The Best of Ian & Sylvia
Ian and Sylvia
Columbia G32516
1973
Is this really the best of Ian and Sylvia? Of course not, anyone who is even a casual fan of the duo knows that the best of Ian and Sylvia was recorded for Vanguard Records. If you read the fine print on the back cover you will see that this double record set repackages Ian and Sylvia's two albums for Columbia Records, "Ian & Sylvia" and "You Were On My Mind." Neither album sold many copies, so presumably some weasel at the record company decided to recoup the losses by deceptively marketing the albums as a greatest hits package. Being a huge fan of Ian and Sylvia, I knew this was a rip-off when I bought it, heck that is part of the reason I bought it. I like to collect examples of the major record labels' greed and evil chicanery. Mostly I bought it because it was really cheap and when I found it in a Pasadena record store many years ago, I had yet to acquire a copy of "You Were On My Mind." I figured I would buy it and then discard it when I finally did acquire a copy of "You Were On My Mind." However when that finally happened, I found that I didn't want to part with it, just one of those irrational collector things. The album is not entirely without value to someone who has the two Columbia albums already. Bob Palmer's lengthy liner notes are quite good and you get a bunch of leftover photos from the photo session for "Ian & Sylvia," but really I just keep it because I'm a completist. I've already blogged about the two Columbia albums, so I won't rehash them here, but even though this music is marginal compared to the classic Vanguard albums, it is still worth having, especially if you like country rock. If I was making up a double record set of Ian and Sylvia's best recordings, I'd probably try to squeeze on a few of the Columbia tracks, in particular the remake of "Summer Wages," "Barney," "Bill (Won't You Please Take Me Home)," and especially "Everybody Has To Say Goodbye." Recommended to Ian and Sylvia fans who can't find copies of "Ian & Sylvia" or "You Were On My Mind."
You Were On My Mind
Ian and Sylvia and The Great Speckled Bird
Columbia KC 31337
1972
The end of the road for Ian and Sylvia Tyson after a long and wonderful journey. Appropriately their final album was recorded at Toronto Sound in Toronto the city where they first met and began their career together. They revived the name of their country-rock group, the Great Speckled Bird, for this album but only drummer N. D. Smart remained from the line up that recorded "The Great Speckled Bird" album. The record gets off to a rousing start with a cover of Robbie Robertson's "Get Up Jake." The Band recorded it for their album "The Band" but left it off the record and it was later a B-side on one of their singles. Ian and Sylvia always had excellent taste in their choice of outside music to cover and this is no exception. They give it a rollicking country-rock treatment with Ian delivering a thunderous lead vocal and Sylvia providing the sweet harmony vocal for the chorus. I greatly prefer their version to the version by the Band. Ian's "Old Cheyenne" is an evocative rodeo song, the sort of song Ian has always excelled at. It is country-folk until the chorus where Peter Ecklund's trumpet kicks in, giving it more of a pop feel. Sylvia sings lead on the joint Ian and Sylvia composition "Antelope" which is indeed about antelopes. I find her plaintive vibrato-laden vocal very touching as she delivers her ecology-themed lyrics. Sylvia also sings lead on her song "Miriam" which is one of the more unusual songs in the Ian and Sylvia catalog. She is accompanied solely by a piano and a quartet of cellos giving the song a chamber pop sound as she sings about her lost friendship with the title character. The traditional gospel song "Lonesome Valley" gets a funky country rock treatment notable for Jim Colegrove's big bass groove and some slinky guitar riffs from David Wilcox and Ben Keith. The Tysons trade lead vocals on the verses and sing the chorus together backed up by harmonies from the band for a very energized and vigorous sound. Side two opens with a new version of Sylvia's famous song "You Were On My Mind" which the duo first recorded on their classic 1964 album "Northern Journey." The new version is a bouncy country rock version punctuated with some piercing steel guitar lines from Ben Keith and trumpet riffs from Peter Ecklund. I can't say I prefer it to the original but it is definitely more lively. Sylvia's "Joshua" is a traditional style folk song, although with Sylvia playing harpsichord and chimes it has a chamber pop feel to it. Ian's "You're Not Alone Anymore" returns the album to country music. Ian delivers a very robust and romantic vocal for this love song. Ian also wrote "Salmon In the Sea" which is another ecology-minded ode to nature akin to "Antelope." It is a folk song with a lovely combined vocal from the Tysons. The joint composition "The Beginning of the End" is pure country with an emotional vocal from Ian and a beautiful harmony vocal from Sylvia. It is a song about heartbreak and separation and I'm tempted to think it is about their impending break-up like "Everybody Has To Say Goodbye" on "Ian & Sylvia," but it lacks the personal quality of that song. The song that I think most reflects the state of their marriage is the album closer, Sylvia's "Bill (Won't You Please Take Me Home)" which is my favorite original song on the album. It is about a married couple who go to a party where the husband meets up with an old flame from the past. She sees them dancing and realizes that he loves his old girlfriend more than he loves her. The party in the song may be fiction, but the poignant quality of Sylvia's heartbroken lead vocal suggests to me that the feeling of loss she is expressing is real. I find it very moving. It is a powerful song that gives the album a strong finish. I'm consistently engaged and entertained by this album, but it is bittersweet to me since it was their final record. Since I first heard Ian and Sylvia as a teen, I've always felt a deep emotional connection to their music, they are among my very favorite pop artists. I enjoy their solo records too, but they don't have the same resonance for me as their joint work. The beauty, the idealism and the passion expressed in their work as a couple is inspiring to me and I'll always treasure their records. This album is a very worthy addition to their wonderful catalog and I'm happy at least that they ended their partnership with such a fine record. Recommended to fans of Gordon Lightfoot.
Ian & Sylvia
Ian and Sylvia
Columbia C 30736
1971
There are no bad Ian and Sylvia albums. If you are a fan of the duo, you should buy all of them, but I wouldn't make this one a priority. It is actually not all that easy to find since it did not sell much when it was originally released. It was their first album for Columbia Records and the penultimate studio album in their career. The duo had moved from folk and folk-rock to a more country rock sound that suited them extremely well although they did not abandon their folk roots completely. The album opens on a positive note with David Wiffen's "More Often Than Not." Wiffen also wrote one of my favorite Tom Rush songs, "Driving Wheel." It is a sparkling country-pop tune sung by Ian with vocal sweetening from Sylvia that describes the life of a musician on the road. It is a terrific song, one of my favorites on the album. The album takes a nose dive with the sappy love song, "Creators of Rain." It is credited to Smokey which is a pseudonym for a guy named Larry Mims who had recorded it with his sister back in the 1960s under the name Smokey and his Sister. Ian and Sylvia sing it beautifully but it is still a crummy song and the corny string arrangement doesn't help it any. According to John Einarson's book on Ian and Sylvia, Columbia Records executive Clive Davis forced them to record the song against their will which I can easily believe since Ian and Sylvia normally have unfailingly excellent taste in covers. The album rebounds with Ian's "Summer Wages" which is a remake of a song he recorded back in 1967 in a folk-rock version for "So Much For Dreaming." I don't know why he chose to record it again, but I have to admit that the country flavored version on this album is more satisfying. Ian sings it with a lot of feeling and Sylvia's harmony vocal on the chorus is divine. The song is about bumming around and the transience of love narrated with very evocative imagery. I think it is one of Ian's best all-time songs and it is my favorite song on the album. Sylvia sings lead on her composition "Midnight" which is a slow bluesy love song. Her sensuous vocal really sends me and there is a nice sultry guitar solo from David Wilcox as well. Ian and Sylvia co-wrote "Barney" which is a gut-wrenching autobiographical account of him shooting his favorite horse to put it out of misery. It has a stark arrangement, largely driven by Sylvia's piano playing that puts all the focus on Ian's heartbreaking vocal. It is an incredible song, one of the most moving and powerful songs in their long career. Side two kicks off with Ian's "Some Kind of Fool" which is a charming country rock love song forcefully sung by Ian. Ian's "Shark and the Cockroach" is a goofy country-rocker with a swamp rock flavor that features a gritty vocal from Ian embellished with some yodels. Next is a cover of John Dawson's "Last Lonely Eagle" which appeared in a superior version on the debut album by the New Riders of the Purple Sage. Ian and Sylvia sing it as a mournful duet with sparse accompaniment with a little instrumental color coming from Weldon Myrick on steel guitar. Of course Ian and Sylvia sing it great, I'd listen to them sing just about anything but I still find the song kind of boring. I don't really care much either for "Lincoln Freed Me" which was written by singer/songwriter David Patton. As you can probably tell from the title it is written from the point of view of a freed slave. Ian and Sylvia duet on this as well accompanied only by David Wilcox on guitar. It galls me to write this, but I prefer the version by Joan Baez on "Blessed Are..." not because she sings it better than them (as if!) but because of the more elaborate instrumental arrangement on her version. Sylvia takes a solo turn on Bert Jansch's "Needle of Death." It also only features Wilcox on guitar