Peter Case

Description

The self-titled solo debut album by the American singer and songwriter Peter Case was released on Geffen Records in 1986. The album was recorded by Larry Hirsch at Ocean Way Recording, Sunset Sound, The Sound Factory, and Capitol Recorders in Los Angeles, California; and at Eagle Audio in Ft. Worth, Texas; and was produced by T-Bone Burnett with tracks A1, A2, A4, and B1 co-produced by Mitchell Froom. Mixed by Hirsch at Sunset Sound, except “Icewater” mixed by Burnett at Sunset Sound Factory.

Of all the young bands to come to light during the Los Angeles new wave glory days of the late 70s and early ’80s, The Plimsouls were among the most deserving and least achieving of commercially unsung groups. An independent EP was followed by two terrific major-label albums, all full of hard-driving, R&B-influenced rock ‘n’ roll that was deliriously introspective but still more than raucous enough for Los Angeles’ alcohol-soaked masses.

The Plimsouls’ tenure came to a halt a few years ago, thanks to the usual commercial disinterest and intra-band tension, and those not lucky enough to live in Los Angeles and see Peter Case’s occasional solo acoustic gigs around town have not heard hide nor hair of him since then. The mystery of what he’s been up to in the intervening years is happily solved (thank Geffen) by the release of ‘Peter Case’, an album that sounds completely unlike The Plimsouls but is every bit as essential.

And what changes has Case gone through since then? Well, for starters, he’s become a Christian and started playing mellower, largely acoustic-oriented music – not that those two necessarily go together, as some might believe, but they do reflect the same basic change in outlook on life since the hard-‘n’-fast days of those wild, drunken Plimsouls sets.

T-Bone Burnett has again applied his magic, invisible production touch (with a third of the 12 songs co-produced by Mitchell Froom) and brought in such sterling guest talents as John Hiatt, Roger McGuinn, and Van Dyke Parks (although, frustratingly, no individual credits are delineated, leaving you and me to guess who sings/plays on what track). Considering the wealth of talent, the album holds together remarkably well as an even-paced cohesive whole depending largely on guitar and harmonica at the core and featuring few accoutrements that stick out of the blend – all in the service of songs told mainly in narrative, short-story format.

Bringing it all together – and supported as it is by the exquisite good taste inherent in the production and instrumentation – are Case’s vocals. At the risk of committing some kind of baby-boomer blasphemy, let’s say that he sounds a bit like a latter-day John Lennon, only better. If that isn’t recommendation enough, let’s add that this is the first rock ‘n’ roll album in ages that’s this slow and thoughtful that won’t also make you, like John Belushi in ‘Animal House’, feel like smashing every acoustic guitar in sight. Mellow rules! Long live folk ‘n’ roll! [Chris Willman, CCM, February 1987]

> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/peter-case/1443855279)

LP tracklist:

Side One
A1. “Echo Wars” – 3:19
A2. “Steel Strings” – 3:47
A3. “Three Days Straight” – 3:35
A4. “More Than Curious” – 4:35
A5. “I Shook His Hand” – 3:36
A6. “Small Town Spree” – 4:07

Side Two
B1. “Old Blue Car” – 3:19
B2. “Walk In The Woods” – 3:37
B3. “Horse & Crow” – 4:16
B4. “Icewater” – 2:46
B5. “Satellite Beach” – 4:15
B6. “Pair Of Brown Eyes” – 5:42

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette, 12-inch vinyl LP, and CD by Geffen Records.

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