Further Observations From a Jangly Music Fan

Greetings fellow pop enthusiasts! Although this is the season when most people equate holiday bells and sleigh bells with the term “jingle jangle,” some of us can fondly recall the 1965 holiday season, when “Turn! Turn! Turn!” by the Byrds and the “jingle jangle” sound of Roger McGuinn’s 12-string Rickenbacker guitar ruled the AM radio scene. Although I keep a stack of favorite Christmas discs near my disc player during this season, the Turn! Turn! Turn! album (a 1965 Christmas gift from my parents) is still a holiday season favorite.

I was very fortunate to be in the audience when Roger McGuinn performed recently at the Barns of Wolf Trap. McGuinn gave a snappy 23-song set and encore that included “Turn Turn Turn,” other Byrds favorites, a number of songs from his solo career and several gems from his latest release, Treasures From The Folk Den. McGuinn alternated between his signature Martin 12-string acoustic guitar and a vintage Rickenbacker 12-string guitar that had lights built into the mother of pearl solid body. With a flick of a switch, the lights would pulsate to the rhythm of the song he was playing. The concert date happened to coincide with the anniversary of Gene Clark’s birthday, and McGuinn warmly acknowledged Gene’s contributions to the Byrds and he then sang “I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better.”

The night before the Roger McGuinn show, I saw the Kennedys and Al Petteway and Amy White (the other “cute” husband/wife performing duo in the Washington, D.C. area) give a terrific show at the Barns of Wolf Trap. It was a real treat to see Pete Kennedy and Al Petteway, both guitar virtuosos, improvise together. The night after the McGuinn concert, I attended the Americana Motel CD release show at the Birchmere. Talented local musician/producer Peter Fox conceived the theme for this album - which showcases the Washington, D.C. area’s “roots rock” scene. The show featured over a dozen local artists/bands who covered the tunes of fellow area songwriters; Peter emceed the event and he tickled the ivories on several tunes. The assortment of Telecasters, Stratocasters, Scott McKnight’s Danelectro 12-string and a pedal steel guitar gave the show a decidedly jangle’n’twang sound.

Before discussing several new artists and titles that will appeal to jangly music enthusiasts, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my sadness at the passing of Beatle George Harrison. Although I was more a Byrds fan than I was a Beatles fan, Harrison was my favorite Beatle. Roger McGuinn has mentioned many times in interviews, articles and the Byrds biography Timeless Flyte that Harrison’s use of a Rickenbacker 12-string guitar in the movie A Hard Day’s Night led to McGuinn adopting the same instrument to achieve the electrified folk-rock sound that he created with the Byrds. When the Beatles toured the U.S. in the summer of 1965, they spent some time socializing with the Byrds and visited the Byrds in the Columbia recording studios. During that 1965 visit, McGuinn learned that George Harrison’s guitar development and influences were quite similar to his own. The “crossover” between these two '60s luminaries is best exemplified by McGuinn’s 12-string adaptation of “The Bells Of Rhymney” and Harrison’s “If I Needed Someone.” To this day, the Rickenbacker 360V64 12-string guitar is still referred to as the “Harrison” model.

Like many other pop music fans, I spent the weekend after George Harrison’s death playing some of my favorite Harrison tunes. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” blew me away my senior year in high school. “Here Comes The Sun” and “My Sweet Lord” bring back some very pleasant college memories. Harrison’s own 12-string jangle never lost its appeal to me. The great 1987 album Cloud Nine included “Fish On The Sand” and the Traveling Wilbury’s second album (1990) included the classic jangly tune “Inside Out.” Who can forget the memorable extended version of “My Back Pages,” performed by Roger McGuinn, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Eric Clapton, Neil Young AND Bob Dylan at the Dylan 30th anniversary tribute concert? Rest in peace, Sir George.

