Further Observations From a Jangly Music Fan

October escaped from view almost as quickly as September did, but not without a wonderful four-day visit to Vermont (where the skies are truly bluer than in Virginia and the tree colors were brilliant) and attending a Mavericks show at the Birchmere. Raul Malo and the current band lineup still know how to play to their strengths and 500+ Mavericks fans were delighted to see the group perform in a small venue. In between these events, plenty of good new discs arrived via the mail this past month. Top new additions include:

Full Tilt & Swing - by Walter Clevenger & the Dairy Kings. Walter teased us with an EP release last year; the long period between full-length discs was worth the wait! This disc is in my Top Ten for 2003, for sure! Walter remains the "king of jangle'n'twang" - effortlessly blending elements of pop, country-pop, power pop and folk-rock in his songs. The most chiming tracks are "Jonathan Doe," "Stronger Than That," "Not Gonna Bend," "Hold On Tight," "The Fool Who Used To Be," "Fast As I Can" and "Radio Sea" (which nicely mimics some of Cheap Trick's AM hits). Walter shines on the ballad "Let Your Hair Down Tonight." Full Tilt & Swing is a winner from start to finish. Well done, Sir Walter!

Dog Dreams - by Robert Crenshaw. If his earlier discs didn't convince you that Robert Crenshaw is no longer standing in the shadow of his brother, Marshall, than this disc will make you a believer! While Robert's songs aren't overflowing with ringing 12-string riffs, they are rich with melody, harmony and hooks. Robert's material is now more pop-oriented than Marshall's … and, like his brother, Robert does fine justice to vintage pop tunes. He shines on his original songs - like the Phil Spector-inspired "Girl Next Door" and well-crafted tunes like "Baby Come Run With Me," "Lay Down," "Given Time," "Eloise" and "I Done Wrong." Dog Dreams is a top-notch disc!

Ka-Ju-Tah - by the ever-prolific Rich Hopkins (supported again by the Luminarios). Hopkins delivers the goods with his own brand of wailing guitars and "Desert Rock" - as evidenced on the opening rocker "Red, White & Blue." Hopkins continues to mix in some chiming pop guitar riffs on songs like "Shine" (which sounds like a classic Sidewinders tune) and "My Little Girl." "Touch U Girl" has a melody (and organ) that is reminiscent of Rich's treatment of "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone." While there is no set formula to Hopkins' albums, he does like to include at least one lengthy guitar-oriented opus - this time it's the title track "Ka-Ju-Tah." After this song of spirituality and mysticism abates for two and half minutes, listeners are treated to Hopkins' extended rendition of "So You Want To Be A Rock'n'Roll Star." Musical amigo Steve Wynn assumes lead vocals and joins Hopkins on the track "Credits Roll." Hopkins has experienced another surge of musical energy, and his next disc - Los Monstros de Tucson Rock! - is due to be released in the near future. Long may you run, Sir Rich!

Rich Hopkins is impassioned about a number of current political issues - as the lyrical content of his songs often reveals. Ka-Ju-Tah is no exception to this rule. In the song "Red, White & Blue," Rich sings "I Won't Soil Someone Else's Land" and "This Is The Time I'll Make My Stand." This isn't the first time that a similarity between Rich's music and the music of husband-wife duo Pete and Maura Kennedy has been so apparent. In last month's column, I wrote about the Kennedys' new disc Stand; they sing "Come On And Stand, Plant Your Sword In The Sand" in the title track. Whether it's war or other injustices they choose to sing about, Pete, Maura and Rich are committed to expressing protest in popular music. Several years ago, Hopkins released Devolver and the Kennedys' released Evolver within six months of one another. Rich Hopkins and Pete Kennedy would be two of the guitarists in my pop music "All Star Band" and Maura Kennedy would certainly be the female vocalist for this group. All three are talented musicians and each of them is carrying on the fine tradition of addressing social issues via their music. As Elvis Costello once wrote: "What's So Funny About Peace, Love & Understanding?" These three artists make a strong case for indie pop being today's voice of the "common man."

Anthology 1982-1993 - the Screaming Tribesmen. Imagine a cross between the Stems and the Hoodoo Gurus, and the Screaming Tribesmen will fit the bill. "Girl In My Dreams," "Mess With You," "Going Away" and Igloo" prove that this defunct Aussie group cranked out some fine garage pop-rock and pysch-pop tunes.

