OK … I'm a dilettante* but I had never really heard much of Twilley's music before, even though I was aware of him. I found someone on eBay who was selling a batch of his albums cheap so …
I have always had a soft spot for powerpop (though with reservations) mainly because any music that is short, sharp and jagged is worth a listen. And in the 70s awash with disco funk excess, prog rock excess, saccharine Eagles pseudo country rock excess, bloated glam rock excess and nauseating world music excess, powerpop filled the rock void until the rise of punk.
Punk it isn't but rock in a youthful, jubilant way it is, and that's enough. It's easy to see how it was incorporated into punk and the New Wave.
For discussions on powerpop see my previous comments:
what Frank is listening to #29 – D.L. BYRON – This day and Age – (Arista) – 1980
what Frank is listening to #133 -THE SIDEWINDERS – The Sidewinders – (RCA) – 1972
In #133 I said ( and I am repeating what I have said above): "It is clear that the music was influential on subsequent punk acts. Though punk can be traced back to The Saints, Rocket from the Tombs, New York Dolls, and The Ramones and then even further back to the MC5 and The Stooges. (Any further back and there may be the punk energy in individual acts though not the direct stylistic influence IMHO). What is unacknowledged on punk is the less aggressive and more straight forward rock (powerpop) acts that influenced it like Grin ( with Nils Lofgren), Earth Quake, Big Star, The Nerves, Cheap Trick, The Sneakers, The Flamin Groovies and even Bruce Springsteen. What they shared were songs that were short, sharp, in your face, and punchy. Which, in the early to mid 70s … a decade of glam excess, bloated jazz rock fusion, ponderous prog rock pretentious, middle of the road country rock and all forms of disco, sounded quite revolutionary and progressive, despite the fact that lyrically the music rarely rises above boy + girl songs".
Allmusic defines power pop as: "Power Pop is a cross between the crunching hard rock of the Who and the sweet melodicism of the Beatles and Beach Boys, with the ringing guitars of the Byrds thrown in for good measure. Although several bands of the early '70s — most notably the Raspberries, Big Star, and Badfinger — established the sound of power pop, it wasn't until the late '70s that a whole group of like-minded bands emerged".
Despite my general antipathy to the generally overrated The Who ( their best album is Daltry's first solo album) I would still say I disagree with that statement anyway. Yes, the Beach Boys, Beatles and Byrds are all here to be heard but they have all been sped up as a sign of the times rather than crossbred with any The Who crunching hard rock. The Who's crunch is coming from a different place."
The reservations I have with powerpop lie around the fact that powerpop rarely broke new ground.
If you have a powerpop compilation put one on and you will see what I mean.
What intrigued me about Twilley though is the reference to him being some sort of a bastard offspring of a union between The Beatles and Elvis.
He and band mate (the equally talented) Phil Seymour were kids from the Midwest (Tulsa,Oklahoma – legend has it they met at a revival screening of "A Hard Day's Night" in 1967) which meant they grew up in relative isolation from the music centres on the East and West coasts. They had been enamoured with the punchier side (pre-"Sgt Pepper) of the Beatles since the late 60s and also, apparently, they had a love of Sun records, so much so that they actually travelled to Memphis and met with Sam Phillips who listened to their tape, gave them advice, and hooked them up with Sun rockabilly legend Ray Harris from where they developed a love of Elvis and developed a sound that was equal parts Beatles and Elvis (or so the story goes).
Dwight himself gives a variation on the story: http://www.spinner.com/2010/03/12/dwight-twilley-interview-sxsw-2010/
"I grew up with the Beatles and was really influenced by that. Started out, had a little band and had all those expectations of that sort of sound. By chance, when we first got started, we couldn't afford to go out to L.A. or New York, so we decided to take a cassette and go to Memphis, because that was close to Tulsa. We were just kids and we had a cassette and we wanted to play it for a real record company. Turned out that we just walked into a record company, not paying any attention to what it was and it turned out to be a place called Sun Records. We played our tape and this guy named [Sam] Phillips liked the sound of it. He organized us going down to record with a producer that was an early Sun artist, Ray Harris, in Tupelo, Mississippi, of all places. So, I think that describes where my sound came from. It’s being influenced by the Beatles and later on, having this whole rockabilly-rock ‘n’ roll-Elvis-Sun Records influence, kind of mingling the two. I think that’s the main thing that [set] my sound and the original Dwight Twilley Band sound aside from a lot of the bands at that time. …. [The Beatles and Sun Records influence is] the main thing that’s set us aside from other groups — kind of an English rockabilly [sound]".
