Description
Sticks and Stones is the fourth album by the American rock band The Seventy Sevens, released on Broken Records in 1990, a Brainstorm Artists International imprint manufactured and distributed by Word. The album was also released in Europe by Spark Music, featuring a quite different tracklist. Produced by Michael Roe of The 77s and Steve Griffith of Vector fame.
According to All Music Guide critic J. Edward Keyes the album is “a kind of mini history of rock from 1955 to 1987 – guided and constructed by someone who sounds like he has memorized every note.” The cover artwork pays homage to the sleeve design of Little Richard’s self-titled album released on RCA Camden in 1958.
Finally, The 77s return to us in recorded form, and Sticks & Stones proves to be a record that fulfills all the praise and hopes we’ve lavished on this band in the past. Island Records broke off with Exit, the subsidiary label for The 77s, Charlie Peacock, Vector, and Robert Vaughn & the Shadows among others, soon after The 77s proved to be too intelligent and hip for the Top 40 market, and too commercial and accessible to please the demanding, purest college radio/alternative rock market. So this terminally hip, too-smart-for-its-own-good, big-fish-in-a-small-pond band, that remained much loved among Christian alternative fans – but couldn’t get arrested in N.Y.C. or L.A. – got lost in the demo wars.
Now, thanks to Broken The 77s are getting out some of those great songs that have been floating around the underground on demos for the last 24 months or so. Although we have learned that the original band has dissolved down to just Mike Roe, these tracks were recorded when Mark Tottle, Jan Eric and Aaron Smith were all still together, and the bulk of the compositions are a full band effort. As on past releases, The 77s bare a bevy of stylistic influences; early Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis rock ‘n’ roll, folk harmonies and jangling, ringing guitar from the likes of the Byrds, sophisticated European techno-pop ala The Cure and The Comsat Angels, and punk influences from Velvet Underground to Talking Heads. All have found their way into the eclectic amalgam that has become standard over The 77s four releases.
Thematically, Sticks & Stones seeks to explore the meaning and value of love in a world where examples of commitment, devotion and satisfaction seem few and far between. While many of the lyrics apply directly to human romantic relationships on the surface, the issues run quickly to spiritual concerns and a willingness to sacrifice oneself for a loved one. «MT» and «Nowhere Else» express vows of belonging, while «Love Without Dreams» and «This is the Way Love Is» explore the meaning of the emotion in terms of a deeper set of values. «Perfect Blues» and «God Sends Quails» look beyond human failings for the forgiveness and acceptance that finds its root in the divine. The CD contains four alternate versions of tracks lifted off The 77s as a bonus.
The 77s have a vital way of sharing deep, spiritually enlightening truth on a given situation, without tipping its hat to that intention. The experience is one of rockin’ out, singing along until you hit a line like love is “a one-sided double-minded mirror with no reflection,” and you find yourself pulled up short, seeing your own failure to love for what it is. And isn’t. While some will wonder why there “aren’t more songs about Jesus,” I would be quick to suggest that these songs of self-sacrifice, other-loving models for meaningful relationship – and songs about when those qualities are painfully not at work, are ultimately about the One whose love meant laying down His life for His friends. [Brian Q. Newcomb, CCM, September 1990]
What is most remarkable about Sticks and Stones, far and away the strongest record The 77’s ever produced, is that it is essentially a compilation of rejects. Though it is comprised entirely of aborted singles and stray studio recordings, Sticks and Stones is as masterful and fluid as any proper album. From the clattering, rambunctious opener «MT» to the stark, harrowing «God Sends Quails», The 77’s combine elements of classic pop and obstinate new wave around Michael Roe’s aching tenor and desperate lyrics. The anthemic tendencies that upstaged the songwriting on The 77’s are here reined in and controlled, leaving large, open spaces for Roe and Mark Tootle to flood with melody. «Don’t, This Way», a