The debut of a ‘70s L.A. songwriter w/7 bonus tracks
Like many singer-songwriters, J.D. Souther is better known for songs performed by others, including the Eagles (“New Kid in Townâ€), Bonnie Raitt (“Run Like a Thiefâ€) and Linda Ronstadt (“Faithless Loveâ€), than for his own performances. But in the early ‘70s, the Detroit-to-Texas-to-Los Angeles transplant was introduced to David Geffen by his downstairs neighbor, Jackson Browne, and found himself signed to the nascent Asylum label. This 1972 debut features ten originals, and includes accompaniment by Souther’s then-roommate, Glenn Frey, as well as handpicked session stars Bryan Garafalo, Gary Mallaber, Wayne Perkins and Nashville West fiddler Gib Guilbeau.
The album’s sound helped develop the templates for ‘70s Southern California music, adding country to rock, while keeping the singer-songwriter sensibility front and center. The album was recorded at Pacific Recorders in Northern California, rather than one of the reigning L.A. studios, but you wouldn’t know it from the musical vibe. Souther sounds a bit like his pals Browne and Frey, and his songs have a similar shade of inviting introspection. In “Kite Woman,†which Souther had previously recorded with Frey as the duo Longbranch Pennywhistle, and “How Long,†you can hear the voice that would carry him forward, and the songwriting that would come to fit the Eagles. The latter song was in fact resurrected by the Eagles for their 2007 comeback Long Road Out of Eden.
Lost 1974 solo album from the Animals’ Alan Price
Though Eric Burdon’s voice crowned the Animals’ sound, founding keyboardist Alan Price’s contributions were equally seminal. He brought the group a deep feel for R&B, blues and jazz, organ sounds that provided some of the band’s most memorable hooks, and songwriting chops that paired with Burdon’s. Though his run with the Animals ended in 1965, his solo career took off quickly, with singles and solo albums charting in the UK into the 1970s. This 1974 album came between his critically acclaimed soundtrack for O Lucky Man! and the socially astute Between Today and Yesterday. Incredibly, though the album was fully finished, artistically successful and had obvious commercially potential, it was released only briefly on 8-track tape and then recalled.
No one associated with the album recalls exactly why it was shelved, nor can anyone explain why it’s taken more than forty years to escape the vault. Price is in perfect form throughout, weaving together R&B, blues, soul, jazz, boogie, pop, rock and music hall sounds. It’s not unlike the post-British Invasion reach of Ray Davies and the Kinks, but eschews Davies’ concept album excess. The opening “Smells Like Lemon, Tastes Like Wine†borrows easily from Eric Burdon’s “Spill the Wine†and tinges the song with the rye attitude of Jerry Reed. Price’s extended piano solo on “You Won’t Get Me†is superb, and his organ keys the trad-jazz cross-dressing tale “Willie the Queen,†a song whose momentary Leon Redbone impression is apt.
J.D. Souther’s 1976 sophomore solo album reissued with bonuses
After releasing his 1972 self-titled debut (which has been concurrently reissued with seven bonus tracks), J.D. Souther joined with Chris Hillman and Richie Furay to release two albums as the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band. So it wasn’t until 1976 that he returned with this second solo album, produced by the red hot Peter Asher, and featuring performances from Lowell George, Joe Walsh, Waddy Wachtel, Jim Keltner and Andrew Gold, Linda Ronstadt, David Crosby, Art Garfunkel, Don Henley, Glenn Frey and other luminaries. The album is more refined and musically expansive than the debut, and Souther sounds more assured as he lets his songs unfold and reach beyond a singer-songwriter style.
Souther draws upon an expanded set of musical roots and allows himself to linger, as on the gospel-tinged vocal coda of “If You Have Crying Eyes.†Souther and Asher let the performance build to a crescendo and then wind down with emotional vocalizing atop the backing of Asher, Gold and Ronstadt. The musicianship is more sophisticated as well, with the opening “Banging My Head Against the Moon†taking on an island tone as the rhythm guitar, drums and Paul Stallworth’s bass provide intricate accompaniment. By 1976 Asher was hitting full stride as a producer, with seminal albums by James Taylor, Tony Joe White and Linda Ronstadt under his belt, and he helps Souther draw something deeper from his music.
