The title of pop-rock singer\/songwriter Marshall Crenshaw’s
\nlatest CD,
\n#447<\/i>, is a tongue and cheek exaggeration on the number of
\nrecordings he has released. However, far from being the generic CD
\nthat the title suggests, I think
\n#447<\/i> is one of Crenshaw’s best efforts.<\/p>\n
When his debut album,
\nMarshall Crenshaw<\/i>, came out in 1982, its back to basics rock
\nand roll was a breath of fresh air in a polluted world of
\noverproduced pop. His sound reminded me of a cross between rock
\npioneer Buddy Holly and an early John Lennon. (I guess I’m not the
\nonly one who thought so because he ended up playing both artists:
\nHolly in the movie
\nLa Bamba<\/i> and Lennon on stage in
\nBeatlemania<\/i>).<\/p>\n
Crenshaw scored a minor hit with the song “Someday, Someway,”
\nbut has since failed to make any impact in the music business,
\ndespite writing some wonderful songs along the way for himself as
\nwell as other artists. (For example, he co-wrote the Gin Blossoms
\nhit “Till I Hear From You”).<\/p>\n
What makes his latest CD,
\n#447<\/i>, so good is how he combines the charms of his early
\nwork with a maturity only hinted at in previous releases. A good
\nexample of this maturity is on the song “Dime A Dozen Guy”, a
\nlightly bluesy number co-written by David Cantor of the lounge-pop
\ngroup, Dave’s True Story. The lyrics are sharp, and there is a nice
\nguitar solo by Pat Buchanan (NOT the politician, but the leader of
\na rock group called The Idle Jets).<\/p>\n
Crenshaw continues in a rootsy vein on what I think is the best
\nsong on the CD, “Television Light”. His plaintive vocal and urgent
\nlyrics combine with his usual great sense of melody to give this
\nsong some weight. And the guitar, fiddle and mandolin
\ninstrumentation helps move the song along nicely.<\/p>\n
Another highlight is “T.M.D.” (which stands for truly madly
\ndeeply). This would be my choice for the single because of its
\nstrong melody and unusually romantic (for Crenshaw) lyrics. I hear
\nco-writer Bill Demaine’s hand in this song as its romanticism
\nreminds me of the songs he has written for his band, Swan Dive.<\/p>\n
There are a number of trademark Crenshaw pop-rock ditties
\nscattered throughout
\n#447<\/i> such as “Glad Goodbye” and “Tell Me All About It”, but
\nthere are some surprises as well. For example, “Ready Right Now”,
\nco-written by power-pop wunderkind Bill Lloyd, is a rhythm heavy
\nrocker that is a bit of a departure for either of them. Crenshaw,
\nwho handles the drumming here and throughout
\n#447<\/i>, combines with bassist Brad Jones, to create an
\nintoxicating rhythm that recalls the Beatles song “Come
\nTogether”.<\/p>\n
The other surprises on
\n#447<\/i> are the inclusion of three instrumentals: “West Of Bald
\nKnob” not only gets to show Crenshaw’s chops on guitar, but has an
\nirresistible melody. The other two songs, which include former
\nE-Street Band keyboardist David Sancious, are in a more jazzier
\nvein. “Eydie’s Tune” works as a jazz ballad with some soulful
\nguitar licks from Crenshaw. “You Said What??” really cooks with a
\nnice Sancious organ solo.<\/p>\n
If you fondly remember Crenshaw’s early work but have lost touch
\nwith him,
\n#447<\/i> is a must listen. Even if you have never heard his work
\nbefore, one listen to
\n#447<\/i> will make you realize what you’ve been missing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":25272,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6252],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-36478","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-marshall-crenshaw","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36478"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}