wanted to explore other facets of his music, he recorded solo albums like 2002’s Fingerprints, 2006’s A Good Life, and 2013’s Somewhere East of Eden. He has always drifted back to the Houserockers, though, and this year’s model – More Yesterdays Than Tomorrows – finds Joey G. and cohorts in fine form as they deliver their first studio album together since 2009’s exceptional East Carson Street. In spite of an impressive body of work comprised of better than a dozen studio and live albums, Grushecky remains one of the best-kept secrets in rock music, forever marginalized by his association with a coterie of talented ‘70s-era rockers including Willie Nile and Elliott Murphy and bands like the Del Lords.
Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers’ More Yesterdays Than Tomorrows
From the new album’s title to the music in the grooves, Grushecky seems preoccupied with mortality and morality. Not a sort of Goth kid’s black-eyeliner and mopey obsession with death, but rather that of a middle-aged man staring down, as the title suggests, the reality that their existence holds “more yesterdays than tomorrows.” Turning 60 this year, I’m well aware of the Reaper’s stare – my father made it less than two months past his 60th birthday before passing, my mother a little more than a year and change beyond that before her death. The Oglala Lakota Indian chief Low Dog is famously quoted as saying “today is a good day to die” and I suppose that’s true, but many of us are dragged screaming to the grave. While the specter of death permeates our culture, it’s seldom addressed musically outside of blues and gospel songs.
Opening with the mid-tempo title track, Grushecky ponders the situation with his keen lyrical eye and takes stock of where he sits in life. Rather than mourning the days behind him, the singer’s joy at each “brand new day” soars atop a transcendent guitar solo and jangly instrumentation. Never a quitter, Grushecky wears his scars proudly as he soldiers on, headfirst, into whatever tomorrow has to bring. His reverie broken by reality’s intrusion, Grushecky launches into “Got To Go To Work Today,” a no-frills rocker with more than a little boogie backbeat hidden beneath the din. Burnishing his blue collar bona fides, Grushecky creates a protagonist who begrudgingly accepts his fate, the songwriter’s vague description of the workplace spinning a tale of an everyman’s curse, albeit one set to stinging guitar solos and clamorous rhythms.
That’s What Makes Us Great
Released earlier this year as a single, “That’s What Makes Us Great” is an incredible duet with Joe’s buddy Bruce (as in Springsteen), the song itself a call to arms for those resisting the loss of our country to greedy businessmen and craven politicians, the slipping away of the American dream to jackboots of fear and hate as refugees in need are turned away in our ignorance and the country itself seems under siege. The words are sung passionately, Grushecky and Springsteen’s voices surrounded by chaotic instrumentation, clanging guitar licks sounding like the Liberty Bell ringing the chimes of freedom.
Both men realize that we’re collectively witnessing a brutal turning point in our nation’s savage history, the song asking “is there a difference I can make,” its creators choosing love above all else in what may be Springsteen’s most overtly political statement yet (and I’m sure that I’m not alone in wishing that Bruce would record a full album with Joey G and the Houserockers). If “That’s What Makes Us Great” is an unabashed rocker with a political edge that pulls few punches, “Burn Us Down” is the body-builder’s roid-rage – a muscular, feverish, powerful cry from the darkness, the song’s bluesy undercurrent matched by Grushecky’s anguished vocals and empathetic, electrifying fretwork, both aspects of the song perfectly capturing the angst-ridden zeitgeist suffered by at least half of the country.
Joe Grushecky, Bruce Springsteen & the Houserockers, photo by John Cavanaugh |
Blood Sweat and Beers
Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers have frequently been referred to as the best “bar band” in America, but they’ve always been much more than that. The core of the band has been playing together for decades, long past the point where rock ‘n’ roll dreams are realized, talented musicians reveling in the mere act of music-making. They’re professionals by any standard, with a lengthy history of thousands of performances and a couple dozen albums trailing in their wake. Grushecky and the Houserockers are the standard to which a “bar band” should aspire, but that doesn’t mean the Joe and his gang haven’t torn up a tavern a time or two. Grushecky isn’t above using a bar setting for a song, either (“Junior’s Bar” comes to mind), and “Blood Sweat and Beers” is really just a country song waiting for the addition of steel guitar to strut shamelessly down Nashville’s ‘Music Row’. A classic barroom tearjerker set to a twangy, rollicking rhythm, the singer lays out his romantic woes in a manner that would make ol’ Hank proud.
From haunting, 1970s-styled Southern-fried riffs and wiry fretwork to gorgeous, ethereal backing vocals, Grushecky imbues “The Voice” with an undeniable Stax soul sound. Singing above muted rhythms with his underrated, soul-drenched vox, Grushecky creates an incredibly charming vibe for a song that, lyrically, offers a light that pierces the darkness, the cosmos reaffirming that our inner strength and moral compass will win out in the end. A sort of thematic bookend to “The Voice,” the wonderfully poetic and insightful “Work In Progress” offers up a positive message riding upon an infectious melody with self-aware lyrics that are applicable to any of our lives, the reckless abandon of pure rock ‘n’ roll creating what would be a surefire hit if corporate radio – with its crippling playlists and overly-conservative consultants – hadn’t neutered the airwaves. Nevertheless, “Work In Progress” is a completely joyful slab of classic rock music.
Hell To Pay
With syncopated guitar licks, squealing six-strings, and explosive percussion pounding out a tribal Bo Diddly beat, Grushecky’s mesmerizing vocals leap out of the wall of sound with a sense of urgency on “Hell To Pay” as he sings of wasted lives and lost opportunities, praying for “love to conquer hate” and surmising that “something’s gotta change” or else there’ll be “hell to pay.” The addition of a wailing sax to the arrangement is sheer genius, the instrument offering a strident, sobbing counterpoint to the Bacchanalian instrumentation that bangs and crashes in the background, running amok as society burns. As many of us do, Grushecky sees a country that has strayed from its core values, teetering on the edge of decline with a conman at the helm.
