Search - Ben Vaughn :: Mood Swings

Heartfelt, intelligent pop with a clever, humorous edge

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 04/04/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A really *stupendous* collection of Vaughn's recordings from '84-'92. Incredible pop music that blends elements of different genres (rock, folk, rockabilly, country, blues, surf, soul) effortlessly. Vaughn & company can really rock 'n' roll, in the best sense of that term... they remind me a bit of the Young Fresh Fellows, and the Morrells (now the Mummies). Lyrically, Vaughn is quite clever, but not in the cloying sort of novelty-song way that wears thin after a few listenings. Tracks range from the whimsical-in-a-Jonathan- Richman-sort-of-way ("Growing a Beard", "Rhythm Guitar") to the more sardonic ("Dressed in Black", "She's Your Problem Now"), to the sadly silly ("Too Sensitive For This World", "The Man Who Has Everything").Guest musicians abound, but never intrude. Peter Holsapple (ex-dB's) can be heard playing mandolin, Alex Chilton (Box Tops, Big Star, Panther Burns) sings some background vocals, as does John Hiatt. I'd hesitate to call Vaughn a singer-songwriter, even though he wrote all but four tracks on this disc, and two of the remaining four he co-wrote. Roughly half the tracks on the disc are by The Ben Vaughn Combo, while the rest were recorded with a reasonably steady lineup and occasional guests.A few of the tracks here are rerecordings of earlier songs, whose original production Vaughn was unhappy with. I'm not enough of a Vaughn-o-phile to know if this is a Good or a Bad Thing. Either way, the versions on this disc are superb!"

An engineer's comments

MarkSchultz@DasNuts.com | Mixed Nuts Recording Studios, New York | 01/31/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As one who had the pleasure to work with BV in the cool shade of Camden, I can't express what an omission it would be if your music collection did not include some of his music. Everyone mentions humor; I'm digging the stuff that's got a little emotion behind it, and that's most of the stuff. Ben would never want a 5-star rating on his work, I suspect, because that would mean a lot of gussy'n up, which he doesn't like to do. What I remember is not redoing vocals much, not adding bags & bags of reverb, using real instruments instead of synths, and a lot of tinkering with instruments other people ignore, such as acoustic bass, glockinspiel, and the occaisional hubcap. To all, I pass on a comment Ben shared with me once: "If it's got more than 3 chords -- it's jazz!""

A great place to start to enter the wonderful world of BV!

MarkSchultz@DasNuts.com | 12/30/1998

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Especially for those only familiar with Ben's work as the composer/performer heard on NBC's "3rd Rock From the Sun", this compilation is a great place to start wandering through the Ben Vaughn catalog. The original Ben Vaughn Combo is represented here in remakes of 4 classics, including a spirited "Lookin' For a 7-11". Ben is a gifted songwriter, often looking at things in ways no one else does. Odes to hair abound ("Growin' A Beard", "I Dig Your Wig", although "Wrong Haircut" is absent). The CD closes with a new classic in-the-making as "El Camino" takes a humorous look into the world of cars of Spanish "descent". Humor is key to Ben Vaughn songs, he takes it fairly seriously. A wonderful CD, so slap it in your player and "Shingaling With Me". Dedicated to the Geator."