Comparing the demo of “Silver Blue†to the album track, the song’s despairing, open-ended questions become more nuanced, and Stanley Clark’s beautiful double bass adds a duet voice. The recording is a textbook example of how instrumentation can reinforce and amplify a song’s tone, as does Donald Byrd’s flugelhorn on the late night “Midnight Prowl.†David Campbell’s arrangement of cello and flute on “Faithless Love†isn’t as surprising, but provides interesting contrast to Souther’s blue, crooned notes, and strings also add drama to “Doors Swing Open.†The latter’s wariness of hollow relationships weaves into Souther’s pessimistic tapestry of romantic turmoil, unrequited love and lost partners, culminating in the title song’s funereal symbol.
A generous document of an extraordinary collaboration
Recorded on the last stop of Finn and Kelly’s 2013 tour of Australia, this double-disc live set was initially released that same year, but only down under; Omnivore now favors stateside fans with this reissue. Finn and Kelly were joined on tour by a full band as they picked their way through both solo material and songs from their previous bands. The latter includes titles drawn from the catalogs of Split Enz, Crowded House and the Messengers. There’s an impressive connection between Finn and Kelly as both songwriters and singers, their songs flowing together seamlessly and their voices enthusiastically shading one another’s.
It’s hard to imagine, given the state of musical archaeology, there are still bands to discover among the roots of the ‘70s New York punk scene. But this pop band remains surprisingly unknown, despite numerous performances at CBGB, Max’s Kansas City and the Mudd Club, and fanship from the likes of fellow travelers Blondie, the Ramones and New York Dolls. No doubt their obscurity is rooted in a lack of record releases – the band’s period catalog appears to consist of only a single track on the compilation Live at CBGB’s. There appears to have been no self-released cassettes with handmade inserts, no impossibly rare indie singles (or the requisite bootleg reissue of same), and most detrimentally of all, no record label contract.
But even without records, there were recordings; some made in the studio (and funded in part by Mercury Records) and some cut live. There was, forty years after the fact, a self-released CD collection of the band’s studio work that circulated primarily among those already in the know. But now, finally, there’s an expanded collection that presents a full picture of the band’s wares, with the international distribution that eluded the group in the ‘70s. So why did it take so long for the rest of the world to hear the Miamis? Why didn’t the band latch on to the gravy train that turned a number of downtown club bands into international stars? Though they weren’t the only ones from the scene that failed to click, they may have been the most fully realized act that didn’t catch a break. Why?
The A&R shorthand was apparently “too punk for pop, too pop for punk.†But the set’s title track is clearly pop enough for pop, and fits easily alongside contemporaries like Blondie and the Paley Brothers, and power pop exponents like the Raspberries and Knack. You can hear a bit of New York bravado – ala the Dolls and Dictators – in a few tracks, but by today’s post-hardcore standards, it’s hard to remember how punk this might have sounded at the time. The songs are playful and joyous, melding the puppy love vibe of Gary Lewis, Joey Ramone’s affection for the Brill Building, the Rubinoos’ harmonies and a touch of soul on “I Want a Girlfriend.†The titles and lyrics are clever, as in the group’s salute to modern art, “Dada Mama,†which manages to rhyme “brioche†and “gauche†without breaking stride.
Excellent, 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.
Socially astute singer-songwriter tours modern-day America
Born in Buffalo, just a few blocks from U.S. Route 62, Peter Case made his way to San Francisco to busk on the streets, then to Los Angeles where he spearheaded the late-70s power pop movement with the Nerves and Plimsouls. He’s since taken a more solitary road, touring with just his songs and guitar, gathering stories for his writing. Though not literally itinerant – he’s still homed in Los Angeles – his travels have traced the trails of those who inspire him. His latest collection of songs is titled after the northeast-to-southwest highway that runs through his hometown, and that his childhood eyes saw as a “connection to the world I wanted to live in, the American Westâ€
The productions step back to a folkier vibe from the electric blues of 2010’s Wig!, but retain the underlying power of drummer D.J. Bonebrake, and add the instrumental voices of guitarist Ben Harper and bassist David Carpenter. The songs wind through a variety of musical landscapes, just as Route 62 winds through Bobby Fuller’s El Paso, Buddy Holly’s Lubbock, Sonny Throckmorton’s Carlsbad, Woody Guthrie’s Okemah, Ronnie Hawkins’ Fayetteville, the Everly Brothers’ Central City, and Phil Ochs’ Columbus. The social consciousness of Guthrie and Ochs’ are evoked in the opening “Pelican Bay,†as Case questions the industrialization of America’s prisons and the particular harshness of solitary confinement.