for instrumental support but it is such a strong song that it really doesn't need anything more than that. Sylvia sings it with a lot of feeling and this is one of my favorite versions of that oft-covered classic. The album concludes with Sylvia's "Everybody Has To Say Goodbye" which is about breaking up. It is a majestic tune driven by a strong organ line and some tasteful strings. The heartbreaking lyrics are so strong and vivid I feel like Sylvia must be writing from her heart envisioning the imminent end of her marriage and partnership with Ian. I've loved Ian and Sylvia since I was a teenager, it really tears me up to listen it, almost as if I were listening to my own parents breaking up. It provides a beautiful and emotional conclusion to the album. This album is too spotty to rank with the best Ian and Sylvia albums but it still features some of the best music they ever did. I would include the remake of "Summer Wages," "Barney" and "Everybody Has To Say Goodbye" among their very best songs and the album is worth seeking out just for them. Aside from "Creators of Rain" even the weaker songs have much merit. Ian and Sylvia may have been nearing the end of their road together, but this album shows that they still had plenty of vitality and creativity. It deserved a better fate, it was largely ignored upon its release failing to even crack the top 200 albums chart in sales. I like it better than a lot of the other albums that came out in 1971 and recommend it to anyone who values emotional honesty in music.
Bradley's Barn
The Beau Brummels
Warner Bros. WS 1760
1968
The end of the line for the first incarnation of the Beau Brummels (although they would reunite periodically beginning in the mid 1970s and even record a few more albums.) They had started out as a quintet on Autumn Records back in 1964 but had been reduced to just Sal Valentino and Ron Elliott by the time they recorded this in 1968 supported by a bunch of Nashville studio pros in Owen Bradley's Tennessee recording studio which gives the album its title. It was a long way from their San Francisco home geographically but musically it doesn't stray too far. It does have a countryish sound but most of the songs would not sound out of place amongst the arty folk rock songs on their preceding album, "Triangle." The album begins with one of my all-time favorite Beau Brummels songs, "Turn Around" penned by Elliott and his usual writing partner Bob Durand. This sparkling evocation of youthful romance was also a highlight on the Everly Brothers' "Roots" which Elliott helped arrange and which was recorded around the same time as this album and which it resembles somewhat. The jangly guitars and Valentino's soulful vocal really send me. Valentino sweetly drawls the love song "An Added Attraction (Come and See Me)" which he also wrote. It is the most country-flavored tune on the album. Elliott and Valentino co-wrote "Deep Water" which is one of the strongest songs on the record. It has more jangly guitars and an urgent vocal from Valentino as he delivers the anxiety-laden lyrics. Elliott's "Long Walking Down To Misery" is a folk rock song given the country treatment with another fine Valentino vocal describing how he lost his girlfriend. Elliott's "Little Bird" is a pretty ballad loaded with symbolism. The first side concludes with Elliott and Durand's rocking "Cherokee Girl" which paints a portrait of the title character using imagery of Native American folklore. The song features a soaring vocal from Valentino and is given extra oomph from tasteful string overdubs. It is another one of my favorite songs on the album. Side two opens with the easy going "I'm A Sleeper" by Elliott and Valentino which features Valentino drawling from the perspective of a wishing well. Elliott's "The Loneliest Man In Town" is one of the few songs on the album you can actually imagine a traditional country singer like Porter Wagoner covering. It features the familiar down-on-his-luck theme so popular in country music and it sounds very country as well. In contrast "Love Can Fall a Long Way Down" by Elliott and Durand is pure folk rock and one of the most impressive songs on the album. It is dynamic and highly propulsive with some baroque rock overtones in the keyboards. Valentino passionately delivers lyrics examining a deteriorating relationship in the wake of a bad party. "Jessica" by Elliott and Valentino goes country rock for a song about heartbreak. Randy Newman's "Bless You California" is the only non-original song on the album. It is a rollicking, humorous song about aimlessness and manipulation with a sarcastic edge that stands out from the earnestness of the rest of the record. It gives the finish of the album a bit of a bite to it. This is my favorite Beau Brummels album, the songwriting is so strong and Valentino's vocals are so warm and powerful, the album really stands out as something sincere and original in a year full of self-indulgence and excess. It is a shame that the record did not get the attention or sales it deserved and that the band broke up after its release. It is about as good as country rock gets. Recommended for people who prefer "Nashville Skyline" over "Wheels of Fire."
