After gaining attention with their debut EP, AHS 1005, and the transcendent follow-up single “Help You Ann,†Boston’s Lyres released their first full-length album. The focus remained resolutely on catchy, stripped-down garage rock, with just a hint of psych in the tremelo guitar and whining organ tone. Singer, vocalist and organist Jeff “Monoman†Conolly wrote just as good as he borrowed, with his new songs that intertwining easily with choice covers of the New Colony Six, Kinks, Mickey and the Clean Cuts, and Pete Best’s post-Beatles “The Way I Feel About You.†Richard Harte’s production gives the instruments fidelity and definition without forsaking the band’s garage roots, and Conolly’s voice found its spot in the mix.
Rick Coraccio’s bass is more of a throb than a rhythm, which leaves drummer Paul Murphy plenty of room for his snare and cymbals. Guitarist Danny McCormack offers up economical guitar solos that make the most of his Dynalectron’s unusual tone, and Conolly’s organ lurks behind most of the songs with high-pitched notes. Best of all, the music is relentless in its danceable rock ‘n’ roll grooves, and Conolly proves himself a tireless frontman. It was hard to top the wicked guitar riff of “Help You Ann,†but the chorus of the opening “Don’t Give It Up Now†is nearly as hypnotic.
The album has been reissued several times with varying bonuses. The original U.S. vinyl had ten tracks, augmented on the promo by “I Really Want You Right Now.†The French New Rose label issued a vinyl LP that added eight bonuses (four from the AHS 1005 EP, three from the “Someone Who’ll Treat You Right Now†EP and a cover of Pete Best’s “I’ll Try Anywayâ€). Matador issued a CD that added nine bonuses (five session tracks, three from the “Someone Who’ll Treat You Right Now†EP and the Pete Best cover). And here, Ace of Hearts (in conjunction with Munster) includes only the five bonus session tracks offered on the Matador release.
In 1981, while many of us were still discovering the Nuggets compilation and Pebbles series, Jeff Conolly had already worked backwards and ingested garage rock’s roots. Breaking out of Boston’s rock scene with this debut four-song EP, Lyres had both the muscle and melodicism of ‘60s hitmakers like the Standells, Sonics, Chocolate Watchband and Boston’s Remains. As good as was the EP (and the concluding cover of the Hangmen’s “What a Girl Can’t Do†is really, really good), the 1983 follow-up single, “Help You Ann,†was even better. With an unforgettable guitar riff and a hypnotic lyric hook on the flip “I Really Want You Right Now,†this could easily have been a regional hit that broke through to the national charts, had it only been released in 1965.
Although Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens revived Big Star in 1993 with the help of the Posies’ Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow, they never sought to recreate the full majesty of their seminal studio recordings. The 2.0 lineup lasted nearly 18 years of intermittent live performances and the studio album In Space, but with Chilton’s passing in 2010, Big Star morphed from a going concern into a well spring of reissues, archival releases, biographies, documentaries and tribute performances. The first of the tributes took place within days of Chilton’s passing, as Big Star’s remaining three members were joined by the band’s friends and colleagues to deliver a musical wake at SXSW.
By the end of that year, a more formal tribute was organized with a live performance of Big Star’s Third, complete with the album’s full, original orchestration. And from that show, a core musical collective formed to tour the tribute internationally, engaging guest musicians and orchestras at each stop. A full rendering of Third remains the centerpiece of the show, but with the addition of material from Big Star’s first two albums and Chris Bell’s post-Big Star work to fill out the story. This 2017 performance features Big Star’s Jody Stephens and musical director Chris Stamey alongside Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer (The Posies, Big Star), Mike Mills (R.E.M.), Jeff Tweedy and Pat Sansone (Wilco), Ira Kaplan (Yo La Tango), Robyn Hitchcock, Benmont Tench (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers), Dan Wilson (Semisonic), and a full chamber orchestra.
Paying tribute to a band as beloved as Big Star is a tricky proposition. Covering too closely offers nothing new or of yourself, while straying too far risks losing touch with the object of your tribute. Add to that a small catalog that allows for talmudic-like study by fans and the stretch from single song cover to a full concert and album reading, and the balance point seems to grow more elusive. As musical director, Stamey has plotted out musical waypoints that anchor these covers to the familiar originals, while at the same time employing vocalists and harmony singers whose tone and style are reverent, yet fresh. The combination of familiar and new renews the chestnuts that had fossilized into icons, and animates the songs that were never performed live by the original band.
