Jayhawks 9: Music From The North Country

Somebody decided the Jayhawks needed a greatest hits compilation, or the equivalent thereof, at a time when the band had basically been over for a few years. The single-disc version of Music From The North Country was pretty solid, starting with two songs from Blue Earth and continuing with three or four songs from each of the albums that came followed. Seeing as there were so many contenders to choose from, it’s tough to quibble with what made it, though the production of “What Let Me To This Town” does jar with everything else.

The real meat came on the second disc of the deluxe edition, which went chronologically through twenty outtakes, demos, and/or rarities, beginning with “Falling Star”, the first digital appearance of anything from the Bunkhouse Album. Some of these are early versions; “Old Woman From Red Clay” is basically “Two Angels” with a different chorus, “Stone Cold Mess” is a more country take on what would become “Break In The Clouds” on Smile, while the alternate version of “Poor Little Fish” is even weirder and the early “Tailspin” is heavy on fuzz. “Someone Will” and “Rotterdam” are both just a chorus away from “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me” and “All The Right Reasons” respectively. The music ranges from the twang of “Darling Today” to the Kiss-riffing of “Get The Load Out”. It’s essential for those who want more Mark Olson, and while half of the disc comes from the period before and after Smile, it includes such gorgeous Gary Louris gems as “Cure For This” and “I Can Make It On My Own”. Tim O’Reagan even gets a nod with “Follow Me”. Copious liner notes provide instrumentation info and context for each.

For more fun, an hour-long DVD included several music videos and a couple of EPKs, and fans had a choice of bonus discs with different content from either Best Buy or Amazon, some of which had appeared on a fan club-only release. Live From The Women’s Club documented a trio appearance by Louris, O’Reagan, and Marc Perlman a year before Rainy Day Music came out, and present a laidback revue of songs old and new. The first volume appeared shortly after the show itself, and a disc containing what didn’t fit arrived three years later.

The Jayhawks Music From The North Country–The Jayhawks Anthology (2009)—3½

Jayhawks 8: Ready For The Flood

While it didn’t have the impact or import of a reunion of the Jam, the Clash, or the Smiths, it was still a Big Deal in alt.countryland when Mark Olson and Gary Louris collaborated on a new album. (Jeff Tweedy and Jay Farrar could not be reached for comment.) Olson had done several albums with wife Victoria Williams in the Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers while Louris kept the Jayhawks afloat until 2003. Now that Olson was divorced and Louris had a good thing going in the studio with Chris Robinson, Ready For The Flood happened.

There’s a nice flow to the album. “Rose Society” is mostly unplugged, then “Bicycle” adds a little twang, and “Turn Your Pretty Name Around” has a striking opening line in “Then came disappointment.” “Saturday Morning On Sunday Street” is a little too wordy and close, but a distant organ adds a Memphis touch to “Kick The Wood”, turned up on “Chamberlain, SD”. They get quiet again on “Black Eyes”, but the message is muddled by their phrasing, which consistently sounds like “black guys”.

“Doves And Stones” has those harmonies that fans adore, with yet another abstract lyric that defies interpretation. “My Gospel Song For You” is just plain forlorn, and while “When The Wind Comes Up” starts out desolate, it tries to find hope in the choruses. Of similar pioneer stock is “Bloody Hands”, the banjo adding to the old-timey Americana feel. “Life’s Warm Sheets” is a fairly unique way to tell people to look on the bright side, particularly when followed by the end-of-life wail in “The Trap’s Been Set”.

Some of these songs had been kicking around for a while—including the bonus tracks “Cotton Dress” and “Precious Time”—but some appear to be new. Folks looking for another Hollywood Town Hall or Tomorrow The Green Grass might be disappointed, as the album is more akin to a low-key strum. But the harmonies are rich, and the steel strings shine and shimmer throughout. And because the songs are, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch for anyone to add a louder rhythm section and a little distortion. That’s what happens when songs are so well-constructed to begin with.

Mark Olson & Gary Louris Ready For The Flood (2009)—3

Gary Louris 1: Vagabonds

We must give Gary Louris more than a little credit. Having chaired several lineups of the Jayhawks, when it came time to finally do a solo album, he made sure to put it under his own name. Yet Vagabonds isn’t that different from the sound we’d come to expect from the guy. The biggest difference is his choice of producer—in this case, Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes, who doesn’t get in the way at all.

“True Blue” is the ideal starter, with its gentle strum, distant pedal steel, and high chorus vocal, before “Omaha Nights” turns up the fuzz. The softer approach of “To Die A Happy Man” is belied by its breathless delivery, which frankly jars. (Given the list of forty songs shown in the packaging below the inner disc tray, we’d love to know what it edged out.) One might expect “She Only Calls Me On Sundays” to be a hokey country lament, and they’d be right. But “We’ll Get By” sneaks up on you, with infectious hooks throughout, a simple yet killer chorus, and electricity in the solo.

There’s what’s called a “choir” throughout the album, including Jenny Lewis and Susanna Hoffs, and its contribution to “Black Grass” is processed through a Leslie speaker along with the organ in such a way to make the track even more psychedelic while still very much acoustic. That organ leads into the extremely swampy “I Wanna Get High”, more of a litany of disconnected thoughts than a statement of purpose, the album producer notwithstanding. Gary pulls out his harmonica for the title track, which has another catchy chorus daring you to sing along. “D.C. Blues” is a little too derivative, but the picking is nice and it’s all about feel. A lonesome piano begins “Meandering”, a self-deprecating title for such a song of wonder.

