Goin' back

Various - Echo In The Canyon (2019) ***

Nominated by: Biggie Gee Kay  

Music club: Wander to Wozza's

Playlist addition:  She

I really enjoyed the documentary film celebrating music from LA and environs (it includes all those musicians listed on the left side of the album cover - they are NOT on the soundtrack - bit naughty that).

The soundtrack is a different proposition because it involves Jakob Dylan and his mates covering some of the greatest songs ever written, often in duet type situations.

The tricky thing with covers albums is they hardly ever out do the original. If you stray too far from the arrangement we know and love it sounds weird unless you are a genius and the song is remade/ reborn or the band/artists' charisma is so huge they can get away with it. Jimi's All Along The Watchtower, Joe's With A Little Help From My Friends, The Hollies' 4th Of July Asbury Park are all in that category.

The other problems Jakob and friends have are that with shifting personnel results vary, plus with soundtracks (as was noted when we looked at Sleeping Dogs) we are outside the documentary and without visuals we only have sounds to go on. That can be tricky.

When it works it sounds joyful (She), but when it doesn't it sounds disappointingly gloomy for some reason (The Bells Of Rhymney). I think She works so well because the lyrics suit Jakob's kind of downer singing voice. He doesn't have a lot of expression in his voice and so he struggles a bit with upbeat joyful songs.

She, though, is a great woe-is-me Hart/Boyce song that The Monkees made their own. Josh Homme and Jakob's sad sack deliveries are perfect for this song.

Go Where You Wanna Go is a classic Mamas and Papas song. Jakob and Jade's version is brave but there is no Jakob/Jade back story as there is with the love triangle within the Mamas and Papas of John and Michelle Phillips and Denny. So I struggle to listen to their cover version because I can't help but compare it to the original. Not fair I know, but it's hard not to.

Goin' Back is the Byrds classic of course and that's another brave one to take on. Previously, Dusty Springfield and Carole King did their superb covers, but I can't think of anyone else outside of those three that can do the mixture of pathos, regret, hope, nostalgic longing required.

The Brian Wilson songs - I Just Wasn't Made For These Times and In My Room seem a bit out of place. Were The Beach Boys ever considered Laurel Canyon party goers? Maybe Dennis was, but it seems an odd choice. Although, Frank Zappa was a Laurel Canyon resident and Willie The Pimp would be wildly out of place here, so, okay, I get why the Wilson songs were included.

Other famous LC residents like Jim Morrison, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Joni Mitchell, and Glen Frey aren't celebrated either which is a bit weirder than Frank's omission.

Alrighty - so my high points? Well, apart from She, the Neil Young/ Steven Stills songs and playing (with Eric Clapton) at the end of the album are all worth waiting for and Never My Love with Norah Jones captures the mood of that song well.

Overall, it's a mixed bag. I'll prefer to rewatch the excellent documentary I think. 

Tough one to grade - I averaged out the 2 to 4 star range to a 3.

Hey, come on try a little, nothing is forever

The Wallflowers - Bringing Down The Horse (1996) ** 1/2

Nominated by: Greg Knowles

Music club: Wander to Wozza's

Playlist addition: One Headlight

I knew this one was coming from the House of Knowles at some point. Jakob Dylan fits in well with the Justin Townes Earl/Ryan Adams/Gaslighters et al and the Americana genre as a whole, while also being a pop band at times. Taylor made for Knowles' Towers.

Like Steve Forbert, I am aware that GK has enjoyed this album since it came out.

I have a copy (as I've already indicated) but my association with the album is a little disingenuous. I had a CD copy when it came out, but I sold it. I gained a second copy a few years ago when Adam's father-in-law was getting rid of all his CDs and Adam said I'd give them a good home. So - second copy arrived and I have decided not to sell off any more stuff.

Why did I part with my original copy? The answer presented itself anew as I relistened to the CD after GK's choice was announced.

The first two tracks are brilliant! Too brilliant actually!! I love love love them both and cherish the reunion each time. They nail the drum sound from the off, lovely organ flourishes, Jakob's impassioned vocals are superb and the Springsteenish lyrics and choruses hook me in every time. The Harrison like slide guitar on 6^th Avenue is a treat!

But from then on, the songs vary in quality a lot for me. Again - a sequencing rethink might have been better but I get the - 'put our strongest tracks first' idea. So - who knows.

Three Marleenas is good - good change of pace and that organ sound again, almost as good as those first two tracks. But the others aren't memorable. Twenty years ago I was keeping stuff I loved from go to woah, and two great tracks out of 11 didn't meet that criteria.

So - two clear stonking highlights - One Headlight and 6^th Avenue Heartache

The rest - Bleeders/The Difference/Laughing Out Loud etc etc are a bit too noisy, a bit too try hard to my ears - not the easy joy of those first two tracks. The slower tracks (apart from Josephine) are okay but again, the lack of memorable hooks makes them all sound the same.

So - overall a two and a half star rating for me - a mix of meh and pretty fine (and again - those first two songs are magnificent)