Search this blog and you will see I like (love?) Dennis Linde.
Check out my other comments for biographical details on the man.
Linde will forever be associated as a country songwriter (because of the number of country acts who have covered his songs) and performer despite the fact that his music encompasses all sorts of styles. To be sure he was based in Nashville and he was recorded by a number of country artists but his to pigeonhole him thus is unfair, only insofar as he wasn’t a strict country writer.
This isn’t a country album by any stretch of the imagination. There are songs that range across several styles including; blues, rock, country, funk.
And, there are elements of American and even experimental country.
This was all possible in the Nashville of the early 1970s.
And it is not something you normally associate (now) with Nashville.
Whatever the reason, Nashville had to adapt to new sounds.
The rising popularity and dominance of rock was one factor.
Also, there were all the rock artists from the east and west coast who had incorporated country sounds into their music (and were recording in Nashville) and., there were all the younger country kids who had grown up familiar with rock.
It was an amazing time for country music.
Country music, never shy of being blunt about the realities of life, was given extra realism with the new openness allowed in public and in the performing arts.
It was also a time for experimentation, self-expression and expansion of musical boundaries.
These were encouraged and welcomed.
Especially, on some labels more than others. This is on Elektra, one of my favourite labels and as I have said before on this blog “anything on Elektra in the 60s and 70s is worth a listen I reckon: David Ackles ,Tim Buckley, The Butterfield Blues Band, The Dillards ,The Doors, Jimmie Dale Gilmore , Love , MC5 , Phil Ochs , Roy Orbison ,Leon Redbone , Charlie Rich, Mark Spoelstra ,The Stooges ,Tom Waits to name a few”
And Linde was quirky, as this obituary refers to, “Drawing on the influence of writers such as Mark Twain, J.D. Salinger and John Steinbeck, composers such as George Gershwin and Cole Porter and the rock'n'rollers Little Richard and Fats Domino, Linde developed the quirky, idiosyncratic, individual style which would lead him to write colourful hits such as 'Bubba Shot The Jukebox' and 'It Sure Is Monday' for the country singer Mark Chesnutt, and 'Queen Of My Double Wide Trailer' for Sammy Kershaw, another country star, in the early '90s” https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/dennis-linde-429897.html
And, as I have said elsewhere on this blog, “Linde was a country singer-songwriter, but like his contemporaries John Hartford, Mickey Newbury, Billy Swan and Terry Allen, a lot of his music doesn't sound particularly country, in that he doesn't mind mixing up the genre, turning it on its head and bringing in other styles that he likes (Oddly, or perhaps not, Elvis covered most of these guys). Linde, like many country singer-songwriters, started off as a songwriter working for a label (country is probably still the only music where a person can have a career as a non-jingle writing songwriter) and wrote hundreds of songs, though his own recorded output is quite small”
Of course, to get your foot in the door you need something.
Dennis Linde had that. Elvis took his song “Burning Love” to #2 (#7UK) in 1972 (Elvis would record another two Linde tracks in the 70s) and that is enough to get a contract.
This was his second solo and last album for Elektra (and this third solo album overall). He had recorded an album (1972) as part of the band Nashville rock band “Jubal”. Randy Cullers, Alan Rush and Rob Galbraith, who do session with him here, were with him in Jubal.
I said this about Linde’s first self-titled Electra album from 1973, and I think the same applies here, “Notoriously reclusive and a bit nutty (like John Hartford I believe, or Jerry Jeff Walker) Linde is a magical songwriter – his songs cover all the familiar country themes (women, alcohol, infidelity) but not in familiar ways. He also tackles (like some of his contemporaries) subjects not normally covered in traditional country music – modern living, freaky individuals, alienated outsiders, and the state of the world generally. His songs rarely fail to interest and he as a singer isn't too bad either. This was his second album and released after Elvis had the hit with "Burning Love" – to cash in on some of the songs success. That's not to say the album was rushed though I suspect some of the songs had been sitting around for some time waiting to be recorded by Linde. Also, the songs on this LP aren't particularly country though they have a country feel – perhaps "alt country"?”
Don’t get me wrong, I thought that earlier album was a “minor classic’.
This album is of it's era, the mid 1970s. It is rock with touches of country and a bit of quirk. The rock sounds like what Jeff Lynne would be doing later and the country is buried though permeates the songs. Horns add to the rock 'n' soul and the matter of fact lyrics are of the country outlaw type (though more cryptic).
It is an individual album, and if not individual then an album that belongs with a small group of others of the time. It is both commercial and outside the mainstream.
But, no sales meant Linde was dropped (the standard two album deal it seems). He recorded one more album in 1978 though he kept working till he died in 2006.
Produced by Dennis Linde. All songs written by Dennis Linde unless indicated.