Gene Clark with the Gosdin Brothers
Gene Clark
Columbia CS 9418
1967
I've mentioned in some of my posts on the Byrds how much I admire Gene Clark. He was my favorite member of the group and I'll always despise David Crosby for being such a jerk to him while he was in the band. I think he was a better singer and songwriter than Crosby or McGuinn. I like Clark's solo records as well and this is my favorite, one of my most treasured records, an original pressing of his debut album. It features two of his former bandmates as a rhythm section, Chris Hillman and Michael Clarke in addition to Glen Campbell, ex-Leaves Bill Rinehart and future Byrd Clarence White on guitar and Leon Russell on keyboards. Vern and Rex Gosdin provide back-up vocals and somehow end up with co-billing on the album, apparently because Clark's manager Jim Dickson wanted to plug his other clients, the Gosdins. The album opens with the chamber pop, "Echoes" which is one of the most extraordinary songs Clark ever wrote. The song is poorly served by Leon Russell's fussy arrangement but the lyrics are brilliant. Most of Clark's songs with the Byrds had been some sort of love song which makes the Dylanesque poetic impressionism of this song all the more striking. I picture Clark strolling along the Sunset Strip pondering his current situation ending up at the Byrds' former haunt The Whisky a Go Go (the woman mentioned in the song, Regina, was a dancer there.) The imagery of the song really sends me and shows his growing depth as an artist. "Think I'm Gonna Feel Better" is a return to the themes and folk-rock sound of Clark's work with the Byrds not that there is anything wrong with that. The jangly country rock of "Tried So Hard" is immensely appealing to me. I've loved this song ever since I first heard Fairport Convention's cover version on "Heyday." Clark's own version is even better with a heartfelt vocal ably supported by the sweet harmonies of the Gosdins. The lyrics which describe dealing with heartbreak are evocative and moving without being maudlin. I think this is one of the best songs Clark ever wrote. I never get tired of hearing it. "Is Yours Is Mine" is more Byrdsian folk-rock. It sounds like it is about a girl, but it makes me think of his departure from the Byrds as well. "Keep On Pushin'" is another country rock song with lots of jangly guitar and a propulsive beat. Hillman's throbbing bass drives the song which is about encouragement and commitment. "I Found You" has a catchy guitar rift and loads of hooks that make it another of one of the more memorable songs on the record. Side two opens with "So You Say You Lost Your Baby" which opens with some promising stinging guitar lines before Leon Russell's string arrangement kicks in. Once again I think Russell's orchestration is obtrusive and distracting, nearly ruining one of the best songs on the album. Fortunately the song is strong enough to push through the orchestral syrup with a terrific emotional vocal from Clark leading the way. The lyrics are very poetic with lots of great imagery and the melody is very compelling. "Elevator Operator" is a riff driven garage rocker. The song is slight lyrically if not inane, but it does provide some rock and roll energy. "The Same One" is a haunting folk-rock song with an emotional Clark vocal. Nobody in rock does heartbreak better than Clark. He had the ability to describe the sensation of loss and longing without wallowing in sentiment and self-pity. "Couldn't Believe Her" is another riff-driven rocker with plenty of energy. The album concludes with the country rock "Needing Someone" which is about trust and finding direction. The Gosdins' vocals are mixed way too high, I can barely hear Clark's vocal over them. It is still a good song though and it ends the album on an upbeat optimistic note. This is such a wonderful record, it is hard to believe that it was a flop. I suppose it got lost in the shuffle with all the great albums that came out in 1967. You could argue that its emphasis on folk-rock was dated, but I don't accept that. I think the record is timeless. Aside from Leon Russell's heavy-handed arrangements on "Echoes" and "So You Say You Lost Your Baby" my only complaint about this record is that it is too short, not even a half hour long. It is full of great singing and memorable melodies, every song is good and several are great. If you are a fan of the Byrds, it is a must-have record. Recommended to people who think that Clark's "Here Without You" is a better Byrds song than Crosby's "Mind Gardens."