The performers’ deep affection for the material is evident throughout, and the split between earlier material on disc one and Third on disc two mirrors the changes in the band’s personnel, circumstances and resulting direction. The song sequence for Third has long been debated, and the order selected here doesn’t seem to match any of the well-known sequences; i.e., the 1975 test pressing on Stax, the 1978 vinyl issue on PVC, the 1992 CD issue on Ryko, the 2016 Complete Third on Omnivore, or any of the many reissues in between; notably missing are the test pressing’s covers of “Femme Fatale†and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,†and reissue inclusions “Till the End of the Day†and “Nature Boy.†Still, no matter the track selection or order, the musical schizophrenia of the original sessions comes across in both the individual songs, and the idiosyncratic range of material.
Bonus-ladÂen reissues of Steve Goodman’s final two albums
Goodman lived his entire professional career on borrowed time. Diagnosed with leukemia in 1969, he made the most of his 15 years on the public stage. His best known song, “City of New Orleans,†was a hit for Arlo Guthrie, and again for Willie Nelson, and is recounted from his debut album in live form on Artistic Hair. But his most sung song is the Chicago Cubs victory anthem “Go Cubs Go,†included as a bonus track on this reissue of Affordable Art. The latter album, the last released during Goodman’s lifetime, includes a double-header of baseball-themed tracks in its original lineup, “A Dying Cub Fan’s Last Request,†and a sprightly dawg-grass arrangement of the national pastime classic “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.â€
Goodman recorded for Buddah and Asylum before inaugurating his own Red Pajama label with this pair of albums, reissued here with eighteen bonus tracks between them. 1983’s Artistic Hair was constructed from live material cherry-picked from a decade’s worth of recordings. The selected tracks show off the intimate stage presence that matched the intellectual intimacy of Goodman’s music. The material features a half dozen originals, including the humorous realities of “Elvis Imitators†and “Chicken Cordon Bleus,†and the icons “City of New Orleans†and “You Never Even Called Me By Name.†Goodman’s covers ranged widely from early twentieth century tunes “Tico Tico,†“Red Red Robin†and “Winter Wonderland†to Shel Silverstein’s acoustic blues, “Three-Legged Man.â€
The album’s ten bonus tracks, originally released on the posthumous No Big Surprise: The Steve Goodman Anthology, feature a similar mix of originals and covers, including Goodman’s chanty about a notorious Chicago-area towing company, “Lincoln Park Pirates,†the ad-libbed stage performer’s nightmare, “The Broken String Song,†and the celebration of love’s polyglot nature, “Men Who Love Women Who Love Men.†Covers include Leroy Van Dyke’s tongue-twisting “The Auctioneer,†the Albert Brumley spiritual “I’ll Fly Away†and the mid-30s dance tune “It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie,†popularly recorded by Fats Waller, the Ink Spots and Patti Page. Goodman is relaxed and confident as he variously performs solo and with a band, and while the settings and recording quality vary, the constructed set is a treat.
Affordable Art mixes live and studio tracks, with a song list composed almost entirely of originals. The album opens with the instrumental “If Only Jethro Was Here,†featuring Goodman on mandola and Jim Rothermel on recorder, and highlighting mandolinist Jethro Burns’ absence. Burns himself is heard on an old-timey rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,†which is stretched into a double with Goodman’s “A Dying Cubs Fan’s Last Request,†and legged into a triple with the bonus track “Go Cubs Go.†As on his previous album of live material, Goodman is heard both solo and with a band, including the driving drums and electric slide of “How Much Tequila (Did I Drink Last Night)?†and an acoustic ensemble highlighted by Marty Stuart’s mandolin and Jerry Douglas’ dobro on the hopeful “When My Rowboat Comes In.â€
Bear Family’s signature rockabilly anthology still rockin’ at 32!
At thirty-two volumes in twenty-eight years, one might wonder if Bear Family’s signature rockabilly anthology has run out of gas. But even on a fourth excursion into the vaults of Decca, Brunswick and Coral, Bear Family has unearthed many fine rock ‘n’ roll platters, and maintained their traditional attention to detail and presentation. The thirty-nine page booklet includes period photos, label reproductions, and knowledgeable liner notes by Bill Dahl. The thirty-three tracks clock in at over seventy-five minutes, and play like the collector’s jukebox Bear Family envisioned when they programmed 1992’s Volume 1. Best of all, the well of good material is still gushing with legends Johnny Burnette, Ronny Self, Brenda Lee, Bill Haley & His Comets, and Buddy Holly sharing the stage with superb acts known primarily to rockabilly aficionados.