Once again, good guy Jeremy Morris has added some excellent new titles to his JAM records catalog - the first two volumes in the Shake Some Action series, released by pop archivist Alan Fleagle. Each compilation disc features 24 tracks of “power pop, mod and new wave rarities from 1975-1986.” The recording quality is wonderful and the liner notes are superb. Here’s hoping that Alan Fleagle has more “obscure” tunes to share with the rest of us! I mentioned Gary Ritchie’s Top Ten-bound disc Pop! Radio in last month’s column; Jeremy was kind enough to clue me in to Gary’s side project, Beat The Meatles, which features 22 covers of Beatles songs.

During a recent visit to ebay’s online auction service, I ran across an ad for a disc by a contemporary artist who credits the Beatles, Bob Dylan and the Byrds as primary influences on his music. For an opening bid of $4.99, I felt it was worth the risk to check out “Doc Possum’s” material. Believe me folks, it was! “Doc’s” self-released The Bare Essentials has some wonderful strummy and jangly acoustic tunes that remind me of Jeffrey Foskett as well as those '60s artists mentioned before. “Doc” also shared some of his electric tunes with me. While I enjoy all of his melodic tunes, “Torn In Two” is my favorite. You can check out Doc’s music at www.docpossum.com. Remember the name “Doc Possum” - the indie pop scene will be hearing more from him and he should gain greater attention in years to come.

Sadly, I must report that another one of my favorite indie pop artists - Rich Arithmetic (of Optional Art Records) - recently held an inventory reduction sale and inactivated Optional Art operations. Rich and I first corresponded with one another via “snail mail,” and our correspondence about common interests in music blossomed into a long-distance friendship that included email discussions of many shared Baby Boomer experiences. Two years ago, Rich and fellow indie artist Bill Retoff (and some other pals) teamed together as “Roger & Jim” and contributed one of my favorite tracks to the Not Lame two-CD tribute to Gene Clark, Full Circle. Since the holidays are just around the corner, I have also been listening to one of Optional Art’s excellent pop compilations - Cool Yule. Like me, many seasoned indie pop fans also fondly remember Rich’s insightful pop ‘zine, Pallid Pilgrim. Rich has indicated that he may still record new material and that Optional Art may release discs in the future; I hope this is the case. Enjoy your well-deserved respite from the music business, Rich, and long may you run!

In the new release category, I have been digging the Connells’ latest disc, Old- School Dropouts. This North Carolina band has been together for almost twenty years, and they still crank out top-notch pop/rock. Old-School Dropouts features a nifty jangly, chiming Byrdsian tune “Back In Blighty.” The Gladhands’ Brilliant Charade, originally released in 1993, has been re-released with two additional tracks. If you miss the Posies’ more melodic-era tunes, you will really enjoy the Gladhands’ repertoire. The Windmills’ latest disc, Sunlight, features ten excellent strummy, jangly tunes. Joe Ongie’s excellent Lovefest disc features nods to the Beatles, Beach Boys and baroque (Left Banke) pop predecessors. The sum of the parts is very impressive! Joe’s disc is available from Not Lame’s online catalog or via Joe himself at www.joeongie.com I acquired another cool jangly disc through MP3 - 360 (featuring a Rickenbacker 360/12-string guitar) by Joe Lynch; the standout tune is a Lynch-penned song entitled “Full Circle.” Last but not least, the Phamous Phaces New Pop City disc has several chiming, jangly power pop tracks; the best among them is “Denmark.” The album cover depicts the Statue of Liberty with a mapleglow Rickenbacker 12-string - providing listeners with a strong clue regarding the album’s contents!

Until next month, have a happy holiday season and jangle on!

___________________________________________________

To reach any other page contained in this month's update on Fufkin.com, read the home page for the appropriate link and click on it. You can also search the site from any page using the search box located at the top of each page. Merely type in the word, phrase, name of the band, recording, name of the Fufkin writer that you are looking for or Whatever in the search box, and then click on "Search". If you would like to e-mail us, go to the About Us page for a list of e-mail addresses.

Go back to the home page by clicking here

____________________________________________________