A pretty good definition and incidentally a lot of this can easily fit into the musical book of legendary English rock 'n' roller Dave Edmunds.
Certainly the Beatles can be heard all over this album whilst the Elvis influence is a little more obscure but clearly there is a lot of Sun era echo. In any event Twilley later went on to cover many Beatles and Elvis songs as well as write many songs that sound like the Beatles or Elvis.
And when you think of it, Elvis as powerpop isn't that far fetched … a number of his movies songs could fit the bill and surely "Burning Love" from 1972 could be a powerpopper …
This album is produced by Oister (which is Twilley and Seymour and was the name of their original band) and the band are in fine form with Leon Russell adding some piano. All songs are written by Twilley. Apparently a young Tom Petty did some backing vocals also (and the music is not dissimilar to his). The brains though are clearly Twilley and Seymour (only they are pictured on the back and the inner art work). Seymour was central to the sound but I suppose Twilley got the headline because he wrote the songs.
Mood wise the album is both nostalgia and retro on one hand and contemporary on the other. The music is exuberant but there are some nice melancholy touches. This may be a little too pop for some ears but if there ever was an album that captures the dreams of a couple of kids to leave their surrounds and see the world as they believe it was then this is it.
Tracks (best in italics)
- I'm On Fire – 3:15 – The single came out in 1975 and was a hit (retro rock was big … think "Happy Days" etc). After it did well they had to build an album around it … this one. Very much an updated rockabilly sound and a great song.
- Could Be Love – 2:38 – Twilley is channelling Lennon singing southern soul here … and a great tune it is.
- Feeling in the Dark – 2:54 – the backing voices and the guitar remind me of a more subdued Led Zeppelin which is not that strange though as Led Zeppelin could be a heavy rock rockabilly band at times. This song is a grower.
- You Were So Warm – 2:25 – hello Beatles, hello The Searchers …
- I'm Losing You – 2:11 – a gentle ballad of love lost – has to be one on every powerpop album.
- Sincerely – 2:38 – wow … as experimental as powerpop gets … again Beatles vocal and melody over some Sun era echo.
- TV – 2:13 – apparently Elvis was keen to cover this track. I don't know if that is true but this song is certainly in the Elvis mould … and really leads into what Robert Gordon would take up later.
- Release Me – 2:28 – another song that harkens back to the late 50s and teen heartbreak songs …
- Three Persons – 2:05 – a beautiful pop song in the vein of the 60s US pop response to the British Invasion … think "When You walk in the Room" or Gary Lewis …
- Baby Let's Cruise – 3:00 – another late 50s weepie, as if it was sung by Paul McCartney.
- England – 2:33 – despite the title I'm not sure what this one is about … seriously.
- Just Like the Sun – 2:46 – not dissimilar to a McCartney solo song …
And…
This could be one of the best powerpop records I have heard thus far as it has it's fair share of great songs whilst the rest are all good or better. Also, importantly it is more inventive than others in the genre … I'm keeping this.
Chart Action
US
Singles
I'm On Fire – #16
Singles
I'm On Fire – #16
Album
#138
#138
England
zip (like most powerpop nothing charted in the UK)
zip (like most powerpop nothing charted in the UK)
Sounds
I'm on Fire
live
Feeling in the Dark
You Were So Warm
Sincerely
attached
TV
attached
Three Persons
attached
Others
Review
Bio
Website
Trivia
- *STEVE ALBINI in Magnet : "The bands you mention (Big Star, Raspberries, Flamin’ Groovies, Cheap Trick, Dwight Twilley, Shoes, dB’s, Matthew Sweet, Posies) are utterly unrelated. I can tolerate some of them, love the Flamin’ Groovies and Cheap Trick and have a profound hatred of the rest. I cannot bring myself to use the term “power pop.” Catchy, mock-descriptive terms are for dilettantes and journalists. I guess you could say I think this music is for pussies and should be stopped". (Thanks Ivan … I certainly agree with Albini on the Groovies and Cheap Trick but do think all the others mentioned have some great tunes)
- mining the same Elvis / Beatles hybrid mountain though infinitely more quirky and thinking well outside the box is the legendary R Stevie Moore http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1MfeLx6Uds&a=GxdCwVVULXemrcolG-Qy5IU8OQu1xJ-e&list=ML&playnext=1
Other Comments
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Picture
The Dwight Twilley Band : Manager Ron Henry, Dwight, the late Phil Seymour & Bruce Wheeler
(originally posted: 24/10/2010)
what Frank is listening to #180 – DWIGHT TWILLEY BAND – Sincerely – (Shelter) – 1976