Buddy Holly’s sides include a cover of the Clovers’ “Ting-a-Ling,†cut in Nashville in 1956, and the original “I’m Lookin’ For Someone to Love,†cut with Norman Petty in Clovis, NM. The former’s rockabilly treatment was resurrected by the Kingbees in 1980, while the latter’s terrific vocal and guitar solo was overshadowed in rock ‘n’ roll history by its A-side, “That’ll Be the Day.†Holly’s music has been so deeply canonized at this point, that hearing his records mixed into a rockabilly collection is a good opportunity to reset their connection to the musical times in which they developed. Johnny Burnette’s cover of “Drinkin’ Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee†features Burnette’s unabashed vocal and Paul Burlison’s hard-twanging guitar, and Brenda Lee’s B-side “Little Jonah (Rock on Your Steel Guitar)†features the swinging steel of Buddy Emmons.
Ronnie Self found his greatest commercial success as a songwriter (penning “I’m Sorry†and “Sweet Nothins†for Brenda Lee), while his recording career turned out classic rave-ups such as “Bop-A-Lena,†but no big hits. His self-penned debut on Decca included the twangy mid-tempo “Big Town†backed with the wilder flipside “This Must Be the Place.†Cut in Nashville, both sides feature A-listers Buddy Harman, Floyd Cramer and Hank Garland. Bill Haley and His Comets’ 1958 single “Lean Jean†was cut in the same New York City studio in which they’d arguably birthed rock ‘n’ roll four years earlier with “Rock Around the Clock.†At 33, and with rock ‘n’ roll having exploded in his wake, Haley seemed to be a step behind the times as this mid-tempo number doesn’t generate the unbridled excitement of the group’s earlier recordings, and limped on to the charts at #67.
That said, Haley’s co-written “Broke Down Baby†provided the Philadelphia-based Tyrones an opportunity to rock in show band style, suggesting that the early roots of rock ‘n’ roll weren’t entirely dead; but it does beg the question of how one even defines “rockabilly.†Hank Penny, a western swing star in the ‘30s and ‘40s, echoes Haley’s fading glory as “Rock of Gibraltar†sounds like something that would have been more at home in an early rocksploitation movie than a rockabilly hop. Joe Hudgins was a country artist and protege of Marty Robbins, and his original “Where’d You Stay Last Night†is as much R&B as it is rockabilly. Jimmy Duncan’s “Run Little Joey†includes a Latin rhythm and doo wop-styled bass vocal alongside a rock ‘n’ roll sax and guitar solo. Jack & Jim’s novelty “Tarzan and Jane†sounds like folk music with a primal beat (though Glenn Reeves’ “Tarzan,†also included on this set, manages to swing more freely), while the flip “Midnight Monster Hop†has more rock ‘n’ roll in its guitar and drums. The Brooklyn-based doo-wopping Bay Bops manage to stir up some real excitement with the jivey “Follow the Rock,†while Sandy Coker’s “Honky Tonk Freeze†sounds more like a cross between Chet Atkins and the tamer instrumentals that Larry Collins cut with Joe Maphis; it’s a tasty instrumental, but rockabilly?
The set opens with the Elvis-like strains of Lance Roberts, a singer who cut two singles for Decca before moving on to Sun. Roberts’ freewheeling “Gonna Have Myself a Ball†was written by the legendary Boudleaux Bryant and features a driving beat and plenty of twangy guitar. Elvis also cast his spell over Johnny Duffet’s dizzying minor key original “Just Give Me Your Heart,†Buddy Holly’s hiccups informed Arthur Osborne’s loose-stringed, “Don’t Give Me Heartaches,†and the Everly Brothers seem to have opened the door for the Los Angeles-based Barker Brothers’ “Well All Right… Friday Night.â€
Buck Owens closes out his phenomenal first run on Capitol
After a pair of double-disc sets covering Owens’ trailblazing, chart topping singles of 1957-1966 and 1967-1970, Omnivore closes out the Bakersfield legend’s run on Capitol with this superb third volume. Owens’ early ‘70s singles didn’t repeat the commercial dominance of his 1960s output, but several still landed in the upper reaches of the charts (and at #1 with Bob and Faye Morris’ “Made in Japanâ€), and demonstrated continued creativity. The early ‘70s were a time of artistic exploration for Owens as he recorded in his then-newly built Bakersfield studio, produced himself, covered material from outside the country realm, and stretched out from his classic Telecaster-and-steel sound to incorporate pop, bluegrass and gospel. As this set attests, his declining chart fortunes were more a product of changing public tastes and industry trends than a slip in artistry.
