Description
Songs from the Riverhouse is the sophomore album by the American rock combo Robert Vaughn & The Shadows, released on Alternative Records in 1991. Classic Rock and Modern Electric Blues in the vein of artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan, David Lindley, Jeff Healey and Omar & the Howlers.
This album was available for a very limited time, when Sony signed Robert Vaughn and took the Alternative release out of circulation. Some were sold, most were to be destroyed. Sony’s new version of Songs from the Riverhouse, tentatively titled The Beautiful Life, never was released.
After shopping ‘Songs from the Riverhouse’ around, Priority and Sony both wanted RV on board. Priority wanted Riverhouse as I conceived it, packaging, songs, and all with Alternative Records’ continued association. Sony wanted some of the songs, wanted some remixing and new material, and me out of the way. Eventually, Sony was chosen because they offered more long-term support in terms of tour and radio promotion. Through some loopholes in the contract, Sony was able to basically take the rights to ‘Riverhouse’ in all forms – including the videos. I had to fight just to get a percentage of future album sales from the Sony project. In the end, Sony spent over $140,000 on recording songs and remixes and still chose not to release it. I remember some executive from the East Coast showed up and heard the album and said that he thought 1992 was “not going to be the year of the singer-songwriter” – and it was shelved. It was also a bad album – not so much in terms of the songs, but the production – incredibly over-produced, over-wrought arrangements. «Say», a gentle little song from ‘Riverhouse’ was turned into a 5 minute power ballad. The best example of producers gone amok was with the track «Gypsy Girl» – we had used “fake drums” on that track (although most people couldn’t tell). Studio drummer legend, the late Jeff Porcaro, was brought in to add “real drums” – but couldn’t match the part we’d programmed! So they sampled Jeff’s sound and programmed that – amazing stuff. [Randy Layton, Alternative Records]
From the 2024 remastered LP’s liner notes:
Robert Vaughn and the Shadows absolutely knocked us out with their 1987 Island / Exit Records debut Love and War. (If you missed my deep dive into that glorious should-have-been hit, find it – and check out the reflection we ran on the True Tunes Podcast when Randy Layton and Alternative Records resurrected it with a stunning reissue a couple of years back.) When Vaughn and Co. returned in 1991 with Songs From The Riverhouse I’m not sure any of his fans were quite ready for what he delivered. If Love and War was epic-scale alternative-hued arena rock built for stadiums and arenas (even if only in our minds), Riverhouse was the opposite of all that. Gone were the heavily gated drums, the electric piano, those glittering 80s guitar effects, and even the impressionistic anthems. In their place, we found a stripped-back batch of rootsy, (we certainly would not have known to call it Americana yet) blues-based songs that leaned into Country, Gospel, and older strains of classic rock and roll.
Instead of transcendent sentiments, Riverhouse delivered a series of earthy character sketches – often disturbingly intimate and visceral in nature. It’s not some kind of bluegrass breakdown or low-budget acoustic outtakes project, though. This collection – originally intended for wider release by Sony – was rich, dense, textured – and still full of ambiance and swagger. It fell somewhere on the same side of the tracks as that era’s Mellencamp, Alarm, and Rainmakers sets – maybe with a tad bit of Golden Earring or Red Rider thrown in – and while I may not have expected it – it was right up my alley. It could have been the soundtrack to a Rodriguez film, and it mystified me then (and now) that it didn’t absolutely blow up. There is not an average song to be found – and tracks like «Velvet Tattoo», «Stone Cold Rhythm Shake», and «House Of My Friends» remain favorites to this day. – John J. Thompson
CD tracklist:
01. Golden Slippers and Cheap Perfume – 3:25
02. Banker and The Gun – 3:25
03. Gypsy Girl – 5:05
04. Velvet Tattoo (Slight Return) – 4:42
05. Southern Nights – 5:24
06. Heartbeat Away from Forever – 4:33
07. Stone Cold Rhythm Shake – 5:06
08. Hearbreak and Ecstasy – 2:35
09. Wartime Cabaret – 4:12
10. Blue Country – 4:44
11. Dreams – 6:58
12. Say – 3:48
13. Delilah and Me and The Poor Man’s Revolution – 2:46
14. Lost Highway – 3:30
15. Baby Why’d You Leave Me – 5:22
16. You Could Be Mine – 6:20
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Alternative Records. “Lost Highway” is featured on the CD only. The cassette version features a bonus track; “Justice ’91”. The CD was also released in long box form. Available at Bandcamp: https://robertvaughntheshadows.bandcamp.com/album/songs-from-the-riverhouse-remastered
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