A broader palette of social injustice is on Case’s mind as “Water From a Stone†segues between the travails of undocumented aliens, corporatism, global warming, the appropriation of Native American lands, rising eviction rates, crushing educational debt and outsourced manufacturing. Justice is called into question again in both “Evicted†and “All Dressed Up (for Trial),†with the latter suggesting that final judgment isn’t necessarily a mortal matter. That same leveling in the afterlife provides redemption for the existential lament “The Long Good Time,†and turns the gravesite of “Bluebells†into a pastoral place to leave behind one’s foibles.
The singles that led to Dr. John’s brief mainstream fame
As an artist primarily known for albums and live performance, it’s hard to imagine anyone but the most ardent Dr. John record collectors being able to name more than two or three of his singles. “Right Place Wrong Time†comes easily to the mind of anyone who was around for its original run up the chart to #9. But other than that, what? Well, it turns out that several of Dr. John’s iconic album tracks – “Iko Iko†from 1972’s Gumbo and “Such a Night†from 1973’s In the Right Place – were also released as singles, though neither had the chart success of “Right Place Wrong Time.†So that’s three. And yet, during Dr. John’s stay on Atco and Atlantic, he actually released a half-dozen more singles, all of which are collected here – A’s, B’s and alternate flips, along with several UK- and promo-only sides.
One has to wonder who Atlantic thought was going to play these singles; particularly since they didn’t often differ greatly from the album cuts prefered by FM. “Iko Iko†was trimmed by a minute, “I Walk on Gilded Splinters†was trimmed and split into two parts, and “Wang Dang Doodle†was excised from the Mar Y Sol concert album, but the rest seem closely aligned with the albums. Of interest to collectors will be a few rarities offered here, highlighted by “The Patriotic Flag Waver.†On this 1968 single, presented in the long mono promo cut, Dr. John manages to combine a children’s chorus, “My Country ‘Tis of Thee,†“America the Beautiful,†social commentary and New Orleans funk. Even more rare is Dr. John’s guest appearance, alongside Eric Clapton, on the original 1972 single version of labelmate Buddy Guy’s “A Man of Many Words.
A stellar second chapter of the Buck Owens catalog
With the wealth of terrific material included on the first volume of Buck ‘Em!, a second volume had a high mark to reach. But by splitting the sets by era – 1955-67 for the first set, 1967-75 for this set – this second collection is no second helping. Volume one established Owens’ Bakersfield legacy, while this second chapter shows how he extended his reach, responded artistically to changing times, and used his commercial success to free himself of commercial restrictions. As on the first set, these two discs include hit singles, well-selected album cuts, and a sprinkling of tracks previously unreleased in the US. And also as with the first set, the liner notes are cannily drawn and craftily assembled from Owens’ like-titled autobiography, giving the artist an opportunity to expound on his own work.
By 1967 Buck Owens was one of country music’s biggest stars, having landed eight albums and twelve singles at the top of the charts in only four years. He kicked off 1967 by expanding his fame internationally with a concert in Japan and its subsequent chart-topping album. This set picks up later in the year with sessions that produced “Sweet Rosie Jones,†the like-named album, and the title track of what would become 1970’s You Mother’s Prayer. For the first time since Owens began his streak of hitmaking, the drummer’s throne was occupied by Jerry Wiggins, in place of the departed Willie Cantu. “Rosie,†“Let the World Keep On a Turnin’†(sung with Owens son, Buddy) and “Iâ€ve Got You on My Mind Again†all charted Top 10, but it took “Who’s Gonna Mow Your Grass†to get Owens back to the top spot.
Throughout 1968, Owens expanded his reach, recording the Latin and polka-styled instrumental album The Guitar Player (represented here by “Things I Saw Happening at the Fountain on the Plaza When I Was Visiting Rome or Amoreâ€), adding Don Rich’s fuzztone guitar to “Who’s Gonna Mow Your Grass,†and teaming up with Susan Raye for “We’re Gonna Get Together.†The latter, recorded in 1968 wasn’t released for two years, which hints at Owens’ incredible productivity. 1968 found Owens playing a command performance for President Johnson at the White House, represented here by “Tiger By the Tail,†and also marked the departure of steel player Tom Brumley, who was replaced early the next year by JayDee Maness. Maness would leave by year end, leaving Owens without a steel player in the band.