Owens opened 1971 with a moving cover of “Bridge Over Troubled Water,†featuring a solemn vocal, acoustic guitar and atmospheric backing harmonies that take the song to a different emotional place than Simon & Garfunkel’s original. He showed off his omnivorous musical appetite and sense of humor with a southern-funk take on Jimmy Driftwood’s “Battle of New Orleans†a transformation of Shel Silverstein’s “The Cover of the Rolling Stone†into the country-styled “On the Cover of the Music City News,†a loping bluegrass arrangement of Cousin Emmy’s “Ruby, Are You Mad at Your Man†and an energetic version of the traditional “Rollin’ in My Sweet Baby’s Arms.†The latter two expanded the Buckaroos’ musical palette with the addition of Ronnie Jackson’s banjo.
The biggest hits in this five year span came from the pens of others, but Owens continued to write fresh material for himself. He cracked the Top 10 with “Great Expectations,†and the novelties “Big Game Hunter†and “(It’s A) Monster’s Holiday,†and further down the chart he scored with the defeated “In the Palm of Your Hand,†the discontented “Arms Full of Empty,†the defiant “You Ain’t Gonna Have Ol’ Buck to Kick Around No More†and the happy-go-lucky “Ain’t It Amazing, Gracie.†Owens clearly had fuel left in his songwriting tank, even if country radio and the listening public weren’t paying as close attention as they had the previous decade.
Owens’ songwriting prowess can also be heard in B-sides that include the Mexicali-tinged waltz “Black Texas Dirt†and the steel and fiddle heartbreak of “I Love You So Much It Hurts.†He picked up excellent material from Terry Clements, John English, Dennis Knutson, Robert John Jones and Buckaroos Jim Shaw, including “(I’m Goin’) Home,†“41st Street Lonely Hearts Club,†and his last Capitol single, “Country Singer’s Prayer.†With the 1974 death of Don Rich having deeply dented his enthusiasm for music making, his waning commercial success led him to a mutual parting of the ways with Capitol (who shelved his last album in the process). He signed with Warner Brothers for a pair of albums that garnered middling chart success before he slipped into a hiatus that lasted much of the 1980s.
John Denver’s pre-superstar years as a pop folkie
Six years before John Denver catapulted to fame with 1971’s “Take Me Home Country Roads,†he was a hard working folkie on the Los Angeles club scene. In 1965, when Chad Mitchell left his eponymous folk trio for a solo career, Denver survived the audition process to assume the group’s leadership. The new lineup issued a pair of studio albums and a live set on Mercury, and when the last original member, Mike Kobluk, left the group, Denver carried on with recent addition David Boise and the newly added Michael Johnson, as Denver, Boise & Johnson. The latter trio released only one single, Denver’s “Take Me to Tomorrow,†but recorded additional material, of which three previously unreleased selections are included here.
The Mitchell Trio’s legacy of humor is heard in the 1967 single “Like to Deal with Ladies as Sung in the Shower Accompanied by a Twenty-Seven Piece Band,†as well as a live performance of “He Was a Friend of Mine.†The latter, stretching to nearly eight minutes, finds Denver intertwining smart-aleck stage patter with an audience sing-along and the trio’s superb harmonizing. Denver’s early years found him writing several of his most beloved songs, including “Leaving on a Jet Plane,†originally self-released in solo form as “Babe, I Hate To Go (Leaving On A Jet Plane).†The retitled song is offered here in both a poorly conceived, band-backed studio single, as well as a beautifully sung acoustic live performance from 1967.
Second set of Orbison vocals set to new orchestral arrangements
After two volumes that set Elvis Presley’s voice to newly constructed instrumental backgrounds, producer Nick Patrick did the same for Roy Orbison with 2017’s A Love So Beautiful. In Orbison’s case, Patrick’s arrangers often found themselves reimagining existing string arrangements on the grand scale of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and here they do the same. With the original records as templates, the arrangements echo some of the existing percussion and melodic motifs, but with Orbison’s vocals as the guide (rather than, as in the case of Orbison’s original recordings, the vocals either being sung with or over the instrumental backings), the arrangements are more studied and constructed in their support.
As on the first volume, some tracks fare better than others, though here the song selection and Orbison’s original vocals are bigger variables. The arrangement for “Unchained Melody†seems to grow organically from Orbison’s vocal, while the strings of “Blue Bayou†fill in the space that gave the original its lonesome air. More recent material, such as the posthumously released “Heartbreak Radio†and “Careless Heart,†haven’t the hook of engrained familiarity to boost them up, and album tracks such as Orbison’s 1961 cover of “The Great Pretender,†weren’t among his greatest performances. That said, the mid-charting “Crawling Back,†low-charting “Walk On,†and the UK hit cover of the Orioles’ “It’s Too Soon to Know†are welcome rediscoveries.
More wicked good early-80s Boston garage rock
