Monthly Archives: December 2015

Queen of Jeans: Rollerdyke

This Philadelphia quartet’s first single sounded like something you’d have heard on Girls in the Garage or perhaps from the Pussywillows, or the Bangs before they became the Bangles. The group’s second single moves from the garage to the ballroom with a flowing neo-psych sound and a driving beat. Their debut EP is slated for January 22!

Queen of Jeans’ Facebook Page

Paul Davis: The Very Best Of

PaulDavis_TheVeryBestOfComprehensive collection of soft-rock singer’s hits

Mississippian Paul Davis is best remembered for his breakthrough 1977 hit “I Go Crazy,” but the light-soul soft-rock singer-songwriter broke into the industry seven years earlier, and continued to chart regularly until 1982. Varese’s seventeen-track collection reaches back to his first single, “Revolution in My Soul” b/w “Constantly” (issued as The Reivers), and rolls all the way through a pair of chart-topping duets in the mid-80s with Marie Osmond (“You’re Still New to Me”) and Tanya Tucker (the terrific “I Won’t Take Less Than Your Love”). Along the way the disc collects all of Davis’ charting singles except the minor chart entries “Can’t You Find Another Way (Of Doing It),” “Keep Our Love Alive” and “Cry a Little.”

The two earliest sides, issued on the Los Angeles-based White Whale label, are great period pop, with the Muscle Shoals-produced A-side evincing gospel soul and the B-side tuneful bubblegum. The single gained enough notice to get Davis signed with the Bang label, where his first release was a sweet soul cover of the Jarmels’ “A Little Bit of Soap.” The single’s success led to an album, A Little Bit of Paul Davis, and an opportunity for Davis to spread his songwriting wings with “I Just Wanna Keep it Together.” You can hear a touch of labelmate Neil Diamond in the single’s near-spoken passages, though the production is more in line with the pop hits of Tony Orlando and UK acts Edison Lighthouse and the Flying Machine.

Davis continued to write imaginative hits for himself throughout the ‘70s, often producing or co-producing his own records. He added country rock flavor to “Boogie Woogie Man,” folk country to “Ride ‘Em Cowboy,” and turning more towards the pop mainstream with electronic keyboards on 1976’s “Thinking of You” and double-tracked vocals on the name-checking “Superstar.” The updated sound set the stage for Davis’ breakthrough with the following year’s “I Go Crazy,” a single that stayed on the Hot 100 for a then record-setting forty weeks. A follow-up duet (with Susan Collins) covering the Beach Boys’ “Darlin’” charted outside the Top 40, but the smooth “Sweet Life” brought him back to the Top 20 and crossed to the country chart.

Davis moved to Arista and notched a trio of hits in the early ‘80s, including his biggest chart success, “‘65 Love Affair.” His final hit for Arista, a cover of the Friends of Distinction’s “Love or Let Me Be Lonely” is included here in its original single version, featuring a third verse that was not on the album track. Davis largely retired from recording after 1982, guesting on a pair of country chart-topping duets in 1986 and 1988, and focusing on background singing and songwriting, including penning “Meet Me in Montana” for Dan Seals. This disc provides a good introduction to Davis’ music, from earlier, earthier sides through the slicker pop-soul sound of his solo hits, to the country duets with which he bowed out. [©2015 Hyperbolium]