Beer Cans On The Moon
Ed Sanders
Reprise MS 2105
1972
This is Ed Sanders' second solo album. I bought it because I'm a big fan of his group, the Fugs. It is not nearly as good as the classic Fugs albums. I like Sanders' songs with the Fugs, but I generally like his partner Tuli Kupferberg's songs better. Sanders isn't much of a singer and I find forty unrelenting minutes of his vocalizing to be pretty tough to take. The album is satirical in nature, but it is rarely as funny or provocative as the Fugs' best work. One of the better songs is the opening cut, "Rock & Roll People." It has a 50s rock and roll flavor to it and it celebrates rock and roll culture. "Nonviolent Direct Action" is an ode to pacifism that introduces the country music flavor that permeates most of the album. "Henry Kissinger" mocks the title figure in a heavy handed manner. I loathe Kissinger as much as most lefties do and still this song makes me wince. It is pure self-indulgent tedium, by far the worst song on the record. "The Shredding Machine" has a Middle Eastern flavor to it that will be familiar to Fugs fans but then it abruptly goes country for the section about the journalist Jack Anderson for reasons I can't fathom. The song is about the cover-up associated with the ITT bribery scandal and the Republican Party. I guess it was topical in 1972 but I doubt many listeners nowadays know or care about it. "Pity The Bird" is about oil spills. Sanders' vocal really irritates me, it sounds like a fake childrens song. The country-style "Kaw River Valley Progressive Hempune" is about a hemp-growing commune in Kansas that gets Napalm dropped on it by the government. The song borrows from the Beatles "Happiness is A Warm Gun" awkwardly substituting "hempune on the prairie" for "warm gun." "Beer Cans on the Moon" is another country song. The twang Sanders uses when he tries to sing country-style gives me a headache. The song is about space colonizers and pollution. "Albion Crags" is my favorite song on the album and is the one that reminds me the most of the Fugs. It is more of a rock song with some nice wailing organ lines and guitar jamming although the song exposes Sanders' feeble vocals even more than the country ditties do. The song is a tribute to William Blake and features his poem "The Sick Rose." "Yodeling Robot" is about an android working in an interstellar mine in love with Dolly Parton. Not your typical pop song, that's for sure. I'd probably like it were it not for Sanders' horrible yodeling. "Priestess" is about a pagan cult led by an abusive priestess. Musically it sounds like Jethro Bodine from "The Beverly Hillbillies" fronting the Incredible String Band. The ragtime style of "Universal Rent Strike Rag" suits Sanders' wobbly warbling better than the more robust demands of country music. He croons about a hippie utopia free from authority and oppression. It reminds me of the early Country Joe and the Fish recordings before they recorded for Vanguard. The album closes with the country sing-a-long "Six Pack of Sunshine" which I think is about trying to maintain optimism in the face of fears that there is no redemption for our sins. The song actually name checks Plato and his ideas about the transmigration of souls which I'm fairly certain is a pop music first. I've got to hand it to Sanders, he is a very creative and original lyricist. If only he could sing. Recommended to tone-deaf beatniks who like country music.