Speaking of Australia, two new discs from the indie label Popboomerang merit fufkin readers' attention - the excellent 25-song compilation Planet of the Popboomerang, and Forever And Today by the Richies. The latter album was produced by the extraordinarily talented Michael Carpenter. Enough said! The disc has several chiming gems - "Oh No, Okay," "Fallen Stars" and "I Won't Give In." These albums are two more reasons why Australia deserves to be the next International Pop Overthrow festival site (hint to IPO PopMeiser David Bash!)

Another label that has just released two excellent discs is the Portland, Oregon-based Paisley Pop label (headed by the indefatigable Jim Huie). First, check out the self-titled disc by Rite Flyers (John Clayton and Steve Collier) - which has power pop hooks and strummy guitars aplenty. The opening track "Skyscraper" could easily be mistaken for a George Usher tune. Second, sample the talents of Jason Byrd on his debut disc Busy Day. Byrd's album is produced by Jamie Hoover, and the harmony-laden tracks and jangly guitars bear witness to Hoover's musical skills. Byrd's original material displays some heavy Beach Boys influences ("Don't Mind" is melodically reminiscent of "Don't Worry Baby") … and Jason's talent warrants comparison with indie pop master Mark Johnson. These are two more feathers in Paisley Pop's cap!

Spectrum - by Baby Grand. Most of the tracks on this disc are sweet, strummy jangle-pop - ala the Hummingbirds. Check out "How Are You," "Tonight" and "Another."

Other recent discs that merit mention:

David French's CD-EP. What a tease! The two tracks pack an Alarm/80s guitar-rock wallop, and French's voice reminds me of Dan Kibler. Please, David, may we have some more?

The self-titled disc by Prospect Place (two talented women from Israel - Yotty and Rev). This is female rock that rocks - like Sheryl Crow, Heart and Pat Benatar.

Freakin Eureka - by the Dipsomaniacs. Another batch of fine power pop tunes by this veteran band.

45 & 33 - by Blank Pages. Another batch of fine power pop tunes - Hey, what else do you expect from Mick Chorba's excellent Face Down Records label?

Don't Be A Social Outcast - the CD-EP by the Arlington, Virginia-based band, Carroway (www.carrowaymusic.com). Some very cool pop-rock in the vein of the Wildflowers and the Dharma Bums. Thank you, Donna Smithson, for sending me this excellent CD-EP!

When "Mr. Tambourine Man" hit the AM radio airwaves in the spring of 1965, I became hooked on the sound of a Rickenbacker 12-string guitar, and any group that could emulate the wonderful vocal harmony of Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark and David Crosby. During that eventful year, the Byrds' original five-member lineup released two outstanding albums titled after their two #1 hits - Mr. Tambourine Man and Turn! Turn! Turn! Those albums included timeless jangly tunes like "I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better," "Chimes Of Freedom," "Bells Of Rhymney" and "The World Turns All Around Her." The b-side to "Turn! Turn! Turn!" was also one of the Byrds'finest jangly songs - "She Don't Care About Time."

Since then, I have collected music that I often refer to as "Byrdsian" - meaning, it sounds like the Byrds. In the months to come, I will list the artists and songs that most remind me of the Byrds. For this installment of my Recommendations, I'll start with some of the Byrds' contemporaries from the 60s. The following list is hardly comprehensive, but it provides fufkin website readers with a good launching point for those who are similarly inclined to crank up the treble setting on their stereos and listen to those Rickenbacker 12-string guitars jangle, chime and ring!

The Eighties:

REM - As soon as "Radio Free Europe" began climbing the charts in 1982, critics began to compare REM's jangly sound with the Byrds. The Reckoning CD, released in 1984 on IRS Records, best exemplifies the band's Byrdsian sound. Peter Buck and Michael Stipe used to kiddingly say "We never heard of the Byrds." Songs like "Pretty Persuasion," "South Central Rain" and "Seven Chinese Brothers" proved otherwise. Even though this band has gone in many different directions since their folk-rock beginnings in Athens, Georgia, Peter Buck still adds a Rickenbacker 12-string flourish to some of their newer tunes. REM has occasionally performed with Roger McGuinn. Seek out a bootleg disc of a May 1988 McGuinn performance in Athens, backed by "the Southern Gentlemen" - entitled The Byrds Fly South. The sound quality is inconsistent, but the disc does include the unreleased gem "The Tears."