1969 started similarly to 1967, with an international tour that yielded the live album Buck Owens in London and the chart-topping single “Johnny B. Goode.†Live recording continued to be a regular feature of Owens’ catalog, with “Big in Vegas†(a rewrite of Terry Stafford’s “Big in Dallasâ€) and “Las Vegas Lament†recorded live in Las Vegas, and “Tall Dark Stranger†recorded in Scandinavia. 1969-70 saw many more changes for Owens, including a move from Capitol’s famed Los Angeles studio to his own place in Bakersfield, the arrival of keyboard player Jim Shaw (who’s terrific live piano playing can be heard on “I’ll Still Be Waiting for Youâ€), and perhaps most importantly, Hee Haw. The latter, initially a CBS network show, provided the sort of financial compensation that records rarely did, and it freed Owens to chase his musical muse without lashing it to commercial considerations.
1970-71 saw Owens in the Top 10 with “I Wouldn’t Live in New York City (If They Gave Me the Whole Dang Town),†a cover of Paul Simon’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water,†and the title track from the bluegrass album Ruby, but it wasn’t until 1972 that he returned to the top of the charts with “Made in Japan.†Musically, Owens had moved well beyond his Bakersfield Sound, but his writing and voice, particularly the latter, provide a surprisingly straight line through his entire catalog. The twang of steel guitar rejoined the band in 1972 with the arrival of Jerry Brightman, but before he came on board, Ralph Mooney added his stellar playing to “Arms Full of Empty†and “Ain’t It Amazing, Gracie.â€
Owens’ records through the mid-70s never regained the chart performance of his earlier releases, but there were still plenty of excellent albums and singles, including Gene Price’s “Something’s Wrong†and Owens’ “In the Palm of Your Hand,†the latter highlighted by Don Rich’s fiddle. Even more important was an album track that would be remade into a huge hit fifteen-years later, Homer Joy’s “Streets of Bakersfield.†The original is more sedate than the chart-topping remake Owens recorded with Dwight Yoakam, but it provided the template for the hit. Owens returned to the Top 10 in 1973-74 with a string of upbeat novelty songs, “Big Game Hunter,†“On the Cover of the Music City News†and “Monster’s Holiday,†but his mirthful side was about to go into hibernation.
In July, 1974, Don Rich, was killed in a motorcycle accident, and Owens fell into a deep depression. He’d continue to record and release records, but the latter-half of the ‘70s found his singles failing to make much of an impact on the charts. His last Top 10 single for Capitol, “Great Expectations,†was also the last to feature Don Rich. By 1981, Owens had turned his attention to his many successful business ventures, and he began a hiatus from the charts that lasted until “Streets of Bakersfield†and Dwight Yoakam reinvigorated his interest in recording and performing. In the mid-90s he built the Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, where he’d regularly perform to enthusiastic crowds and broadcast live over his own KUZZ radio.
Not so odd odds ‘n’ sods from superb Americana collective
The Continental Drifters publicity often hung on the renown of the Bangles’ Vicki Peterson, the Cowsills’ Susan Cowsill and the dB’s Peter Holsapple, but the music and musicianship of this collective was deeper and broader than its three most famous members. Among its riches were multiple lead vocalists, stellar instrumentalists, the contributions of multiple songwriters and the forge of collective musical sensibility. The group’s formation in Los Angeles and relocation to New Orleans magnified that rich bounty of talent in a confluence that drew both from West Coast and Southern roots.
Omnivore’s two-CD set offers a wealth of rare material that will gratify the band’s many fans. Disc 1 features early material, including from their import-only debut, demos and alternate mixes. At times, the group’s early recordings sound like the Band plugging Little Feat’s instruments into Buffalo Springfield’s amps in a Los Angeles club built in Mississippi. But you can also hear the melodic echoes of the Bangles and Cowsills in Susan Cowsill’s mesmerizing “The Rain Song,†deep soul in Carlo Nuccio’s organ-lined “Here I Am,†and heart-wrenching balladry in Ray Ganucheau’s “I Didn’t Want To Lie.†This was a band with no shortage of excellent original material or musical imagination.
Disc 2 focuses entirely on the band’s way with cover tunes, collecting tracks from tribute albums (including their entire Listen Listen EP tribute to Sandy Denny And Richard Thompson), European imports and live recordings. Their taste in covers was both exquisite and broad, including material from obvious sources like Gram Parsons, Lucinda Williams and Neil Young, and less obvious sources, like Tommy James (Alive and Kicking’s 1970 hit “Tighter, Tighterâ€), Brian Wilson (Surfin USA’s brilliant, bittersweet album track, “Farmer’s Daughterâ€), and William Bell (a country-harmony arrangement of Otis Redding’s “You Don’t Miss Your Waterâ€). Their multi-vocalist arrangements of “Dedicated to the One I Love†and “I Can’t Let Go†are dreamy and joyous.
The debut of a ‘70s L.A. songwriter w/7 bonus tracks