haunting contemplation of mortality, is carried along on a single, sorrowful guitar line. «Nowhere Else» is a dazzling pop number buttressed by the Shirelles-like backing vocals of the Nurk Sisters. But perhaps the record’s most trenchant, compelling feature is the way that Roe’s longtime preoccupation with human failure here gives way to a naked yearning for love. Having spent the bulk of The 77’s in remorse, Roe turns Sticks and Stones into a plea for compassion, pleading at one point to “release the past” lest it pollute the future. Though they were culled from disparate sources, the songs on Sticks and Stones together form a compelling portrait of sorrow and renewal, as affecting as it is timeless. [J. Edward Keyes, AMG]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/sticks-and-stones/521572669)
CD tracklist (Original Broken Records version):
01. MT – 3:51
02. Nowhere Else – 4:11
03. This Is the Way Love Is – 5:06
04. Perfect Blues – 6:06
05. Don’t, This Way – 7:22
06. You Walked in the Room – 4:22
07. The Days to Come – 4:22
08. The Loop – 3:51
09. God Sends Quails – 6:28
10. Love Without Dreams – 4:55
Lost Island Treasures:
11. Do It For Love – 3:14
12. The Lust, the Flesh, the Eyes & the Pride of Life – 3:21
13. Pearls Before Swine – 8:11
14. Bottom Line – 5:44
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Broken Records, with the cassette edition featuring the first ten tracks only. The European Spark Music CD edition features the following tracklist: 01. MT 02. Nowhere Else 03. This Is the Way Love Is 04. Perfect Blues 05. Don’t, This Way 06. You Walked in the Room 07. The Loop 08. God Sends Quails 09. The Lust, the Flesh, the Eyes & the Pride of Life 10. Pearls Before Swine 11. Bottom Line. (“7&7 Is/U.S.A. EP”:) 12. Miserable 13. UUUU 14. The Treasure In You 15. Come & Gone.
Re-issued as a 2CD by Lo-Fidelity Records in 2012 with the second disc featuring relevant live cuts and additional demos. Also released as a 3CD super-deluxe version featuring a third CD entitled Seeds and Stems. (“Lo-Fidelity mastering engineer Kevin Fromer did yeoman’s work giving these songs new character and fuller form. This is not a transparent remastering job, with gentle EQ and heavy compression to raise the overall sonic level. You may as well consider the set remixed – and remixed well. The songs sparkle and chime when they’re supposed to, but they also growl and rumble when they need to dig deep. They didn’t before, in the early days of digital mastering.” – Jeff Elbel) Sticks and Stones was as well released on vinyl for the first time by Lo-Fidelity Records in 2016 through a Kickstarter campaign. Released as a 12-inch vinyl double LP pressed in three color options and featuring a gatefold jacket. Available at Bandcamp: https://the77s.bandcamp.com/album/sticks-and-stones-deluxe-remaster
Sticks and Stones CD Back, Broken Records’ US version
Sticks and Stones CD Back, Spark Music’s European version
Sticks and Stones 2CD, Lo-Fidelity Records 2012
In 2016 Sticks and Stones was released on vinyl for the first time by Lo-Fidelity Records (Kickstarter-funded), as a 12-inch vinyl double LP featuring a gatefold jacket. Pressed in three color options: As standard black 180 gram vinyl limited to 100 copies, as transparent green and transparent yellow 180 gram vinyl limited to 100 copies, and as a deluxe heavy splatter vinyl with transparent kelly green, transparent highlighter yellow, opaque hot pink on transparent electric blue (which combined creates an effect not unlike stained glass), 180 gram vinyl limited to 100 copies.
77s – Sticks and Stones Deluxe 2-CD Set, 2012
There are several acts (but less than “a lot” ) from those early days of “Jesus rock” that you can use the word “icon” to describe. There are also several (but even less) acts that you can describe as visceral, authentic rock artists. Of course, when you narrow down that category you arrive at the outsiders of the genre: the uncompromising artists who laid it all on the line to express their convictions with artistic integrity and unyielding honesty. Eventually you get down to groups like The 77s. The Sticks And Stones Deluxe Remaster 2-disc set is not only a fine way to re-discover a classic album that’s been out of print for a decade and a half, but it’s a digital marker in the evolution of a seminal rock band – the inclusion of a second disc that’s a collection of demos and live recordings is extra guacamole on the taco.
