RUSS TOLMAN : CITY
LIGHTS ( BLUE ROSE )
***
Like the previously reviewed John
Wesley Harding disc Awake this latest
offering from Russ Tolman employs a whole
'unstable' of talent - indeed there are
more handprints on this one than that
famous Hollywood sidewalk! The usual
suspects rounded up under the 'Gangsta
Folk' moniker are herei.e. Steve Wynn
(this time production duties), Chris Von
Sneidern (engineer), John Wesley Harding
/Chuck Prophet playing on a track or two
and even ex-Rain Parader Steven Roback
contributing. With a completely
separate band including Jim Huie working
a second studio session over in Portland
you start to realise that it looks more
like a crew for a movie than a
record! It's a tribute to Russ Tolman
that the disc holds together as well as
it does with the two sets of recordings
gelling surprisingly well. For me the
Steve Wynn produced set just shades it
but the real question is does the disc as
a whole stand up despite a first-eleven
of Hearsay favourites being involved?
Definitely maybe or yes and no! Hence the
three as opposed to four stars. Scanning
Russ Tolman's hard to locate back
catalogue you'd come across a couple of
mid-eighties LP's with punk-country band
True West that first showed his
songwriting abilities. These recordings
didn't really capture the live power of
the band as well as recently released
bootleg The Big Boot. File next to Blood
on the Saddle/Long Ryders/Jason and the
Scorchers as alt.country precursors.
Following the band's demise he quit San
Francisco and went all Hollywood in 1986
with solo records -Totem Poles And Glory
Holes and Down In Earthquake Town
followed in 1990 by Goodbye Joe. This
period saw him and his recordings become
as elusive as a renegade trapper. You
sort of knew he was out there but unless
you caught sight of those Skyclad or
Zippo releases, a rare performance at the
Mean Fiddler or a brief mention in
Bucketful of Brains as he toured Europe
along with 'Gangstas' Sid Griffin, Howe
Gelb, Chris Cacavas and Mr.Harding you'd
be hard pressed to realise he was around
at all!
What you would have missed out on are a
series of fine records which start off
with an almost Stooges ferocity, mix in a
good part of Paisley Underground (Dream
Syndicate/Long Ryders) punk and country
and slowly evolve with a good bit of
acoustic song-smithery! Standout songs
litter these recordings like Palm Tree
Land, Murphy's Barn and
Galveston Mud. By 1990 the States had all
but lost a hold on their wayward son and
he almost became another relocated
west-coaster trading sun for rain like
pal Sid Griffin. 1992's Road Movie
appeared on French label New Rose and is
to my mind his best to datebarring the
unheard 1994's Sweet Spot.
What we find here
are more vulnerability and gentle
acoustic strummery as he revealed a
romanticism emphasised by songs such as
'Sleepin' All Alone. Judged against that
1992 offering though City Lights goes
even further down this route! Gone are
the out and out rockers with there
Wynn/Verlaine antecedents as mellow
acoustic balladry wins the day. This
produces two superb place-name songs in
Monterey and Salinas. Both cast a spell
and wouldn't disgrace an out and out
country rock disc. I can almost hear
Parsons and Harris singing Salinas which
last appeared as a destination on Me And
Bobby McGee as far as I know! Irrelevant
detailing aside it is a classic and is
followed by another gem in Two Drinks
From Genius -yes we've all been there-
that explores Nick Cave bottom of the
glass territory and feels uncannily
similar in vocals to Dave Graney.
Sometimes the melancholy becomes
overwhelming as in Losers Club and the
Harding/Prophet co-write I Want Out which
can turn into a rocker live but is an
effective mid-tempo song here. Two
'Gangstas' come up with the goods here
rather than 'supergroup' bland. Other
tracks don't quite hit the mark -You
Oughta See Her Drive relies heavily on
cute chorus.. I'll follow you ..whilst
King City has lyrics so surreal they
could have dropped off Robyn Hitchcock's'
pen! Second Harding/Prophet co-write
She's My Alibi doesn't match up to the
first whilst Your Sister has a gentle
Suzanne Vega finger-picked mood. Two
tracks -Building A Decent Human Being and
a Steve McAvoy song Perfume On A Faded
Rose are too sentimental for this
listener. That leaves closer Big Ol'
Wedding Party which closes the disc on a
fun note! Rock and rolling like an old
Sha Na Na track it sees our eternal
bachelor Russ gazing forlornly in
dismay at an Altman-like wedding scene
where another of the species "…
finally traded his bachelor-hood for a
castle and a crown". Always the
bridesmaid, never the bride, Russ Tolman
deserves more recognition for his
song-writing skills. A sort of west coast
post-punk Hoagy Carmichael back in San
Francisco sauntering along under sunset
and palms still looking for that elusive
true love.
This review first appeared in Hearsay
Magazine
|