Ballad Of Easy Rider
The Byrds
Columbia CS 9942
1969
I was very sorry to see that Neil Armstrong died. He was my hero when I was a kid. I followed the space program very closely and considered astronomy or astro-physics as a possible career choice up through high school. I don't have many memories of the 1960s but the moon landing is one of my most vivid ones. So to honor this great man, I decided to blog about the album that has my favorite pop song about him, "Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins," well actually it it the only pop song about him I'm aware of. I bought this album while I was in high school when it turned up in the used record store that my crappy suburban town briefly had. It was the first Byrds album that I bought that wasn't folk-rock and I was really disappointed by it. I like it much better now although I still consider it flawed for which I mostly blame Roger McGuinn. He only contributed a single song to the album which left a big void to be filled by a band that no longer had songwriters the caliber of Gene Clark and Gram Parsons or even David Crosby. Supposedly McGuinn was preoccupied with the stage musical he was working on and his lack of interest in the album is evident throughout. McGuinn's sole composition was not a new one, but rather a new recording of "Ballad of of Easy Rider" from the film "Easy Rider." The full band's recording supplemented by strings is superior to the movie version which was just McGuinn solo, but not as good as Fairport Convention's version. It is followed by John York's "Fido" which sounds nothing like a Byrds song. It is a mediocre song made worse by a dumb drum solo. York isn't that good of a singer but he sure beats Clarence White who sings the lead for the traditional hymn "Oil In My Lamp." It sounds a bit like George Harrison fronting Hot Tuna although I do like the guitar work on the song which enlivens the otherwise monotonous tune. Fortunately McGuinn is back behind the mike for "Tulsa County Blue" (listed as "Tulsa County" on the album.) It was composed by Pamela Polland and is one of the best songs on the album, very "Sweetheart Of The Rodeo." There is some fine picking from Clarence White supported by Byron Berline's fiddle playing and a nice harmony vocal from York who was also responsible for the suggestion to cover the song. The side concludes with McGuinn singing the traditional English folk song "Jack Tarr The Sailor." The song recalls McGuinn's folk roots and reminds me a bit of the Byrds' great cover of "John Riley" on "Fifth Dimension" in the way its rock and roll energy infuses the song with tension and drive. McGuinn's vocal is very powerful and I dig the fuzzed out heavy riff by White. Side two begins with the band's energetic cover of Art Reynold's "Jesus Is Just Alright" which flopped when it was released as a single for some reason. It is a really catchy and compelling song that takes full advantage of the band's instrumental prowess. It would later be a hit for the Doobie Brothers with a punchier arrangement that sounds like it was influenced by Santana. Up next is a cover of Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue." The Byrds had attempted it back in their folk-rock days but didn't release it (you can find it on the Byrds box set.) This second attempt isn't any improvement, I greatly prefer the first try. The band delivers a slow, mournful country-rock take on the song, that is pretty but dull. Gene Parsons brought Vern Gosdin's "There Must Be Someone" to the album and sings lead. Reportedly McGuinn wasn't even at the session that produced the take and I believe it, it sounds nothing like a Byrds song. It is another dud. Parsons atones for this by writing the next song "Gunga Din" which is my favorite song on the album. The song has nothing to do with Kipling, it is an account of the Byrds' experiences in New York City. I was always puzzled by the song's title but I read in Johnny Rogan's book on the Byrds that Parsons says he picked the name because it worked as a rhyme which still seems weird to me. Nonetheless it a wonderful song with a soaring, uplifting chorus. It reminds me a bit of Glen Campbell. McGuinn reaches back into his folkie past for Woody Guthrie's "Deportee" which McGuinn had worked on for Judy Collins' "Judy Collins #3" album. The song seems like uninspired filler to me. The album concludes with "Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins" which came from Zeke Manners and Scott Seely. Producer Terry Melcher and McGuinn edited the song down to a single verse preceded by a countdown and some sound effects. The moon landing had occurred during the recording sessions for the album and since McGuinn shared my interest in space travel, he presumably wanted to acknowledge it. It was the final track recorded for the album and McGuinn was alone at the session. The song is practically a throwaway but I still find it kind of moving. Despite all its flaws this album was the last good studio album the Byrds would ever record. York was fired after the album and replaced with Skip Battin, a guy who was even worse at writing Byrds-style songs than York was. In his liner notes Peter Fonda says "whoever the BYRDS are is just alright" but he probably hadn't met Battin yet. Recommended to people who prefer "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" to the "The Notorious Byrd Brothers."