Tracks (best in italics)
Side One
- O'Clock – a stonkin 70s rootsy rocker.
- He Likes To Hurt You – a big "hurt" ballad with country and soft rock overtones. Sort of like what Billy Joel would be recording if he was recording in Nashville. I quite like the "opera" in this song.
- Trapped In The Suburbs – (Dennis Linde, Alan Rush, Bobby Ogdin, Randy Cullers, Rob Galbraith) – first done by Dennis. Written by Dennis and his former band mates from "Jubal". This may be a left over. An interesting mix, of country rock and funk. This could be a song to a blaxploitation film that goes to, errr, you guessed it Nashville.
- Country Steel Man – a country singer-songwriter ballad. IO really like this. It has a dreamy other worldly feel like some of Mike Nesmith's country work.
- Burn Away My Blues – a bit of rollicking mid-tempo old -time carousel rock that Dennis' friend Billy Swan was doing. Very good.
Side Two
- Hell Or High Water – (Dennis Linde-Billy Swan) – from the hand of another from the (fringe of the) Elvis world, Billy Swan. This was first done by Dennis. This has Beach Boys / Beatles / McCartney overtones, but with quirky tempo shifts that are all Linde.
- Peaceful – a slightly hippy rumination. Sort of like Jesse Colin Young, if he was recording in, errrr Nashville.
- My Guitar – another ode to the "guitar" / "guitar player" in the style of "Guitar Man" or "Johnny B Goode". Quite good(e)(sic).
- Just To Think – a great mid 70s ballad, that sounds like … someone I can't put my finger on.
- I'm Rollin' – a catchy poppy rock song with a "Bone She Nine" refrain does as a 50s chorus (and sung by someone called "Bone Wasp" … must be a pseudonym). Cool.
And …
Wow. Not a masterpiece (but close). It is really, really good. Most of the songs are strong and there is a vibe across the album that makes it memorable … I'm keeping it.
Chart Action
Nothing no where
Sounds
Whole album
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp_MMwR5wDs
Others
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-x-LP4ZasY
mp3 attached
Trapped in the Suburbs
Review
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Bio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Linde
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dennis-linde-mn0000202466
Obituary:
http://www.cmt.com/news/country-music/1549504/music-row-gives-songwriter-new-orleans-send-off.jhtml
http://www.nucountry.com.au/articles/diary/december2006/301206_dennislinde_obit.htm
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/dennis-linde-429897.html
http://www.spectropop.com/remembers/DennisLinde.htm
Songs written by Dennis Linde
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_written_by_Dennis_Linde
Website
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Trivia
- Personnel: Bass, Lead Guitar, Orchestra [Effects], Acoustic Guitar – Dennis Linde / Guitar, bass – Alan Rush / Acoustic Guitar – Johnny Christopher / Pedal Steel Guitar – Lloyd Green / Lead Guitar – Jimmy Colvard / Guitar [Tremelo Intro That Was Too Fast For Dennis on “Pesaceful”] – Chip Young / Piano – Bobby Ogdin / Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone – Ronald Eades / Trumpet, Trombone – Harrison Calloway / Congas, Gong [Leg], Bell tree – Farrell Morris / Clavinet, Organ – Bobby Emmons / Drums – Randy Cullers /Backing Vocals – Lea Jane Berinati, The Hollidays, Hershel Wiginton / Other [Rhythmic Consultant] – Rob Galbraith/ Strings arranged by Bill Justis (on “Trapped in the Suburbs”).
- Alan Rush was an American songwriter, musician, singer, engineer and producer. He was directly involved in 5 of the six songs that Elvis wanted to record in January 1977. Alan plays Guitar, Bass and Harmonica. He also did some guitar and vocal overdubs on some Elvis albums in the 70s (as did Rob Galbraith and Dennis Linde).
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Country session player (who plays on this album) Bobby Ogdin was in Tennessee band the Sierras in the 60s before moving to Nashville and into session work and writing. He played in the 70’s with Jubal, Lynn Anderson, Bobby Bare, Melanie, Buffy St Marie, and in Elvis Presley's
- “Linde's daughter, Mary Elizabeth, called "Lisa" (Days of Our Lives, The Darkling) married Hollywood actor James Marsden (X-men, 27 Dresses).[20] The couple sponsored a benefit for the Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis in 2009 to honor Dennis Linde, entitled "A Night of Burnin' Love" that included Rascal Flatts, Montgomery Gentry and Mark Chesnutt and others. Lisa Linde filed for divorce in 2011 after ten years of marriage”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Linde
- “Linde had bizarre challenges for himself; i.e., daring himself to write a song starting with every letter in the alphabet, leading to the creation of "X Marks The Spot" and "Zoot Suit Baby"”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Linde
- Linde is pronounced "Lindy"