In Memoriam: 2015

Ben E. King, 1938-2015

Listen to a selection of artists on Mixcloud or Spotify

January
Little Jimmy Dickens, country vocalist and guitarist
Andrae Crouch, pastor and gospel vocalist
Curtis Lee, vocalist (“Pretty Little Angel Eyes”)
Ray McFall, nightclub owner (The Cavern Club)
Popsy Dixon, vocalist and drummer (The Holmes Brothers)
Tim Drummond, bassist (Bob Dylan, Neil Young, CSN&Y)
Bill Thompson, manager (Jefferson Airplane)
Trevor Leonard Ward-Davies (aka “Dozy”), bassist (Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Titch)
Ervin Drake, songwriter (“It Was a Very Good Year”)
Kim Fowley, producer, manager, songwriter and vocalist
Ian Allen, culture jammer (Negativland)
Dallas Taylor, rock drummer (CSN&Y)
Ward Swingle, vocalist (The Swingle Singers)
Edgar Froese, keyboardist (Tangerine Dream)
Rose Marie McCoy, songwriter (“I Beg of You” “Trying to Get to You”)
Joe Franklin, radio and television host
Neil Levang, guitarist (The Lawrence Welk Show)
Stephen R. Johnson, music video director (“Sledgehammer”)
Danny McCulloch, rock bassist (The Animals)
Rod McKuen, poet, songwriter and vocalist
Don Covay, vocalist and songwriter (“Chain of Fools”)

February
Joe B. Mauldin, rock ‘n’ roll bassist (The Crickets)
Thom Wilson, engineer and producer (Offspring, Dead Kennedys)
Sam Andrew, rock guitarist (Big Brother and the Holding Company)
Mosie Lister, gospel vocalist and songwriter (The Statesmen Quartet)
Gary Owens, disc jockey (KEWB, KFWB, KMPC) and television announcer
Steve Strange, new wave vocalist (Visage)
Leslie Gore, pop vocalist and songwriter
Clark Terry, jazz trumpeter and flugelhornist
Bobby Emmons, keyboardist and songwriter (“Luckenbach, Texas”)
Tod Dockstader, electronic music composer
Leonard Nimoy, actor, poet and vocalist

March
Orrin Keepnews, record executive and producer
Brian Carman, surf guitarist (Chantays) and songwriter (“Pipeline”)
Albert Maysles, documentarian (“Gimme Shelter”)
Lew Soloff, trumpeter and flugelhornist (Blood, Sweat & Tears)
Jerry Brightman, pedal steel guitarist (Buckaroos)
Eugene Patton, stagehand (“Gene Gene the Dancing Machine”)
Wayne Kemp, vocalist, guitarist and songwriter (“One Piece at a Time”)
Jimmy Greenspoon, rock keyboardist (Three Dog Night)
Daevid Allen, guitarist and vocalist (Soft Machine, Gong)
Bob Parlocha, jazz radio broadcaster (KJAZ)
Don Robertson, songwriter (“Please Help Me I’m Falling” “Ringo”)
Andy Fraser, rock bassist and songwriter (Free)
Samuel Charters, music historian
Michael Brown, songwriter and keyboardist (The Left Banke)
A.J. Pero, rock drummer (Twister Sister)
Miriam Bienstock, record company executive and theatrical producer
Al Bunetta, manager (Steve Goodman, John Prine)
John Renbourn, guitarist and songwriter (Pentangle)
Preston Ritter, rock drummer (The Electric Prunes)

April
Cynthia Lennon, author, first wife of John Lennon and mother of Julian
Dave Ball, rock guitarist (Procol Harum, Bedlam)
Doug Sax, audio mastering engineer (Doors, Rolling Stones, Who)
Robert Lewis “Bob” Burns Jr., drummer (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
Ray Charles, vocalist, songwriter and arranger (The Ray Charles Singers)
Milton DeLugg, musician, arranger, conductor and composer
Stan Freberg, comedian, parodist, broadcaster, advertising executive
Keith McCormack, vocalist, guitarist and songwriter (“Sugar Shack”)
Bill Arhos, television broadcaster and founder of Austin City Limits
Percy Sledge, vocalist
Billy Ray Hearn, record company executive (Myrrh)
Wally Lester, doo-wop vocalist (The Skyliners)
Sid Tepper, songwriter (“Red Roses for a Blue Lady” “G.I. Blues”)
Suzanne Crowe, actress and percussionist (The Partridge Family)
Jack Ely, rock ‘n’ roll guitarist and vocalist (The Kingsmen)
Steven Goldmann, music video director (Faith Hill’s “This Kiss”)
Ben E. King, vocalist and songwriter

