Dwight Twilley Band- "Twilley Don't Mind" Arista, 1977

Dwight Twilley Band: The clips speak for themselves. If you're not hooked, check your pulse. If you have a pulse, check your blood sugar. Might be time to drink some OJ?

Nils Lofgren/Grin- "1+1" Spindizzy, 1971

For those unfamiliar with Grin, it is the band of virtuosic guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Nils Lofgren, a Chicago native who played actively with this group in the Washington, DC area throughout the early 70s. At 18, Nils was palling around with Neil Young, and loaned his talents in the studio on Young's "After the Goldrush" (Nils went on to back another giant, Bruce Springsteen, in the E-Street Band in the mid 80s).

 In 1971, Lofgren was fronting Grin, and quietly released "1+1" on Spindizzy Records, the label this blog is named for. Like a lot of my favorite records, this is one of those "woulda-coulda-shoulda" albums that has everything going for it, but was all but lost on the greater public in the barrage of incredible releases at the time.

"1+1" makes creative use of the LP format by labeling side 1  "Rockin' Side" and side 2 "Dreamy Side". The Rockin' Side opens with the swirling slice of proto power pop perfection, "White Lies", a tune rife with warm acoustic over electric guitar, driving drums, and 70s pop lyrical simplicity delivered earnestly, and at times, in falsetto. This is the kind of track I play 3 times before I have scratched the itch.

Old Nils ain't no one trick pony, though (an idiom especially apropos here due to his famously gymnastic stage antics that included full backflips while playing guitar).

No, Grin's dreamy side is as affecting as their rockin'. Side 2/Dreamy Side closes with a ballad, Soft Fun, that starts out pensive (initially with a closely-mic'ed child singing an intro verse before the monster ballad chords). By the end, Nils is singing his heart out, belting more soul than you knew could come from his impish 5'4 frame "They say that funny guy's crazy/Cause he's always playing mad/But believe me when I tell you/My inside is sad." This kind of schmaltz sounds beyond sappy on paper, but like Smokey Robinson's "Tears of a Clown" or "Tracks of My Tears" it's all in the delivery. I buy it, Nils.

In short, this is a powerful and just plain fun record, full of true-blue songwriting delivered with unshakable hooks, lush production, and precise, energetic playing by Nils and company.

Key Tracks: White Lies, Moon Tears, End Unkind, Sometimes, Lost a Number, Soft Fun

 

 

 

 

For a singalong earworm to beat all earworms, check out this one from Grin's previous, self-titled release:

 

Jim Ford-"Harlan County" Sundown/White Whale, 1969

 

"Harlan County" is one of my favorite records of all time. If you're not familiar with Jim Ford, here are the need-to-know bullet points to introduce him:

• Sly Stone once called him "bad" (as in "good", like how Michael Jackson meant it).
•  He wrote a late-era album for the Temptations.
• According to legend, he once got busted in an airport with an incredibly high volume of cocaine strapped to his person, which according to sources close to Ford, was likely for personal consumption.

 

In other words, he was one of those soulful, if unhinged, geniuses the late 60's seemed to have like 2015 has...butt implants? This is probably why Ford, like countless other talents, faded into oblivion before ever making a lasting impact on the industry, save for those "in the know."You won't see this album on any Rolling Stone list, but it has every ingredient of a stone cold classic: Think of Ford as Kentucky Van Morrison doing a record on Motown, and you'd be in the right ballpark, but there are too many moves on here to pin Jim down. Soulful ballads, fuzzed-out country funk, and even an adults-only Jackson 5-esque tune with basically single entendre drug references ("Dr. Handy's Dandy Candy") find their way into the mix. If you're anything like me, this album will get its hooks in you from spin one, and stay near the turntable (or queued on the device of your choosing) til the cows come home.

 

Key Tracks: Harlan County, I'm Gonna Make Her Love Me, Changin' Colors, Dr. Handy's Dandy Candy, Love on My Brain

 

 

P.S. There's some solid stuff from this era that I think would have found a better home on side two of "Harlan County" than a couple of the last cuts. Here they are for your edification and enjoyment:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gene Clark- "No Other" Asylum, 1974

 

For my first few posts, I figured I'd pull records that are personal favorites. Gene Clark's "No Other" is a good place to start:

Ex-Byrd songwriting powerhouse and early purveyor of the "cosmic country" sound that became huge by the mid-seventies on the west coast, Gene Clark offered up this heavy slab of burnt-out introspection in 1974. Production-wise, this one's on the lusher end of the spectrum for the cosmic country genre; detractors at the time were critical of it for this very reason, but I think that's what makes it special. Time has been good to "No Other": in recent years it has gone from record-head cult favorite to bona fide classic. Mean Gene has a knack for evocative songwriting and melody, but it's his searching, road-weary delivery of his songs that cuts to the core. When Gene sings, you believe him.

Key Tracks: No Other, Life's Greatest Fool, Strength of Strings, From a Silver Phial, The True One.