Roots
The Everly Brothers
Warner Bros. WS 1752
1968
My favorite Everly Brothers album. I've listened to it a hundred times and I still love it. It was their final studio album for Warner Bros. and arguably their last hurrah as major recording artists. I like individual cuts on some of their later albums, but none of those records are really worthy of their greatness in their prime. This album is a country rock masterpiece, one of the definitive statements in that genre. I would say it is better than the Eagles' entire catalog, but that is like saying candy is better than poop. It is a concept album as the Everlys explore the roots of their sound. There are excerpts from a 1952 radio performance by the brothers with their parents that provides a foundation and gives some resonance to the modern songs they perform. They only do a few really old songs, most of the songs are from modern songwriters but the record has a remarkable consistency of tone. It is brilliantly arranged by the Everlys and Ron Elliott of the Beau Brummels who also contributed the songs "Ventura Boulevard" and from the Brummels' "Bradley's Barn" album, "Turn Around." As much as I like the Brummels' version, I think the Everlys' version is the winner. The older songs are "Shady Grove," "Kentucky" and a jumping version of Jimmie Rodgers' "T For Texas" - with the trippy guitar and the driving beat you'd never guess the song was over 40 years old at the time they recorded it. There are also some pretty trippy sounds on a return visit to their early hit, "I Wonder If I Care As Much." I can't say that I prefer it to the original, but it is certainly interesting and fresh. They perform two Merle Haggard songs, a powerful version of "Mama Tried" and a moving "Sing Me Back Home." The Everlys' harmonies on Glen Campbell's "Less of Me" are gorgeous and the guitar playing on the cut is very memorable. Some striking piano playing gives extra feeling to an evocative Randy Newman song, "Illinois." That is followed by a haunting ballad "Living Too Close To the Ground" by Terry Slater who wrote most of their previous album "The Everly Brothers Sing" and played bass in their backing band. (Weird rock trivia note: Slater would later become the manager and guru for a-ha.) It is the most beautiful song on an album full of beautiful songs. Ray Price's "You Done Me Wrong" gets some chamber pop flavor while still retaining its country essence. That is the basic philosophy in the record, it is rarely straight country or country-rock. There are all sorts of modern elements blended with the traditional flavor of the music, chamber pop style strings, psychedelic guitars, keyboards and interesting sound treatments. It feels old yet sounds modern, a dazzling synthesis of style. Throughout, the Everlys sing great with winning enthusiasm. This is a tremendous record and yet it was a flop, outsold by the likes of Paul Mauriat, Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66, Bobby Goldsboro and the Irish Rovers. I can't even imagine how disappointing it must have been to make such a wonderful record and have no one care. At least in recent years the record has gotten some of the recognition it deserves but too late to really do the Everlys much good. How different their career might have been if in 1968 this record had been recognized as the classic album that it is. Recommended for people who think country rock sucks, don't judge it on the basis of the stuff that came out of L.A., this is the real deal.
Silk Purse
Linda Ronstadt
Capitol ST-500407
1970
Linda Ronstadt's second solo album, it was extremely influential on me. For some reason, my father had it in his record collection. His taste in female singers ran more towards Vikki Carr or Barbara Streisand and he did not buy any other Ronstadt albums, so my guess is that he liked "Long Long Time," the single off this album. This record has a strong country feel to it so I initially reacted with disdain to it because I hated country music at the time. As I got older, I became intrigued with the album cover, that is to say I found the photo of Ronstadt extremely attractive, and I started playing the record and I got hooked. I finally saw the appeal in country music. This isn't my father's copy, I picked this up after I left home when I found myself missing it and wanting to hear it again. I make no claims for this being a masterpiece, but it is a very entertaining record. I've been listening to it for over 35 years now and I still really enjoy it. "Long Long Time" is my favorite song on here, I consider it the best song Ronstadt ever did. It is impeccably sung, with enormous feeling and sincerity and has a very lovely arrangement by Norbert Putnam. I've always found it very moving and it still provokes a lot of memories and emotions in me when I spin it. There are several other fine songs on here as well. Ronstadt practically made a career out of resuscitating old rock and roll songs and inaugurates the practice here with the Shirelles' "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" which she sings very effectively. She does a credible cover of Hank Williams' version of "Lovesick Blues" and I really enjoy her full-throated performance on Mel Tillis' "Mental Revenge." She beat Donny and Marie to Don and Dewey's "I'm Leaving It All Up to You" and trounces their performance with her robust delivery. She also covers Dillard and Clark's "He Dark The Sun." Their version was the best song on the excellent "The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard and Clark" but I think Ronstadt's version is at least as good. I also really like her lovely duet with Gary White (the composer of "Long Long Time") on "Louise." I know some people are rather dismissive of this album, but about the only bad thing I can say about it, is that it helped unleash the Eagles upon the world since they were her backing band on this album prior to their rise to stardom. That's a pretty heinous crime, but Ronstadt's voice is so enchanting that I forgive her for it. Fortunately this doesn't sound anything like the Eagles, it is easy to forget they are even on it. Recommended to Ronstadt fans who have worn out their copies of "Heart Like A Wheel" - yes that's a terrific record, but I'd say this one is just as good.
