Blasts From The Past

A co-worker recently told me that the inclusion of “A Well Respected Man” on the “Juno” soundtrack “pointed out a glaring gap” in her listening habits, and inspired her to add some Kinks albums to her collection. We had a brief e-mail exchange about the Kinks, and which of their albums could be good for her to buy next. (I recommended “Something Else by The Kinks”; she chose the compilation “The Kinks’ Greatest: Celluloid Heroes.”) I closed by saying, “Playing catch-up is a lifelong game. It never gets old.”

It never has lost its appeal for me, and I’ve enjoyed playing a bit of catch-up myself lately.

Over the past several years, I’ve been turned onto a lot of great music by Rick Carlisle at his store, Orpheus Records, in Arlington, Va. Unfortunately, I’ll be pointed fewer awesome albums in the near future; Rick lost his lease and soon will be closing the doors for good after 31 years. As I was browsing through the bins at Orpheus last week, Rick emerged from the back room holding a still-shrink-wrapped album in his hand. He held up the LP, “The Searchers,” and asked me if I knew it or was familiar with it. I didn’t and I wasn’t, because I have only the most basic knowledge of the group and their ’60s hits “Love Potion No. 9” and “Needles and Pins.” “It’s yours,” he said. “It’s a great album, but nobody ever buys it.”

Had I found “The Searchers” on my own, I likely would have been quite skeptical. Given that it was released in 1979, my first thought would have been that the band reformed in the hopes of making a buck in the nostalgia market. I would have thought wrong. “The Searchers” is a pleasing power-pop record, as I was told it would be. The opening track, “Hearts in Her Eyes,” made me think, “Man, Tom Petty would sound great doing this song.” That’s far from a groundbreaking idea; Petty covered “Needles and Pins” on his 1986 live disc, “Pack Up the Plantation,” so it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that The Searchers were an influence. Further inspection of the sleeve revealed that Petty indeed wrote the Side 1 closer “Lost in Your Eyes.” Side 2 contained a Bob Dylan composition (unrecorded by Dylan himself), “Coming From the Heart.” Two tracks I’d never heard, written by two of my favorite artists, and a thoroughly enjoyable album to boot. The price was definitely right, but I would have gladly paid much more.

As it turned out, Rick’s generous gift was just the beginning. I left Orpheus that day with a few other items that furthered my education. For the past several visits to the store I had been eyeballing two Souther-Hillman-Furay Band albums, the self-titled disc from 1974, and 1975’s “Trouble in Paradise.” My hesitation wasn’t over the price; neither was more than $5. I held off because a previous owner had written on poor J.D. Souther’s forehead on the cover of “The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band.” I usually prefer a more pristine jacket. But I really wanted to get to the music inside. As I was cashing out, Rick characterized the two albums as “underappreciated,” and I’d have to agree. I drew one conclusion right away, and I know I’m more than 30 years late with this assessment but I’ll say it anyway: Richie Furay has a fantastic voice. I found both of the albums to be enjoyable from start to finish, and on par with much of the Eagles’ country-rock from the same time frame.

Chris Hillman figured into most of last week’s haul. Aside from the aforementioned Souther-Hillman-Furay LPs, I picked up the two McGuinn, Clark & Hillman LPs (“McGuinn, Clark & Hillman,” “City”), the McGuinn-Hillman album (“McGuinn-Hillman”) and three Hillman solo records (“Slippin’ Away,” “Clear Sailin’,” “Morning Sky”). Hillman isn’t new to me, but reaching further into his catalog is making it clear that he shouldn’t have to be characterized as some second banana to Gram Parsons or anyone else with whom he has played. These albums aren’t all classics, but there are bright spots on each one. One that I think qualifies as a classic, the one that Rick dug out of a stack for me when he noticed my other Hillman purchases, is 1982’s “Morning Sky.” It’s all covers, but every tune – such as Dylan’s “Tomorrow is a Long Time,” The Grateful Dead’s “Ripple” and even Parsons’ “Hickory Wind” – is terrific.

I think it’s kind of funny that album was pulled from a stack. My old friend Matt Walker was in town a few days ago, and he always called the search for great tracks beyond an artist’s hits “diggin’ deeper.” We did a lot of digging when we were college roommates, and I’m still finding it fruitful today. It’s led to many great discoveries in the past 20 years or so. I like to think that it would take a big box to hold all that I know about music. I’m certain it would take one twice the size to hold what I have left to learn.