If you’ve never heard of the Paisley Underground, it’s not surprising. This rock subgenre—which emphasized psychedelia, electric guitar interplay, and vocal harmonies—flourished mostly just in Southern California and only from the late 1970s to the late 1980s. Moreover, it produced just one band—the Bangles—that broke through nationally and achieved substantial commercial success.
But you don’t have to be hugely successful to be hugely influential. Paisley Underground groups—which were themselves influenced by 1960s acts like the Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, the Velvet Underground, the Seeds, and Love—had an impact on numerous performers who emerged later. And much of their music was as outstanding as it was obscure.
For evidence, check out a new box set called This Can’t Be Today: American Psychedelia & the Paisley Underground 1977–1988, which comes with a 44-page booklet that contains information about every artist and song. As the liner notes indicate, “many of the usual suspects are here,” including the Dream Syndicate, Green on Red, Long Ryders, the 3 O’clock, the Rain Parade, and, of course, the Bangles (as well as their predecessor group, the Bangs).
But this three-CD, 67-song collection digs deeper, offering excellent tracks from bands that even some Paisley Underground aficionados might not know—outfits such as Dumptruck, the Vertebrats, Ultravivid Scene, and the Pajamas. The clamshell-boxed collection also makes room for a smattering of material from better-known contemporaneous acts that, while not part of the Paisley Underground, shared some of its influences and tendencies. These include R.E.M., Husker Du, and Big Star’s Chris Bell.
Like many multi-artist anthologies, this compendium is uneven. “Hangin’ Around,” by Art Bloch (a veteran of a Seattle punk band called the Cheaters) is mediocre garage rock, for example, and the overwrought “Euphoric Trapdoor Shoes” by an outfit known as Plasticland is about as profound as Iron Butterfly’s “In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida.” However, a large portion of this anthology consists of overlooked gems.
“Deposition Central (The Acid Song),” by an L.A. group called the Unclaimed, is a thrilling rocker about an LSD trip that uses organ as effectively as Question Mark & the Mysterians and the Animals. Wire Train’s equally trippy “Everything’s Turning Up Down Again” is another winner, thanks largely to its reverb-spiced production, driving rhythm, and ringing guitars. The Dream Syndicate, meanwhile, delivers a red-hot “Sure Thing” in a live radio performance given days before the group recorded its first-rate debut LP, The Days of Wine and Roses. And the Rain Parade’s “What She’s Done to Your Mind” serves up an irresistible brew of jangly guitars, gorgeous vocals, and a catchy, seemingly Beatles-influenced melody.
These are far from the only standouts in a set that collects the best of the underappreciated Paisley Underground movement.
Also Noteworthy
Elvis ’56. This documentary, which first appeared in 1987, has recently been remastered in high definition and is being released on Blu-ray. Produced by the Academy Award-winning Alan and Susan Raymond, who are known for such series as PBS’s An American Family, the 58-minute film focuses on the year when Elvis Presley went from being a Southern curiosity to a full-blown national phenomenon.
The narration by the Band’s Levon Helm is uninspired and contains nothing that will come as news to anyone who knows the basics of Presley’s story. However, the performance clips—complete songs performed on The Steve Allen Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, and elsewhere—are well worth watching. So are the film’s other elements, such as a video of Perry Como singing the vapid “Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom),” which make clear just how revolutionary Presley’s music was at the time.
The Light Crust Doughboys, Swinging Down in Texas: The Singles Collection 1932–41. The Light Crust Doughboys—named to promote a Texas company’s Light Crust Flour—are notable partly because their members included three giants of Western swing, Bob Wills and singer Milton Brown, who founded the group, and Tommy Duncan, who sang with it.
Unfortunately, its recording career happened almost entirely after all three had left the band, so none of them appear on this 54-track, two-CD collection. But the set does feature an impressive array of Western swing musicians and their spirited versions of standards such as “Waiting for the Robert E. Lee,” “My Blue Heaven,” “Sitting on Top of the World,” and “El Rancho Grande.”
Its title notwithstanding, the collection’s earliest recording appears to date from late 1933. The set features most of the A and B sides released by the group between then and 1942, when the original Light Crust Doughboys disbanded. There’s no indication that the material has been remastered for this release, but, especially considering the age of these mono recordings, the audio quality is good. A 20-page booklet features detailed discographic information and a newly written essay.
Sam Lewis, Everything’s Fine. Nashville-based singer/songwriter Sam Lewis’s seventh studio album is an intimate, acoustic affair that features understated vocals and literate, introspective lyrics. Lewis wrote (or in three cases co-wrote) all the songs aside from the album-closing “Three County Highway,” an Indigo Girls cover.
Though one number (“Lischey’s Retreat”) is an instrumental that’s reportedly named after his cat, most of the tunes concern love relationships. Some, such as “Chase the Moon” and “Nothing Could Break Us Apart,” limn thriving romances. Others, though, tell sadder stories. One such song is “The Light,” a duet with Netherlands native Judy Blank, that concludes, “If I can’t be what you want me to be, don’t leave the light on.” Another is “I’ll Never Be Enough for You,” which begins, “Just before we say goodnight, we lie and say everything’s alright.”
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Jeff Burger’s website, byjeffburger.com, contains more than four decades’ worth of music reviews and commentary. His books include Dylan on Dylan: Interviews and Encounters, Lennon on Lennon: Conversations with John Lennon, Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen: Interviews and Encounters, and Springsteen on Springsteen: Interviews, Speeches, and Encounters.