Dave Edmunds: Twangin...

 Dave Edmunds: Twangin...

1981

Swan Song Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl and Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Something Happens  2. It's Been So Long  3. Singing the Blues  4. (I'm Gonna Start) Living Again If It Kills Me  5. Almost Saturday Night  6. Cheap Talk, Patter and Jive   7. Three Time Loser  8. You'll Never Get Me Up (In One of Those)  9. I'm Only Human  10. The Race Is On   11. Baby Let's Play House

This one usually gets written off as a letdown after the masterpiece "Repeat When Necessary"...Most commonly attributed to the crumbling of Rockpile and a reliance on covers and outtakes from previous albums...But I think it's a testament to the streak that Dave was on at this time, that this album is as great as it is... To me, this is roughly as good as "Repeat When Necessary"...The best stuff on it is some of his best material ever but where I think this album falters a bit is in the secondary material (which, while listenable,  falls short of the filler on his previous albums)...

Here are the high, high, highlights:

"It's Been So Long" is one of his best power pop tracks...Hands down...The hooks are massive and his lightning speed guitar picking is outta control...A perfect pop single as well as an impressive technical achievement....

 Add to the list, his cover of John Fogerty's "Almost Saturday Night," which is another example of Dave's impeccable arranging skills...I like Old Fogerty's original just fine, but there's a certain Creedence-ness that it's lacking that you kinda fill in with your own imagination when you hear it..And Dave nails that missing spirit, turning it into the greatest Creedence song that never was (complete with  harmonies that are among the most glorious thing I've ever heard)...Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant...

Alright, here's a true story about the power of "Almost Saturday Night"...This song became thee weekend song at the Friday night record parties...It was mandatory...You come home from work, you crack a beer, you toss "Almost Saturday Night" on the turntable...It was an unspoken rule (Hell, it even happened last night (note, I'm writing this on Saturday morning )...Well, one Monday morning I was on the morning bus to work and decided to listen to the "Twangin..." album...When "Almost Saturday Night" came on, in the stark daylight, without a Saturday night pr a beer in sight, tears suddenly started to well in my eyes...I was so wracked with grief that this beautiful slice of weekend-ness was so far from its natural habitat...I had to shut it off immediately and now I know better than to play this song anytime during the work week...Its the exclusive property of a Friday Night or Saturday afternoon...

I also consider "(I'm Gonna Start) Living Again If It Kills Me"to be one of Edmunds/Lowe's best Everly Brother tributes...It's beautiful, harmonized stuff with a real life-affirming edge...This is the song you play after you accidentally hear "Almost Saturday Night" on a Monday morning...It makes you bite your bottom lip, hold your head up (despite that tear in your eye) and make a defiant fist at the capricious Gods in the heavens above...

"Cheap Talk, Patter and Jive" also strikes me as should-of-been single...Nothing innovative about it, but it strikes me as a really solid example of Dave doing what he does best...And although I don't consider it a highlight, I should probably mention the notable collaboration with the Stray Cats on a cover of George Jones' "The Race is On"...I'm not a fan of the Stray Cats (they cross some invisible line for me that Dave has always managed to avoid...They turn rockabilly into some grotesque Sha Na Na-esque caricature...) but this song is alright...

The remainder of the album does have a bit of an Edmunds-by-numbers feel of obscure old rock n' roll and country...Not bad at all...A lot of it's fun, like "You'll Never Get Me Up (In One of Those)" (which I find absurdly relatable), but I doubt it'll blow anyone out of the water or anything...Just good, fun old time rock n' roll...All in all, another solid release...A must-buy if you find it in a used record bin somewhere...And the cover is beautiful in its full-size...

 Here's "Almost Saturday Night" by Dave Edmunds.. Enjoy...