Grushecky’s thoughts turn back to mortality with a contemporized cover of the 1930s-era gospel song “Ain’t No Grave,” which has most notably been recorded by Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Johnny Cash. Grushecky brings a gospel-blues spirit to the well-worn song with energetic acoustic guitar strum and locomotive blasts of high-lonesome harmonica before the entire band kicks in to take the song to the Promised Land, turning the performance from a plaintive plea to a tent-show revival complete with glossolalia. More Yesterdays Than Tomorrows closes with the acoustic “Don’t Mourn For Me Like That,” a hauntingly beautiful song where the protagonist says ‘goodbye’ to his loved one with words of reassurance and kindness, the belief in “today is a good day to die” reimagined as a gossamer ballad.
The Reverend’s Bottom Line
Forty years since the creation of the Iron City Houserockers, Joe Grushecky continues to create vital, complex music that is lyrically eloquent and relevant while remaining timeless in scope. After so many years, Grushecky continues to find new ways to express his muse in song, and while time-to-time he may revisit familiar themes that he first touched upon years ago, he does so with new perspective and insight. The music shows surprising instrumental flourishes that prove that old dogs can learn new tricks, and Grushecky’s status as an unheralded guitar hero is embellished by his fiery performances here.
More Yesterdays Than Tomorrows is an entertaining, exciting work that takes full advantage of the Houserockers’ immense musical chemistry – forged by decades of hard knocks and a shared faith in the religion of rock ‘n’ roll – to create a wonderful collection of songs that rock recklessly but pump the brakes when needed. Reunited with his longtime band after a handful of solo albums, Grushecky displays a renewed fervor and commitment to rock music as both soapbox and as a catalyst for social change. With More Yesterdays Than Tomorrows, Grushecky delivers a career milestone, outdoing himself once again. Grade: A+ (Schoolkids Records, released February 2018)
Get More Yesterdays Than Tomorrows through the band’s PledgeMusic crowdfunding effort
Related content:
Joe Grushecky’s It’s In My Song CD review
Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers’ American Babylon Live CD review
Wishbone Ash – The Vintage Years box set
Revered British rockers Wishbone Ash join the ranks of the severely-anthologized with the April 2018 release of the band’s The Vintage Years limited edition box set by Madfish Music. Offering a band history on steroids, the whopping 30-CD collection is limited to 2,500 copies and features all sixteen of the band’s studio albums released from their self-titled 1970 debut through 1991’s Strange Affair, all remastered from the original master tapes for optimal sound quality. Three of these studio discs have long been out-of-print (1987’s Nouveau Calls, 1989’s Here to Hear, and Strange Affair) while many of the band’s other albums frequently pop in and out of availability depending on whatever way the wind blows. Each album will feature bonus material including rare studio outtakes, B-sides, and previously-unreleased tracks.
Wishbone Ash also released three studio albums during the span of decades covered by The Vintage Years – Live Dates (1973), Live Dates 2 (1980), and Live In Tokyo (released exclusively in Japan in 1979) – and all three albums are included here. The box set also includes eight previously-released live albums on eleven CDs, all recorded during the band’s prolific gravy years between 1973 to 1980, including performances from British tours for the albums Wishbone Four (1973), New England (1976), Front Page News (1977), and No Smoke Without Fire (1978), among others.
The Vintage Years box includes a swanky 156-page hardback book written by Classic Rock magazine scribe Dave Ling and featuring personal photos, rare posters and flyers, and collectors’ memorabilia. The set also includes a wealth of goodies for the hardcore Wishbone Ash fan, including a 36-page poster book covering the band’s early years through the Here to Hear LP, four reproduction concert posters from shows in 1973, ’74, ’75, and ’77; a facsimile MCA debut album promo pack; a 7” flexi-disc for the single “Blind Eye,” the first of the band’s 11 Japanese singles series; and individually-signed photos of each band member.
Formed in 1969 by bassist Martin Turner and drummer Steve Upton, the classic early Wishbone Ash line-up came together with the addition of guitarists Andy Powell and Ted Turner (no relation to Martin). The band found its signature sound – a unique and ambitious mix of progressive rock and British folk fueled by their imaginative and influential twin guitar attack – with their sophomore album, 1971’s Pilgrimage. The band continued to explore new ground and outpace their contemporaries with pioneering albums like Argus (1972) and Wishbone Four. Band members have come and gone and come back again through the years, until Powell was the last man standing, both he and former member Martin Turner struggling for control over the band’s legacy during the ensuing decades.
Wishbone Ash continues to make vital, creative music as witnessed by the band’s most recent album, 2014’s Blue Horizon. All four members of the classic band line-up contributed to the construction of The Vintage Years, Martin Turner explaining in a press release for the box set, “I looked after most of these tape recordings for decades, wondering when they would ever see the light of day and I am very glad that they will at last be available for everyone to hear…It’s almost like having one’s whole musical life in one box. It certainly represents the most comprehensive Wishbone collection that I know of and I hope you enjoy it.”
Powell adds, “It’s truly amazing to look back at the musically fertile ‘70s and ‘80s and wonder at the sheer amount of incredible creative output from our band…I feel blessed to have played my part in it all and I’m truly thankful that it’s set the course for my entire life and all the music that’s followed, as the band continues to live on into the 21st century.” The resulting box set is a comprehensive and exhausting history of one of the more innovative and influential bands in rock ‘n’ roll history. Get more information on The Vintage Years from the Madfish Music website.
Related content:
Martin Turner’s New Live Dates CD review
Andy Powell’s Eyes Wide Open book review
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