May
Guy Carawan, folk musician and musicologist
Errol Brown, vocalist and songwriter (Hot Chocolate)
Rutger Gunnarsson, bassist (ABBA)
Johnny Gimble, western swing and country fiddler
Stan Cornyn, music industry executive (Warner Brothers, Reprise)
B.B. King, blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter
Bruce Lundvall, record company executive (Blue Note, Angel, Manhattan)
Twinkle (Lynn Annette Ripley), pop vocalist and songwrite
Louis Johnson, bassist (The Brothers Johnson)
Johnny Keating, songwriter and arranger
Jim Bailey, vocalist, actor and impressionist (Judy Garland, Peggy Lee)
Julie Harris, costume designer (A Hard Day’s Night, Help)

June
Jean Ritchie, folk vocalist, songwriter and dulcimer player
Dennis Ferrante, recording engineer (John Lennon, Harry Nilsson)
Ronnie Gilbert, folk vocalist and songwriter (The Weavers)
Paul Bacon, album cover designer (Thelonious Monk, Chet Baker)
Randy Howard, country vocalist and songwriter
James Last, composer and bandleader
Johnny Keating, composer and arranger (“Theme for Z Cars”)
Jim Ed Brown, country vocalist and songwriter (The Browns)
Ornette Coleman, jazz saxophonist and visionary
Monica Lewis, jazz and commercial vocalist (Chiquita Banana)
Stephen Blauner, agent, manager and producer
Phil Austin, actor, comedian, writer, musician and radio broadcaster (The Firesign Theater)
Harold Battiste, saxophonist, arranger and composer
Wendell Holmes, guitarist and songwriter (The Holmes Brothers)
James Horner, film score composer, conductor and arranger (Titanic)
Chris Squire, bassist and songwriter (Yes)
Bruce Rowland, drummer (Grease Band, Fairport Convention)

July
Red Lane, country vocalist and songwriter
Roy C. Bennett, songwriter (“Red Roses for a Blue Lady” “G.I. Blues”)
Jerry Weintraub, film producer, manager, promoter and vocalist
Ernie Maresca, vocalist, songwriter (“Runaround Sue”) and record company executive
Michael Masser, songwriter (“Touch Me in the Morning”)
Tom Skinner, red dirt vocalist and songwriter
David Somerville, vocalist (The Diamonds)
Doug Layton, radio personality and Beatles boycotter
Buddy Buie, songwriter (“Spooky” “So Into You”) and producer
Van Alexander, composer, arranger and bandleader
Wayne Carson, songwriter (“The Letter” “Always on My Mind”)
Dieter Moebius, electronic music pioneer (Kluster, Brian Eno)
Theodore Bikel, actor, vocalist, activist and composer
Don Joyce, writer, producer, actor and radio broadcaster (Negativland, Over the Edge)
Vic Firth, percussionist and percussion stick maker
Buddy Emmons, pedal steel guitarist
Lynn Anderson, country vocalist

August
Cilla Black, vocalist, actress and media personality
Ken Barnes, author and producer
Billy Sherrill, producer, songwriter and arranger
Don Kent, blues historian and record label owner
Gary Keys, documentarian and concert producer
Bob Johnston, producer (Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel) and songwriter
Danny Sembello, producer and songwriter (“Neutron Dance”)
Joy Beverley, vocalist (Beverley Sisters)

September
Owen “Boomer” Castleman, vocalist and guitarist (Lewis & Clarke Expedition), inventor (Palm Pedal)
Rico Rodriguez, ska and reggae trombonist (Specials)
Hal Willis, country vocalist (“The Lumberjack”)
Frederick “Dennis” Greene, vocalist (Sha Na Na)
Augusta Lee Collins, blues drummer, vocalist and guitarist
Smokey WIlson, blues guitarist
Gary Richrath, rock guitarist and songwriter (REO Speedwagon)
Peggy “Lady Bo” Jones, rock ‘n’ roll guitarist
Ben Cauley, trumpeter (Bar-Kays)
Wilton Felder, saxophonist and bassist (Jazz Crusaders)
Frankie Ford, vocalist (“Sea Cruise”)
Phil Woods, jazz saxophonist (“Just the Way You Are”)