Sticks and Stones gives you pretty much everything you ought to know about The 77s. Right off the bat, «MT» sucker-punches you in with a heavy distorted guitar riff which surprisingly gives way to Michael Roe in his sensitive vocal mode. Of course, much about this band involves contradictions and surprises. Just when «Nowhere Else» and «Don’t, This Way» have you thinking you’re listening to a romantic pop album you get hit in the face with the snarling rocker, «Perfect Blues».
No doubt there have been more than enough arguments about which side of Roe and friends works best – but the truth is, The 77s are simply a very good rock and roll band, capable of stretching a hook for all it’s worth («This is the Way Love Is»), creating beautiful musical passages where you’d least expect them («God Sends Quails»), paying tribute to love lost and found (pretty much all over the album) and, importantly, never losing sight of the fact that playing rock and roll is fun. Oh – and, as the poet says in «Perfect Blues», “Yeah, baby – when it comes to love we’re all jerks. Now, that’s an inconvenient truth….”
To describe Roe’s vocals as a mix of Jim Morrison, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis is only a start. You see, he can spit out a vocal phrase that’s just this side of sacred and that side of profane – like an angel with Tourette syndrome. Of course (and here’s the B side) Roe can also sound ethereal and knowing, like he does on «God Sends Quails», or beautifully vulnerable, which happens to best effect on the aforementioned «Nowhere Else».
Of course, there’s the astounding musicianship…. Roe, on guitars, Jan Eric on bass, Mark Tootle on keyboard and guitar, and the amazing Aaron Smith on drums provide richly-textured jams, riding over deceptively simple frameworks – what they do with the fairly minimal structure of «This is the Way Love is» is simply amazing. The light-handed production allows the band to shine as they break into percussively-propelled moments of improvisational genius, sometimes flirting with jazz, and always with a rock edge.
Disc one ends with four very ready-sounding demos that will be near and dear to the hearts of fans: «Do it For Love», «The Lust, The Flesh, The Eyes, & The Pride of Life», «Pearls Before Swine», and «Bottom Line».
The second disc (or “Side B,” as it’s actually referred to) is appropriately titled ‘This is the Way Love Was’, and is an eclectic collection of stunning live recordings surrounding three fascinating demos. Few groups have ever been able to set up the kind of ominous rock ambiance that The 77s were able to produce, and here’s Roe at his Morrison-like best on live versions of «Pearls Before Swine» and the ponderous (and almost ironically scary sounding) «You Don’t Scare Me». These tracks show the band jamming full-strength with each coming in at ten minutes plus! We also get plenty of «This is the Way Love Is» – a double-serving, due to a lyrical gaff or two in the first attempt, which seems to have played havoc with Roe’s sense of humor…
Sounding very much like the era they come from, the demos show influence from Todd Rundgren («Problem Girl») to The Talking Heads (the vocals on «Cross the City Sky») to Steely Dan – although in the excellent liner notes Roe cites Aztec Camera and The Smiths as influences. The main voice on these demos is Tootle’s and the sound is less typical of The 77s’ main body of work, implying an interesting road not taken, although that road would have decidedly been just an interesting detour.
The packaging is a three panel fold-out, each ‘wing’ being an envelope to slip the discs into and the middle with a pouch that holds the excellent, informative twelve page booklet. Re-visit a classic album. Hear unreleased demos. The 77s jamming, live. Great packaging. Do you need this? Yeah – you do. [Bert Saraco, The Phantom Tollbooth, 26 April 2012]
77s – Sticks and Stones 3CD Super-Deluxe Edition, 2012
When Sticks and Stones came out in 1990, I was a high school sophomore, and I’d never heard of the 77s. It was my obsession with the Choir, one of their contemporaries, that eventually brought me around. I’ve said this before, but the Choir’s Circle Slide was my gateway drug to this whole corner of the music world. I followed lead singer Derri Daugherty to his side project, the Lost Dogs, and from there found the 77s, Daniel Amos and Adam Again, all incredible bands.
