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 Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 6:58 pm |
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Ben Vaughn "Vaughn Sings Vaughn (Vol. 1)" (Manymoods)
Vaughn is most widely known for his compositional contributions to
television's "3rd Rock From the Sun" and "That '70s Show," and from
well-known covers of his songs by Marshall Crenshaw ("I'm Sorry (But
So is Brenda Lee)") and The Morells ("The Man Who Has Everything").
Liner note readers will also recognize his name from production work
he's performed for an array of artist that spans Charlie Feathers,
Arthur Alexander, Ween, and Los Straitjackets. Ironically, his own
carefully rendered recordings, starting with 1985's "The Many Moods of
Ben Vaughn" and running through 2006's "Designs in Music" mostly
remain the province of dedicated fans. His '80s and '90s releases with
the Ben Vaughn Combo are a treasure trove of '60s style, clever
lyrics, droll vocals, AM radio hooks and, ultimately, a surprising
amount of emotion for a songwriter whose tongue is usually found in
his cheek.
This 2006 volume represents the first in a series of recordings that
promises to catalog all of Vaughn's songs - those he's recorded
before, those he hasn't, and those recorded only by others - all waxed
anew in a live-in-the-studio setting with his latest backing band, The
Desert Classic. This isn't the first time Vaughn's rethought his
earlier work; 1986's Many Moods of Ben Vaughn revisited a few titles
whose original renderings didn't meet the author's later vision. But
never before has he approached the task of sorting through his entire
catalog and reimagining both the songs and the connections they form
by appearing together on a CD. The titles on this first volume stretch
from the 1986 debut CD The Many Moods of Ben Vaughn through 1999's A
Date With Ben Vaughn, and though they're not necessarily radical
reinterpretations, they're often thoughtfully recast.
Vaughn's current group leans to Americana, particularly in the use of
organ and accordion, swapping the Brill Building vibe of many earlier
renditions for a rootsier approach. The bouncy backing and happy-go-
lucky vocal of the original "Big House With a Yard" is replaced here
by a terrific electric guitar and a beseeching vocal that's spent a
few more years locked up in the title's prison. Similarly, the classic
"Shingaling With Me," originally an effervescent summer's night memory
is heavier of heart here, the longing now seasoned with a dose of
nostalgia. Most emblematic of Vaughn's shifting view of his own songs
is "I'm Sorry (But So Is Brenda Lee," originally waxed by Marshall
Crenshaw in 1985, "covered" by Vaughn in 1986, and then reworked once
more in 1992. His third version offers an upbeat arrangement that
turns the earlier versions' despondency to stridency.
Nothing here blows away the original versions, but that doesn't seem
to be the point. Instead, Vaughn's musical ideas have grown and
changed, and like a father's modulating relationship with his maturing
children, the songwriter's own maturation provides new insights to his
works. While this is foremost a treat for longtime fans (particularly
for the introduction of several titles Vaughn seems never to have
released commercially), those new to Vaughn's dry, witty pop-craft
will find these versions stand up alongside the originals. [(c)2008
redtunictroll at hotmail dot com] |
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