October
Big Tom Parker, disc jockey (KFRC, KYUU, K101, KOIN, KMGI, KXL)
Dave Pike, jazz vibraphonist
Smokey Johnson, drummer (Fats Domino) and songwriter
Billy Joe Royal, pop vocalist (“Down in the Boondocks” “Cherry Hill Park”)
Gail Zappa, widow of Frank Zappa and trustee of the Zappa Family Estate
Larry Rosen, producer and label founder (GRP)
Steve Mackay, saxophonist (The Stooges)
Hal Hackady, lyricist and and screenwriter (“Let’s Go Mets!”)
Steve Gebhardt, filmmaker (“Ladies and Gentlemen, the Rolling Stones”)
John Jennings, musician and producer (Mary Chapin Carpenter)
Cory Wells, rock vocalist (Three Dog Night)
Arnold Klein, dermatologist (Michael Jackson)
Leon Bibb, folk and theater vocalist
Nat Peck, jazz trombonist
David Rodriguez, vocalist, songwriter and father of Carrie Rodriguez
Herbie Goins, R&B vocalist

November
Tommy Overstreet, country vocalist
Chuck Pyle, country vocalist, guitarist and songwriter
Eddie Hoh, session drummer (Donovan, Monkees, Mamas & Papas)
Charlie Dick, widower of Patsy Cline and record promoter
Andy White, drummer (The Beatles’ “Love Me Do” and “P.S. I Love You”)
Martin Beard, rock bassist (Sopwith Camel)
Allen Toussaint, musician, songwriter and producer
Phil Taylor, drummer (Motörhead)
P.F. Sloan, vocalist, songwriter and producer
Al Aarons, jazz trumpeter (Count Basie Orchestra)
Ramona Jones, fiddler (Hee Haw)
Mack McCormick, musicologist and folklorist
Norman Pickering, engineer and inventor (Pickering phonographic stylus)
Arthur Brooks, vocalist (The Impressions)
Cynthia Robinson, trumpeter (Sly and the Family Stone)
Ronnie Bright, doo-wop vocalist (Valentines, Coasters, “Mr. Bassman”)
Wayne Bickerton, songwriter, producer, label executive and bassist
Buddy Moreno, big band vocalist, bandleader and radio host

December
Alex Cooley, promoter (Atlanta International Pop Festival, Mar Y Sol)
Scott Weiland, vocalist and songwriter (Stone Temple Pilots)
John Garner, drummer and vocalist (Sir Lord Baltimore)
Marque Lynch, vocalist (Lion King, American Idol, Mickey Mouse Club)
Franz “Franzl” Lang, German yodel king, accordionist and guitarist
Bonnie Lou, country vocalist and television performer
Gary Marker, bassist and engineer (Rising Sons, Captain Beefheart)
Rusty Jones, jazz drummer
Luigi Creatore, songwriter and producer (“The Lion Sleeps Tonight”)
Adam Roth, guitarist (Jim Carroll, Del Fuegos)
Snuff Garrett, producer (Gary Lewis & The Playboys)
William Guest, R&B vocalist (Gladys Knight & The Pips)
Takeharu Kunimoto, shamisen player and bluegrass musician
Stevie Wright, pop vocalist (The Easybeats)
John Bradbury, drummer (The Specials)
Lemmy Kilmister, rock vocalist, bassist and songwriter (Motörhead)
Joe Houston, R&B saxophonist
Natalie Cole, vocalist and daughter of Nat “King” Cole

Hypercast #6: In Memoriam 2015

A collection of music from some of the artists who passed away in 2015.

