April 23, 1977 record review: Walter Egan, Beach Boys, Bonnie Raitt

 

Another visit from my imaginary friend. 

April 23, 1977

Will Walter Egan’s ‘Fundamental Roll’

Be Teenage Party Hit This Summer?

“THE QUICKNESS OF YOUR WRIST, Jethro T. Megahertz,” I declared, “is exceeded only by the incredibility of your nerve. So give me back the paper – please – and let me finish off these records for the folks.”

          “Anderson,” the redoubtable media wizard exhaled through his beard, “look at this thing. You didn’t discover a single new record sensation this week. You’re letting all that stuff you read influence your tastes.”

          “Hogwash!” I was astounded. “What’s reviewing supposed to be? Fortune-telling? Besides, so what if I’ve read about something.

          “I get curious. I check it out. It’s more like a detective service. I hunt down the hype.”

* * *

“SO WHAT DO you think you’re doing – correcting the record?” Megahertz sneered in his mellifluous school of broadcasting voice.

          “For instance, Rolling Stone has already done Walter Egan. Says he’s ‘too frequently just plain childish.’”

          “Aha, perfect example!” I countered. “Those fuddy-duddies at Rolling Stone are on the wrong side of the generation gap.

          “Walter Egan’s ‘Fundamental Roll’ is going to be the big teenage party hit of the Summer of ’77.

          “Besides, who needs to be told to listen to something produced by Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks? They do the same thing for Egan that they did for Fleetwood Mac – haunting harmonies and the spare, biting guitar.

* * *

“THEY MAKE EGAN into a Fleetwood Mac for kids and that’s great. It’s just the right touch on ‘When I Get My Wheels.’ It’s palpable yearning that any kid can feel.

          “And there’s lot of great tunes on ‘Fundamental Roll.’ ‘Only the Lucky in Love Survive’ and ‘Tunnel O’ Love’ are the kind of pop romance that high schools thrive on.

          “‘Where’s the Party’ and ‘I’d Rather Have Fun’ is what the Beach Boys ought to be doing.”

          “Speaking of the Beach Boys,” Megahertz put in, tugging at the brim of his cowboy hat, “they’re in Rolling Stone too.”

          “Right, and they gave them a good review because they can’t cope with the evidence that crazy old Brian Wilson can’t cope yet,” I replied.

          “If he could, he wouldn’t be writing dumb songs like ‘Johnny Carson’ and ‘Honkin’ Down the Highway.’

          “‘The Beach Boys Love You’ is the group’s attempt to make him cope – it oughta be called ‘The Beach Boys Love Brian’ – but it’s too much of a load,’ I continued.

          “Plus,” I said, “my feminist friend thinks the record’s altogether too sexist. At $7.98 list, I’d pass it up.”

          “OK, Anderson,” Megahertz went on, tearing up the Rolling Stone, “let’s go after something I’m sure you’ve got a media-inspired weakness for – Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes’ ‘This Time It’s for Real.’”

          “You got me there, Megahertz,” I confessed. “I was really taken by something from the News’ wire services about them softening their R&B flavor and getting into the early ‘60s doo-wop stuff with the Coasters and Drifters and all.

          “But the rude awakening came when I played the thing. It’s kinda dull – them regurgitating all that old street-corner stuff.

          “Then I played the Five Satins’ cut – ‘First Night,’ it’s called – for some friends and they all laughed at it.

          “In fact, the Captain and Tennille’s ‘Come in From the Rain’ is more fun to listen to, even though it’s pretty lame,” I continued.

* * *

“I THINK those hot TV lights are bleaching all the excitement out of Toni Tennille’s voice, but there’s some good tunes – the Neil Sedaka ‘Sad Eyes’ and Alan O’Day’s ‘Easy Evil.’”

          “Kid stuff,” Megahertz snorted. “What about the Band’s ‘Islands.’ Here’s Phonograph Record magazine saying: ‘Easily their finest album since their 1969 classic.’”

          “Wrong,” I responded. “‘Islands’ is a degenerate work, full of clichés. It shows them playing rock ‘n roll like the old men they really are. Robbie Robertson should go back to producing Neil Diamond.

          “Speaking of people who’ve played themselves out, there’s Bonnie Raitt’s ‘Sweet Forgiveness,’” I said.

          “I love her, but she’s lost her spark. Listen to what a bore she makes out of Jackson Browne’s ‘My Opening Farewell.’ But you never know. She does a super job on Del Shannon’s ‘Runaway.’ Maybe that’ll give her a hit.

          “Then Warner Bros. can issue a Best of Bonnie and she can take that vacation she’s wanted to take for seven years.”

          “Anderson, I’ve let you off easy,” Megahertz chuckled, “because I’ve saved the killer for last. You’re a sucker for the New York City critics in the Village Voice.”

          “All right,” I conceded, “I admit I get taken in by a good pitch, like the one the Voice gave Garland Jeffreys’ ‘Ghost Writer,’ but you figure they’d have to be taken with somebody who’s Black, white and Puerto Rican.

          “I like him for different reasons. His dreams of rising from the streets to stardom is more of a whine than an inspiration, but his reggae’s good and so’s some of his social commentary.

* * *

“IN FACT, ‘Cool Down, Boy’ has got to get an award for best reggae tune by a non-Jamaican. Great message, great James Taylor harmonies and it’s totally infectious.

          “Besides, the New York critics have their blind spots. It’s taken them until this week to discover Marshall Chapman, the Nashville outlaw lady with the deep voice who writes hits for Crystal Gayle.

          “The only thing I’ll thank the New York critics for turning me on to is Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band, which came out last summer. It’s really great – first time anybody’s combined funk and the ‘40s.

          “Side one is like discovering you like Greek food. Strange to the taste at first, but then you don’t want it to end. Side two is like discovering you ate too much Greek food. That’s something the New York critics never tell you.”

* * * * *

IN THE PHOTO: Walter Egan, center, with Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks in 1977.

* * * * *

FOOTNOTE: Walter Egan got his hit, but not until 1978 with a song from his second album called “Magnet and Steel,” which was inspired by Stevie Nicks, whom he dated briefly after she broke up with Buckingham. I hear it all the time whenever I turn on Yacht Rock Radio on SiriusXM. He’s still recording and performing.

          As for the other albums here, the Beach Boys effort, conceived entirely by Brian Wilson, has drawn sharply divided opinions from fans, critics and even members of the band. Brian thought it was the best thing he ever did.

          Southside Johnny’s effort was ambitious – producer Steve Van Zandt wrote eight of the songs, three of them with Bruce Springsteen, and brought in all those great doo-wop groups – but it was a letdown after that fine first album.

          The Captain and Tennille had just finished their fling at hosting a TV variety show and this album marked the beginning of their decline. The Band's "Islands" was a bunch of songs they left off previous albums and their last with the original lineup. They needed one more release to finish off their contract with Capitol Records, so this was a kiss-off. 

          Bonnie Raitt actually did have a hit with “Runaway.” Garland Jeffreys was named Rolling Stone magazine’s Best New Artist of 1977 and the Circle Jerks’ version of his song “Wild in the Streets” became an unofficial anthem for skateboarders. As for Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band, they were another one hit wonder, in this case with “Cherchez La Femme/C’est Si Bon,” which climbed to the top of the dance charts.