11-08-2008, 04:26 PM
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#124
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Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Crowsnest Pass
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With my first pick in the draft I select in the Folk (Country) category, Lost & Found by JASON & THE SCORCHERS(1985):
http://jasonandthescorchers.com/
Their sound was described as "TNT From Tennessee," "country punk," and "Merle Haggard meets the Ramones." Jason was nicknamed "Jerry Lee Rotten." In reality, the band was simply working out on stage what they had in their heads and hearts from their teenage years: roots in country, hearts in rock, minds more or less in the gutter. All the members of the band grew up around country music, but they were interested in rock as well. Whatever the impetus, from 1982 to 1985 Jason and the Scorchers were one of the best live bands ever.
Jason & the Scorchers to receive Americana Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement in Performance Award on Sept 18th!
Jason & the Scorchers' first full-length album, Lost & Found, explodes out of the starting gate with "Last Time Around," a no-quarter rocker that starts with a blast from Perry Baggs' snare drum that sounds like a gunshot, and power chords from Warner Hodges' guitar that cut like a machete, and while the album's dynamics allow the impact of the music to rise and fall over the course of these 11 songs, the set always lives up to the high stakes set by the opening salvo. While the Scorchers' Fervor EP rocked hard, Lost & Found hits even harder, but also reveals a broader musical palate; "White Lies," "If Money Talks," and "Change the Tune" back up this band's reputation as Nashville's toughest country punks, but the honky tonk piano on "Broken Whiskey Glass" and feral fiddle work on "Blanket of Sorrow" show the big amps didn't drown out their traditionalist impulses. And while the Scorchers may rev "Lost Highway" up to 95 mph, the two acoustic numbers, "Still Tied" and "Far Behind," could pass for lost classics from some Grand Ol' Opry legend's songbook, and the latter tune makes clear Jason Ringenberg can sing sad and pretty every bit as well as he can howl the rock & roll. There was usually an element of camp in most early cowpunk acts, but Jason & the Scorchers thankfully had no truck with irony or derisive humor; they believed in the emotional honesty of great country music as much as the raw fury of punk, and Lost & Found pays homage to both with the undiluted passion of true believers, and it's the best record this fine band would ever make.
Track-List:
1 Last Time Around 3:06
2 White Lies 3:19
3 If Money Talks 2:33
4 I Really Don't Want to Know 4:29
5 Blanket of Sorrow 2:19
6 Shop it Around 2:58
7 Lost Highway 2:00
8 Still Tied 3:20
9 Broken Whiskey Glass 3:50
10 Far Behind 3:50
11 Change the Tune 2:39
White Lies
Shop It Around
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....IN01/809140390
What, then, is the big deal about a band that never had a gold record or a Top 20 hit?
Thursday's career achievement award isn't about sales figures, it's about energy, inspiration and influence. The Scorchers' American collision of punk, rock and country battered some doors, and if the band emerged with broken collarbones from all that banging, groups such as the Georgia Satellites, the Black Crowes, Wilco and Son Volt were free to walk right through. The band opened minds and ears in Nashville as well, as evidenced by a display at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, where Ringenberg's red shirt, the one he wore for the Fervor cover shoot, hangs behind glass.
Last edited by troutman; 12-13-2008 at 09:37 AM.
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