Billy Joe Royal Down in the Boondocks
B.B. King Early in the Morning
Bonnie Lou Friction Heat
Ben E. King (The Drifters) Save the Last Dance for Me
Don Covay Come See About Me
Errol Brown (Hot Chocolate) Emma
Don Joyce Crystal’s Snowdrift Disco Bar & Thrill
Jack Ely (The Kingsmen) Louie, Louie
Leonard Nimoy Highly Illogical
Kim Fowley The Trip
Buddy Emmons Witches Brew
Cory Wells (Three Dog Night) Mama Told Me Not to Come
Jean Richie Dulcimer Pieces
Johnny Gimble Lone Star Rag
Little Jimmy Dickens Me and My Big Loud Mouth
Lynn Anderson Flattery Will Get You Everywhere
Curtis Lee Pretty Little Angel Eyes
David Somerville (The Diamonds) Little Darlin’
Ronnie Bright (Johnny Cymbal) Mr. Bass Man
Frankie Ford Sea Cruise
Allen Toussaint Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky
Lew Soloff (Blood, Sweat & Tears) Spinning Wheel
Ramona Jones Whiskey Before Breakfast
Chuck Pyle Rio Rey
Cilla Black Conversations
Michael Brown (The Left Banke) Pretty Ballerina
Rod McKuen Jean
Percy Sledge Warm and Tender Love
Lesley Gore I Don’t Want To Be a Loser
Johnny Keating Theme From Z-Cars
Ward Swingle (The Swingle Singers) The Little Fugue
Jim Ed Brown Pop-A-Top
Owen Castleman Judy Mae
Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots) Creep
P.F. Sloan Halloween Mary
Dave Pike Jet Set

Various Artists: The Winding Stream – The Carters, the Cashes and the Course of Country Music

VAR The Winding StreamExcellent, but surprisingly unannotated collection of Carter Family songs

As the soundtrack to Beth Harrington’s like-titled documentary, these songs sing the story of the Carter Family’s seminal invention and their on-going influence. But as a standalone volume, this virtually unannotated set provides little in the way of context or connections. The sources, circumstances and even years of these recordings are not provided, and the three-page liner notes history of the Carter Family does little to explain where these songs came from, what they meant to the Carters, or how these particular performances (including five from the Original Carter Family, one from Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters, and one from Maybelle and Sara Carter) thread into the story.

The selections are excellent, including performances by John Prine, Johnny Cash, George Jones, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Rosanne Cash and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. And the programming is surprisingly smooth, given the disparate qualities of the recordings; but one can’t help but wish there was some background, particularly on the song origins and their path into the Carter Family catalog. The little publishing information that’s provided on the booklet’s back is so microscopic as to be nearly unreadable, and though tracks 1, 5, 14 and 16 trace to The Unbroken Circle, the origin of others remain obscure. The music may speak for itself, but as the mate to a rich documentary and book, the lack of provenance is disappointing. [©2015 Hyperbolium]

The Winding Stream’s Home Page

BR5-49: One Long Saturday Night, Plus

BR549_OneLongSaturdayNightPlusRevivalist country legends in the flush of early greatness

Initially formed in 1993, it took only a few years for BR5-49 to catch on with the Nashville locals at Robert’s Western Wear, score a major label deal with Arista, and find themselves touring the world. This set of country standards, western swing tunes and original songs was performed live on German television in October, 1996, hot on the heels of the release of their debut EP and album. The quintet set up in a cafe setting and ran through a full set for a small audience, just as they had been doing a year earlier in Nashville.

As was their practice, the songs were called off on the fly, rather than written out in a setlist, demonstrating not only their deep knowledge of classic songs, but their innate ability to string them together into a rousing program. Their originals (“Even If It’s Wrong,” “Bettie Bettie,” “Hometown Boogie,” “My Name is Mudd,” “Little Ramona (Gone Hillbilly Nuts)” and “One Long Saturday Night”) are nearly indistinguishable from their brilliantly selected and inventively arranged covers of Hank Williams, Harlan Howard, Webb Pierce, Carl Perkins, Gram Parsons and others.

