Jayhawks 10: Mockingbird Time

Apparently Mark Olson and Gary Louris found recording and touring together again to be so easy that they reconvened what some would call the classic lineup of the Jayhawks for a new album. Maybe Olson needed the money, and Louris’ sole credit for the production raises an eyebrow, but if the credits are to be believed, Mockingbird Time was a pure collaboration.

Right away on “Hide Your Colors” it seems they’re trying to recapture the genre blending that made Tomorrow The Green Grass so good. The harmonies go unexpected places, and the strings are present but not overpowering. Once Olson’s voice cuts through the mix on “Closer To Your Side”, it feels like home. “Tiny Arrows” is one of several tracks here that has a gothic undercurrent, but this one is nicely smoothed over by the mildly Byrdsy “She Walks In So Many Ways”, which is really a rewrite of Manfred Mann’s “Pretty Flamingo”. “High Water Blues” has some more striking imagery, but surprisingly goes into an extended dueling acoustic solo that would sound a lot better on stage than in the middle of an album focusing on songwriting. The title track meanders through several melancholy sections, but again, runs too long to keep interest.

“Stand Out In The Rain” is more like the old sound, with the same riff as “Wichita” from Hollywood Town Hall, but it goes to another place for the solo. In the same vein, “Cinnamon Love” is another one that mixes riffing with major-seventh chords and unique imagery, and a tendency to repeat a phrase for some kind of emphasis. “Guilder Annie”, whoever she is, has a mild jangle in a waltz tempo for a nice change of sound. It’s followed by another ode to a woman of mystery, in this case “Black Eyed Susan”, which was one of the fabled “mystery demos” from two decades before. “Pouring Rain At Dawn” is a welcome piece of picking after all the mythology that’s come before, and “Hey Mr. Man” takes us out on a rocker.

Throughout Mockingbird Time we hear their inimitable harmonies, Karen Grotberg’s wonderful piano (and voice), and that terrific rhythm section. They didn’t exactly pick up where they left off, and the reunion wouldn’t last, but it’s still a worthy chapter in the saga. Better to have it than not.

The Jayhawks Mockingbird Time (2011)—3