Search - :: Halcyon Times

All the rock with country influence I'll ever need

John Werner | Cullman, AL USA | 06/28/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Almost 40 years ago there was this band out in California. They played a little rock with some strong folk and country influences. They became the posterchildren of the LA country-rock scence while they grey to dislike one another,all the while as if they made a deal at the "crossroads" they got bigger and bigger until they were literally a Fortune 500 company more than a band. Still each album sold more while offering less and less. It didn't matter, they got richer and when they denied the fans their awesome goodness the fans begged for forgiveness. In the interest of the fans they decided to relent and once more grace them with their prescence...although at a newer corporate approved pricing structure. The music, while performed with amazing accuracy, now lost all it's intrinsic heart...and the crowds begged for still more. In the interest of yet once more keeping the fans interest close to their hearts they gave them a gift of a new album in which all of the new songs completed the journey of greatness to dismal mediocrity, this time though they threw in something old just to incite the loyal subjects to what once was. O.K., enough of this crap! I know I'm blathering...sorry.



What I meant to say is the most amazing melding of country and "real rock and roll" ever was a little band called Jason & The Scorchers. They were the real deal and never lost themselves in spite of coming into existence when some of the most synthetic music ever recorded was becoming the flavor of the day. Every album they put out was very good and most were great. Because they music business was in transition to the aforementioned more synthetic sound and also entering a period where video actually caused success or failure, the power and grit of this real deal band was largely ignored. We didn't know it then but the music business model was beginning to fail and would ultimately implode by the next decade. Some of the worst habits that caused it to fail were working against this band in the meantime and they bounced to several labels, yet never compromising to the point of ever putting out anything embarassing because, as stated, they were the real deal when it came to so-called "country rock". As George Harrison muscially proclaimed: "All Things Must Pass", and so did this great band - preferring to call it a day since the business was so geared toward anything but talent. I never blamed them, but many times thought what an injustice there was this one Fortune 500 outfit that kept claiming they invented country rock (while playing country schlock) and getting richer all the while. But, something strange happened...Some Europeans never wanted to forget about Jason, Warner, Perry, and Jeff. They wrote glowingly about them in the press and created enough traction to get them back together a couple of times over. Well, people grow if they don't wither and these guys could, seemingly, pick up right where they left off each time as if tapping into some synergistic power source which kept the legend growing right along. That brings us to today...just a little more than 14 years after their last studio album "Clear Impetuous Morning", an great injustice is righted, and once again people everywhere can hear "the real deal" as to what rock and roll with true country and folk influences should sound like and it ain't got nothing to do with anything Fortune 500 related (if you get my gist).



Halcyon Times by Jason And The Scorchers is one of the best albums from any decade when it comes to this genre of rock. These guys amaze me - instead of a fourteen year layoff it sounds more like 14 days where some transformation ocurred whereby they were granted superpowers: copious amounts insight and maturity to go along with their already prodigous talent. They always rocked with abandon most bands could only hope to approach, now they have some great "William Faulkne-rish", if you will, gothic story telling to deepen the musical well! This stuff is truly great, it reasonates with realism, but is infectous and fun. These guys did what conventional wisdom dictates can't happen in music - that is they quit for a very long time and came back stronger. Thanks Jason and Warner for restoring my belief in what country rock can be. I wish you the best and I hope just one person reads into my passion for what you are accomplishing, buys Halcyon Times and infected with the joy of your gift. And yes, this is really a gift and it's a shame these guys won't make a thousandth of what that schlocky band's "gift" a couple years back generated. But, hey, real rock and roll has not one thing to do with capitalism and I'm happier for it. If you love JATS you must have this, if you've never heard JATS and you want to hear what country rock should sound like, get this, and finally, if you want to hear what one of the greatest rock bands of all times sounds like...GET THIS!



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