The group’s panache comes across on both this CD and the parallel DVD issue. The CD includes nineteen tracks from the German Ohne Filter show plus four soundboard recordings captured a week later in Japan. Bear Family’s digipack comes with a 30-page booklet that includes notes by Chuck Mead and a wealth of period photos. The Blasters, Domino Kings and Derailers trolled similar retro territory, but none plowed Nashville roots as deeply as BR5-49, and the excitement they stirred up was never more evident than on stage. [©2015 Hyperbolium]

BR5-49’s Facebook Page

Chris Laterzo: West Coast Sound

ChrisLaterzo_WestCoastSoundCanyon country with echoes of Neil, Gram, Jackson and the Byrds

There’s always been a note of Neil Young’s high, keening tone in Chris Laterzo’s voice, but on his fifth album, backed by twanging alt-country, the notes are more plentiful and apparent. That’s not a criticism, it’s a compliment, as Laterzo doesn’t copy Young so much as sing original songs in a style that echoes Young’s work from the ‘60s and ‘70s. You can also hear flavors of Shannon Hoon in his high notes and Chris Robinson in his tremelo, and the loping rhythms of Laterzo’s American “cowboy rock” also connect him to the cosmos of Gram Parsons. The album’s title track finds Laterzo surrendering not just to the natural elements of his adopted California, but also to the the country-tinged rock that once flowed freely from Laurel Canyon.

Laterzo sings lovingly of his former neighborhood, “Echo Park,” memorializing the people, places and lifestyle of an important point in his life. Dan Wistrom’s pedal steel is particularly potent on this track. Laterzo is settled in Los Angeles, but having grown up in Denver, Boston and Brussels, he harbors a wanderlust that’s satiated as a touring musician and as the rambler of “Tumbleweed.” The road beckons more darkly as an avenue of escape for “Someday Blue,” with a tempo and acoustic guitar that suggest the despair of the Rolling Stones’ “Angie.” Despair turns to resignation in “Drag,” as Laterzo concludes you can’t negotiate with a closed book, and resignation turns to spite in “Subaru,” despite the lyric’s claim to the contrary.

There’s a wistfulness to Laterzo’s singing that merges memories with realizations. The backward glances of “The Bradbury” and “Chaperone” aren’t nostalgia, they’re the slightly stoned, or in the case of “Chaperone,” fantastically dreamed, building blocks of experience. The latter is stripped down to acoustic guitar and snare drum, and played at a tempo that perfectly paces the sleepwalking vocal. Laterzo often sounds lost in thought, as if his thoughts are extemporaneous and still forming as they’re being related; it’s a powerful way to draw listeners into songs. The album is low-key, but Laterzo’s reflections are bright and engrossing, and will entice fans of Young, Jackson Browne, the Byrds and other canyon dwellers. [©2015 Hyperbolium]

Chris Laterzo’s Home Page

Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs: Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda

HollyGolightlyAndTheBrokeoffs_CouldaShouldaWouldaHolly Golightly and Lawyer Dave keep the flame burning

On her eighth album (in nine years!) with the Brokeoffs, and two-dozen albums into her career, Holly Golightly still sounds enthused. Hot on the heels of her throwback album, Slowtown Now, comes a new volume of the Brokeoffs lo-fi rhythm and blues. Together with Lawyer Dave, Golightly essays blues, soul, gospel, tango and waltzes, all with the rhythmic underpinnings that have become the duo’s trademark. The album’s percussion is more musical than the junkyard clang of earlier releases, and the arrangements more developed, but the performances still have the sheen of first takes. Golightly handles most of the lead vocals, though Lawyer Dave has just the right level of self-sorriness to lead “Jump in the River.”

The duo can still harmonize like an amped-up, down-and-dirty version of Richard & Mimi Farina, preaching the garage gospel of “Heaven Buy and Buy” and grinding through the blues “Little Mule.” But the duo have expanded their musical reach, and though they maintain the feel of the Brokeoffs, a few of these songs could have fit equally well on Golightly’s solo album. The title track has a good beat, is easy to dance to, and includes a terrific guitar solo from the Brokeoffs neighbor (and Guadalcanal Diary co-founder), Jeff Walls. The ballad “What He Does,” sung here as plaintive country, includes a double-tracked vocal that suggests a connection to girl groups.