I think the first Roe album I bought was his solo project, The Boat Ashore. (His name’s Michael Roe, and the album is called The Boat Ashore. That by itself may have sold me.) I’m pretty sure the first 77s album I heard was Tom Tom Blues, the fiery debut of the current trio lineup of the band. So I worked backwards, beginning with the more Zeppelin-esque heroics of the ‘90s and hearing the poppier ‘80s stuff later. And I’m not sure which I liked better at the time. In fact, I’m still not sure – both eras are so good, and the current Gospel-inspired stuff is marvelous too.
Among 77s fans, Sticks and Stones is a classic, which probably comes as a surprise to Roe and the band, since it really is a collection of demos and also-rans. Listening to it as a whole, you’d never suspect that it wasn’t intended as a cohesive album of songs. It flows better than many records conceived as such. Sticks and Stones is the last gasp of the original 77s lineup of Roe, keyboardist Mark Tootle, bassist Jan Eric and drummer Aaron Smith, and it serves as a love letter to an era.
As Roe says in his new liner notes, the songs set this album apart. They’re all terrific, from the danceable rock of «MT» to the delightful full-on pop of «Nowhere Else» to the absolutely smoking «Perfect Blues», on which Roe laments the failings of his gender. (“Face it, we’re all jerks.”) «The Days to Come» is a barnburner, Roe spinning out those guitar lines effortlessly, and the aforementioned «This Is the Way Love Is» should have been a hit single. Tootle’s simple piano line and Roe’s spoken vocals at the start give way to a relentless beat and some blistering lead guitar. “It’s a one-sided double-minded mirror with no reflection…”
But Sticks and Stones contains two songs I would consider among the best of the 77s material, and pretty high on my list of all-around favorites. Roe describes «Don’t, This Way» as the saddest song he’s ever heard, and it’s up there for me. A farewell to a departed friend, this seven-minute wonder is all about Roe’s guitar lines – to this day, I can’t hear that moment when the ascending guitar melody kicks in at 0:45 without getting chills. The recording is minimalist in the best way, leaving plenty of space for that guitar, and it’s just a heartrending piece of music.
And then there’s «God Sends Quails», which Roe considers a failure. I can name 50 songwriters off the top of my head who would be thrilled to count this among their successes. One of the darkest pieces in the 77s canon, this song opens with two full minutes of Roe soloing over an oppressive, ominous bass line before getting to the meat of things: “You failed, you try half-hearted and fail…” All that and a lovely melodic chorus, too. Of course, Roe’s guitar playing is tremendous here, but his voice is in fantastic form as well. It’s a song you’ll never forget.
The album has been completely remastered, and it sounds remarkable. I’ve heard Sticks and Stones probably 75 times, and I’ve never heard it as clear and bright as this. And it’s been augmented with two whole discs of never-released bonus material – mostly live tracks, but some interesting demos and unearthed tunes too. The second disc, entitled This Is the Way Love Was, has the highlights: demos of three songs we’ve never heard before, including the fun «Problem Girl» and the absolutely stunning «Cross the City Sky». (Man, I wish they’d recorded this for real.)
The Sevens really know how to stretch out live, and the second disc has plenty of evidence. My favorite is a 10-minute take on the crawling «Pearls Before Swine» that dips into Dick Dale’s «Misirlou». You also get extended runs through «Bottom Line» and the tremendous «You Don’t Scare Me», and two versions of «This Is the Way Love Is», one of which runs to about 14 minutes.
The third disc, Seeds and Stems, is only available with the super-deluxe version of the re-release, but it’s worth it, especially if you’re a longtime fan. You get some quality live takes on oldies «What Was In That Letter», «Ba Ba Ba Ba» and the terrifying «I Could Laugh», you get a loose jam on church song «The Prodigal Son», and you finally get to hear Mark Tootle’s original demo of «This Is the Way Love Is». Roe’s been talking about this demo for years – Tootle imitates Roe’s vocal style, and in turn, Roe imitated Tootle’s impression when recording the real deal. It’s neat to have both sides of that equation at last.
All of this is thanks to the fine work of Chicago’s own Jeffrey Kotthoff with Lo-Fidelity Records. It’s all lovingly put together, from the sound to the packaging, a fine tribute to an album too few have heard. [Andre Salles, Tuesday Morning 3 a.m., March 28, 2012]
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