The latest Beach Boys release “That’s Why God Made the
Radio”, which is excellent by the way, has left me to thinking about comebacks.
I don’t think this release really qualifies strictly as a “comeback”, it
just makes me think of other artists that fell away in both popularity
and importance only to find second life. Both of these acts can truly be qualified as giants, also.
There are two acts that jump to the fore immediately:
the first are the Kinks from their staggering popularity in the 60's to their resurgence on Arista Records; the second is John Fogerty.
THE KINKS
After years of mis-handling by record companies, legal
immigration problems, poor choices in management and in life by the boys led to
the band finding itself floundering in the scrap heap just after the turn of the decade.
The band who brought us so many iconic songs Lola, Tired of Waiting for
You, You Really Got Me and Waterloo
Sunset to name but a few, was forgotten in the wake of mediocre concept albums and
song cycles.
That is until 1977 and the release of “Sleepwalker”.
“Sleepwalker” opened up with a clear sound and the chiming guitar of Dave Davies
and never let up for the whole record. Jukebox
Music, Life on the Road and Sleepwalker
are all great songs that are firmly ensconced in the Kinks' Kanon.
The Davies' followed “Sleepwalker”
with a string of classic releases: “Misfits”, “Low Budget” and “State of
Confusion” – each seemingly better than its’ predecessor. This streak reached
its peak in ’83 with “State of Confusion” - a near perfect release which included
a huge pop single Come Dancing. Every tune on this disc is a very good in my
opinion. Personally my stand-outs are (aside from Come Dancing) Property, Don’t Forget to Dance, Heart of Gold, Young Conservatives, Clichés
of the World (B Movie) & the title track. “Word of Mouth” & “Give
the People What They Want” began a decline in popularity for this period of
their existence, but still contained some fine songs nonetheless.
JOHN FOGERTY
The second artist who really had a great vital second-career
was John Fogerty. After the famous upheaval and subsequent breakup of one of America’s trail-blazing
bands Creedence Clearwater Revival, Fogerty essentially dropped out of the
music business. He released a country cover LP under the name The Blue Ridge
Rangers in 1973 (which STILL had a hit single with Jambalaya) and an eponymous LP follow-up in ’75 after which Fogerty
withdrew to his Mill Valley ranch. He did
record but never felt the recordings lived up to his standards, so no product was
released. But, he ultimately did come back with quite possibly the greatest single comeback LP
release EVER: “Centerfield” in the 1985.
Every song on this LP is a gem; both simultaneously familiar
and yet original. Poetic, innocent, funny, angry, sarcastic and sentimental all
mixed together in a sonic blender from which poured out an LP greater front-to-back
than any Creedence release - period.
Fogerty played essentially all the instruments throughout the LP with
the help of several sparsely scattered hired guns. My highlights include: I Saw It on TV – a beautiful ode to the passage of time. Zanz Kant Danz a scathing retribution
of Saul Zaentz, then the owner of Fantasy Records who not only held the rights
to CCR’s contract but also the publishing rights to Fogerty’s music. This is
the original title of the song you will find on later pressings as Vanz Kant Danz, which Fogerty changed
to avoid a lawsuit from Zaentz. Big
Train from Memphis – my favorite Elvis Presley tribute song. Old Man Down the Road (another lawsuit
unto itself) was a tip of the bota bag to the “Creedence sound” that he created.
Centerfield - even if you don’t like
baseball, I defy you to NOT tap your feet while having your spirits lifted by
this fantastic song. If you do like baseball this song means even MORE to you. You owe it to yourself to check
out Fogerty performing this song live while playing a guitar shaped like a Louisville
Slugger.
Several other artists still have a great following today
long after their heyday, but bands like The Beatles, Zeppelin, the Who, the
Beach Boys & the Doors never really lost enough popularity (in my mind) to
allow for their “comeback” status to qualify. I suppose you could make a case
for Brian Wilson OF the Beach Boys,
but he never really had a “solo” career before he “came back”. Elvis Presley also had a legendary “comeback”
with his comeback concert TV special in December of ’68, but it still didn’t
equate to the record sales of his heyday. There were still enough music snobs around who overlooked Presley’s contributions as a founding father of Rock
& Roll. Their opinion of Presley at that time was as a glorified Vegas lounge lizard living off his rep
(myself included – Mea Culpa, Neal).
UPDATE - I was gratified to see new releases by Eric Clapton - "Old Sock" and David Bowie (after 10 years) coming out with "The Next Day". Here's hoping I have to update this post - again.