The album features two covers, starting with Mr. Sunshine & His Guitar Pickers’ 1951 stringband number “Marijuana, the Devil’s Flower.” Sung here with banjo and fiddle, the performance is ready to stoke a fit of temperance. But it’s the album’s second cover, “Karate,” that could really break the band worldwide. The 1967 original (whose lyrics were rewritten by Carlos Santana for “Everybody’s Everything”) didn’t ignite a martial arts dance craze (and not for want of trying, but the honor goes to Carl Douglas’ mid-70s “Kung Fu Fighting”), but who’s to say the time isn’t ripe for a comeback? In a just world, the Brokeoffs would be siphoning off some of Psy’s 2.5 billion YouTube views with a video that features Elvis’ on-stage katas in Las Vegas.

The album’s other option for infamy is the closer, “Christmas is a Lie,” a ballad that’s readymade for misinterpretation and fundamentalist backlash, and a worthy bookend to the stinging rebuke of the opening “Heaven Buy and Buy.” Taken together, it seems unlikely the Brokeoffs will be invited by Ryan Seacrest to appear on New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, though given their iconoclastic content, maybe Pitbull will step up and ask them to Miami to appear on Revolution. But even without those mainstream platforms, the Brokeoffs should expand their fan base with this album’s mix of fuller electric numbers, and their unique combination of blues, whimsy and hellfire. [©2015 Hyperbolium]

Holly Golightly’s Home Page

The Supersuckers: Holdin’ the Bag

Supersuckers_HoldinTheBagLong awaited country sequel to 1997’s “Must’ve Been High”

The Supersuckers have come a long way since the punk rock of their early releases. But it’s been twenty-five years since they began dropping the singles that became The Songs All Sound the Same, and lineup and management changes have paralleled musical excursions that included the country side road of 1997’s Must’ve Been High, the album’s demo sessions and live companion Must’ve Been Live. Oh, and an EP collaboration with Steve Earle. Country continued to thread into the group’s heavier rock, with catalog classics like “Creepy Jackalope Eye” getting numerous new treatments as the band’s membership and sound shifted.

2013’s Get the Hell showcased their guitar rock, but this year’s album is a treat for fans of the band’s country sounds. With cowboy hats tilted toward the setting sun, and guest appearances from Hayes Carll and Lydia Loveless, the band tackles ten originals, an updated cover of Hank Jr.’s “All My Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down),” and on the CD and LP releases, an energetic cover of Billy Joe Shaver’s “Georgia on a Fast Train.” Recorded in Austin at Ray Benson’s Bismeaux studio, the sessions also include appearances from Mickey Raphael, Jeff Pinkus, Jesse Dayton, Jason Roberts and Nathan Fleming. The band’s current lineup is led by the unflagging Eddie Spaghetti on vocals and bass, and features guitarist Marty Chandler and drummer Chris Von Streicher.

Spaghetti has been dedicated to the band since its 1988 founding, but the resurgence of his singing and songwriting after a bout with throat cancer is the stuff of legends. Having poured his energy into recording and performing for so long, it must have been difficult to shift himself into recovery; and having done that, now shift back into performing. Spaghetti is clearly one tough dude. Even though the cancer diagnosis came after the album was recorded, many of the songs evince the badass, survivor’s attitude that is no doubt a part of Spaghetti’s wellness plan. And though a badass can be thorny and sarcastic (and very, very funny), they can also be surprisingly sensitive, as shown by the album’s songs of relationship turmoil.

The title track opens the album with romantic wariness that turns into bona fide doubt for the double entendre “High and Outside.” In turn, there’s annoyance (“Jibber Jabber”), mourning (“I Can’t Cry”) and, finally, acceptance (“This Life Would Be a Whole Lot Better If I Didn’t Have to Share it With You”). The album cover’s western shadows are paid off with the trail rhythm of the nameless “Man on a Mission” and the waltz-time “That’s How It Gets Done,” and though the arrangements are threaded with harmonica, banjo, mandolin, accordion, fiddle and steel, the band breaks out late-70s-styled rock ‘n’ roll for “Shimmy & Shake.” Well into their third decade, the Supersuckers sound better than ever, and with any luck, they’ll take this album on the road in 2016. [©2015 Hyperbolium]

Supersuckers’ Home Page