Marshall Crenshaw - When Crenshaw released his self-titled debut album in 1982, the song "Cynical Girl" had enough jangle to draw comparisons with the Byrds. In a recent interview, Crenshaw admitted to being a longtime admirer of Roger McGuinn - citing McGuinn's picking style on his Rickenbacker 12-string as one of the "truly unique guitar sounds" to emerge during the rock era.

Crowded House - I Feel Possessed EP (1989) - included live versions of three Byrds songs performed with Roger McGuinn.

Red Rockers - "Eve Of Destruction" featured on the Oglio Good As Gold/Schizophrenic Circus CD. This 80s band added a little bit of Barry McGuire, a little bit of chiming Byrds guitars and some power pop snap to this excellent 1984 single.

The Long Ryders - A Sid Griffin-fronted band that emerged from the L.A. Paisley Pop scene in the mid 80s to its height with the release of the 1987 album Two Fisted Tales. The album included a number of Byrds-inspired tunes like "Gunslinger Man" (which I heard first on San Diego's 91X radio station) and "Spectacular Fall." During the band's early years, Gene Clark used to join them onstage for live performances; Clark even sang with them on "Ivory Tower." Griffin, along with his Rickenbacker 12-string guitar, created a "signature" sound of his own with the Long Ryders.

Dramarama - Seek out their 1989 album Stuck In Wonderamaland (on Chameleon Records). The song "Lullabye" is worth the price of admission, and it has all the elements of a classic Byrds tune.

EIEIO - "Words Falling Down" on the That Love Thang album (Frontier Records). This is another single Byrdsian song that made the entire disc worth purchasing.

Walking Wounded - An L.A. folk-rock band that recorded the superb song, "Raging Winds Of Time," on its 1989 album by the same title. The song is a terrific Byrdsian tune that combines mandolin and 12-string guitar together as well as any country-rock, alt-country or pop-rock band has.

The Windbreakers - Bobby Sutliff and Tim Lee knew how to jangle back in the 80s. Find a copy of Electric Landlady (on db Records) and enjoy "Girl From Washington" … as well as the other 17 jangly tracks. Also seek out their other full-length disc, At Home With Bobby & Tim.

Richard Thompson - After listening to "Dead Man's Handle" and "Nearly In Love" on Thompson's Daring Adventures disc, one could consider him the British folk-rock cousin to Roger McGuinn. Thompson is quite nimble on his own 12-string guitar. In fact, I saw Thompson and McGuinn together eleven years ago. They sang a three-song mini-set together that included "Wild Mountain Thyme."

The Beach Boys (or is that the Beach Byrds?) - A great version of "California Dreamin'" appeared on the band's 1986 Made In The USA album. Twenty-four other Beach Boys anthems go with this gem that features Roger McGuinn's unmistakable 12-string signature sound!

The Field Mice - Track down the compilation disc Where'd You Learn To Kiss That Way? and you'll discover numerous jangly tunes. The most Byrdsian song in the bunch is "If You Need Someone."

Jimmy Silva - One of the greatest "finds" in my collecting efforts was to acquire a copy of the Heidi (ESD) album by Jimmy Silva and the Goats. "City Of Sisterly Love" is a soaring Byrdsian song that highlights the other 23 pop gems. Jimmy may be gone, but he left behind a timeless body of jangly music.

The Squire - Big Smashes CD on Tangerine Records. "September Gurls" and many of the other 23 songs also jangle.

The Someloves - Something Or Other (White Label) The outstanding late 80s disc by the Someloves (Dom Mariani of DM3, Darryl Mather of the Orange Humble Band and the production/musical talents of Mitch Easter).

Bobby Sutliff - Only Ghosts Remain (1987, Passport/PVC). Whether he performs solo or in a band, Bobby can't escape those 12-string riffs!

Fire Town - 1987's In The Heart Of The Heart Country is as superb a Midwestern jangle pop album as one will find. The hit single "Carry The Torch" had Byrds influences from start to finish!

In months to come, I will similarly list the artists in the 90s (Different Faces, The Lears) who have perpetuated the Byrdsian sound.

Until next month, jangle on!

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