Peter Holsapple – The Face of ’68
After accumulating wonderful credentials throughout his career, Peter Holsapple has slipped back into a more roots-oriented collection with his more stylish guitar playing. Recorded in Durham, North Carolina & performed by Peter with Rob Ladd (drums), Robert Sledge (bass), Mark Simonsen, Marti Jones Dixon & producer Don Dixon, 11 pieces shape The Face of ’68 (Dropped April 18/Label 51/Flatiron Recordings/43:04) by the former dB’s musician & Continental Drifters member. Peter also worked with artists like R.E.M., Hootie & the Blowfish, the Golden Palominos, the Troggs, Claire Lynch & his wife Marti Jones. Each seems to have rubbed off on his ear.
This effort is Americana by way of melodic rock that dominated the ’60s charts. There are hat tips to the Beatles, the Raspberries, Badfinger & artists who weren’t necessarily garage rock but skillful song crafters. Holsapple always had a talent for tightly constructed melodic teasers & the one that pulls the earlobe immediately is “The Face of ’68.” The songs are simple, but if you’re a songwriter from the school of Ray Davies (The Kinks), Russ Tolman, Bobby Sutliff, Bourgeois Tagg, Emitt Rhodes & Paul McCartney (Beatles), these types of songs can be tricky to compose.
The melody, clever lyrics & being hooky without sliding into a novelty murk is rather magical. Peter seems to have an abundance of ideas. The majority work well if not play on just a bit too long & lose their grip (“Larger Than Life”). But not always. Not always.
Peter is a professional who has lots of bounce in his Spaulding. “My Idea #49” is a blast furnace of rock rooted in a well-layered melody with exceptional instrumentation. It may even be as wacky good as anything the ever-creative Mael Brothers (Sparks) came up with. Peter’s vocals are good & the guitars drone with brawny rhythmic power. Peter blended well with the likes of Continental Drifters. His diversification was not eccentric, too wildly out of sync, or risky with mannered songs. He isn’t Syd Barrett or Nick Drake, but has an imaginative ingredient to his stylistic mix. And what makes this happen with brilliance is the lack of bombastic arrangements. No whimsical piano, snarly guitars & everything is exuberant (“High High Horse”) without being too Smithereens fueled.
The songs have their reasonable dips into seriousness. It’s a nostalgic run through for baby boomers without being pretentious. Record collecting is the subject of the name-dropping in “That Kind of Guy” gussied up nicely. “One For the Book” almost sounds like a solo Paul McCartney percolating through his intonation. Fiery guitars smoke on “See About You.”
This is a fun listen throughout.
Highlights – “The Face of 68,” “My Idea #49,” “High High Horse,” “That Kind of Guy,” “One For the Book,” & “See About You.”
B&W image courtesy of Peter’s Bandcamp. CD @ Amazon & Bandcamp + https://label51recordings.com/peter-holsapple/
Enjoy our interview here: Interview: Peter Holsapple Identifies as an “Omnicana” Musician, Talks About Model Cars, His Concept Album, and the Disappearance of Credits