With iconic garage-punk trio the Oblivians, with the Parting Gifts (his collaboration with the Ettes’ Coco Hames and Jem Cohen), with a legion of other one-offs and defunct projects, and, for the past 13 years with driving rock ‘n’ soul revue the Reigning Sound, Greg Cartwright has chased various traces of American rock and pop to arrive at something singularly his. Still, with his legacy perfectly well cemented among garage-rock aficionados and discerning vinyl-heads, Cartwright is still chasing the unexpected. The Reigning Sound’s latest album, Shattered, is the band’s sixth proper full-length, a follow-up to 2009’s Love And Curses, and its debut for Merge. Cartwright will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new feature on him.
Cartwright: There’s a few records I’d like to tell you about that might have slipped under your radar. They definitely were unknown to me until they were brought to my attention by my friend Andy Robertson about 10 years ago. You’ve all heard of Dion And The Belmonts and likely heard their string of chart-topping hits from the early ’60s like “Runaround-Sue” or “The Wanderer.” Around 1962 Dion went solo, and not long after that he signed with a bigger label, Columbia Records. Columbia thought they were signing a ready-made teen idol, but Dion had quite a bit of baggage and was struggling with heroin addiction. He also had his own ideas about what kind of music he wanted to play. Initially, Columbia got exactly what they wanted. Three top-10 hits straight out of the gate, but it was a short-lived success. Prodded by John Hammond, Dion began to record sessions with Tom Wilson in ’64 that pushed into a more folk/blues and introspective direction. Some of these, like his great version of “Spoonful” also featured Al Kooper, who later played on some of Dylan’s first electric sessions. It is somewhat interesting to note that the trajectory of Dion and Dylan were now seeming to line up in many ways. Two artists that would have seemed polar opposites only a year or two earlier. Dion however, was transitioning out of commercial success and Dylan was on his way in. Dion put a new group together called the Wanderers and recorded some of his best folk rock in 65′ with “Tomorrow Won’t Bring The Rain” and “Wonder Where I’m Bound,” as well as songs that blurred the line between his teen-idol past life and his new found rough edges like “Two Ton Feather” and “Kickin Child.” None of them charted, however, and his relationship with Columbia began to look tenuous. In late ’66, he reunited with the Belmonts and recorded a classic (if overlooked) LP for ABC called Together Again. It recycles some of the material that flopped at Columbia and is a great mixed bag of straight-up Bronx doo wop and gritty rockin’ tunes with surreal lyrics that once again conjure images of Dylan or even the Velvet Underground. One of the stand outs is the only single from the LP, “My Girl The Month Of May,” which was covered shortly after by the original lineup of Fairport Convention. These astute connoisseurs of American folk/rock clearly saw what others did not. There is only one CD available that has all the Columbia singles we’re discussing. It’s called Road I’m On, and it’s a two-disc affair released by Sony. Our focus being mainly disc two. After the ABC LP, Dion re-signed with the Laurie label that had released his earliest hits, and he had a huge hit for them in the summer of 1968 with “Abraham, Martin And John.” This prompted Columbia to rush out an album of the folk/blues that they had in the can. It’s a great album, but they omitted some of his most choice tunes. The original singles are near impossible to locate as most of them never left the promo stage. That’s why you really need to check out that Sony CD. The Dion And The Belmonts “Together Again” LP on ABC has also been reissued on CD and contains 11 unreleased songs and alternate takes. Amazing! In an attempt to confuse the consumer, Laurie Records also released an album called Together Again. That’s not the one you want, so be warned.
Check out “Tomorrow Won’t Bring the Rain” after the jump.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6qhOC0czq0