With a small combo and simple production, Vagabonds has a consistent, comfortable sound. We wish it had more crunch overall, but there’s definitely a flow from track to track. It even works on the stripped-down Acoustic Vagabonds EP, which presents solo versions of side one and the title track. We hardly expected to enjoy anything with Chris Robinson’s name on it as much.

Gary Louris Vagabonds (2008)—3

Tim O’Reagan 1: Tim O’Reagan

Since joining the band after their fourth album, Tim O’Reagan showed his value to the Jayhawks, not only as a solid drummer but a harmonist and songwriter with his own strength. His songs were standouts when they appeared, so he wisely took advantage of the band’s hiatus to finally do an album of his own. While he gets help from other Jayhawks, Jim Boquist of Son Volt, and even his own parents on his eponymous debut, he’s credited with playing several instruments. Even nicer, it was distributed by Lost Highway, the band’s most recent label.

Tim O’Reagan has a pleasant homespun feel, starting with the old-timey “These Things”. “Black & Blue” and “River Bends” have enough country twang, but “Highway Flowers” sounds most like the band, with the harmonies and Gary Louris’s unmistakable lead guitar tone. His voice can’t help but sound lovelorn and weary, particularly on “Everybody’s Only”, while “That’s The Game” sounds like a remake of a British Invasion nugget using cardboard boxes, and that’s meant in a good way. “Ivy” breaks away from the mold with a falsetto vocal and almost arty approach, and “Girl/World” is back to a back woods stomp. “Ocaso Rosa” (which means “pink sunset”; we looked it up) is a Mexican-flavored instrumental, at odds with the garage vibe of “Just Like You”, and “Plaything” has some experimental touches that don’t detract from the song. All in all, a nice surprise of a detour.

Tim O’Reagan Tim O’Reagan (2006)—3

Jayhawks 7: Rainy Day Music

Having proven that they could stretch outside the box, the Jayhawks took advantage of the alt.country wave of the 21st century and went back to the well, so to speak. Rainy Day Music pared the group back to the core of Gary Louris and Marc Perlman, supported by the stalwart Tim O’Reagan on drums and harmonies and former Long Ryder Stephen McCarthy on the other guitars and stringed instruments. With the help of producer Ethan Johns, scion of the legendary Glyn, and a sessioneer on most of the keyboards, the sound was pared back too, without excessive fuzz or feedback, giving the songs room to breathe.

Proof that they’ve gone back to basics is evident immediately on “Stumbling Through The Dark”, with its prominent banjo. “Tailspin” has a little more crunch, but gets its boost from a great chorus and a terrific countermelody from Tim. “All The Right Reasons” brings the proceedings back to just above a hush, at least until the drums kick in, and “Save It For A Rainy Day” is one of those catchy songs we could swear we’ve heard before. There must be a reason why the protagonist of “The Eyes Of Sarahjane” spells her name that way, but it still sounds like a chorus matched to a completely unrelated verse. Not quite as schizophrenic is “One Man’s Problems”, which skirts with funk when it’s not going for California pop. Both are eclipsed by Tim’s “Don’t Let The World Get In Your Way”, which even has a Mellotron.

Others have noted that the second half isn’t as strong, but that’s not to say it’s not good. “Come To The River” goes for a soulful Southern rock vibe, and “Angelyne” manages to get a new song out of the same chords that launched a thousand Byrds and Petty knockoffs. “Madman” is another vibe peace, with swampy bongos and acoustic guitars under close harmonies. While very much related to “Waiting For The Sun” musically, with more acoustic touches, “You Look So Young” succeeds, particularly in the breakdown and subsequent bridge. Tim contributes another strong one, “Tampa To Tulsa”, while “Will I See You In Heaven” comes solely from the pen of Marc, who does not sing it. The closing reprise of “Stumbling Through The Dark” only helps to suggest that the album does seem to run long and gets too quiet at times.

Despite that, Rainy Day Music is nice and cozy for any kind of weather, and a welcome change of pace. It also helped that the American label’s new distribution deal with Universal brought them within the purview of the Lost Highway imprint, which gave it decent promotion among people interested in Ryan Adams and the like.

As was common at the time, a limited edition package included a bonus CD titled More Rain, which included the rockin’ “Fools On Parade”, two demos of otherwise unreleased songs, two alternate versions of album tracks, and a live acoustic take of “Waiting For The Sun”. These songs were not included on the expanded reissue some ten years later; instead five different, previously unreleased demos and another live cut were crammed onto the end of the disc.

The Jayhawks Rainy Day Music (2003)—3
2014 Expanded Edition: “same” as 2003, plus 6 extra tracks

Jayhawks 6: Smile

Determined to prove they were still a band, thank you very much, the Jayhawks crashed into the new century with even more of a departure from alt.country. The first sign that something was different on Smile is the production credit to Bob Ezrin, most famous for working with Pink Floyd, Alice Cooper, Lou Reed, and Kiss. Gary Louris is still the leader, but everyone helps with the songwriting here and there, including Ezrin. While Karen Grotberg’s voice and piano are heard all over the place, she’d left the band before the album came out to raise a family, replaced onstage and in the artwork by Jen Gunderman.

The title track is wonderfully sweet, with lovely interlocking phrases on the chorus. “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me” is sprinkled with mandolins and accordion, but was co-written with a Nashville ringer best known for modern Aerosmith hits. “What Led Me To This Town” has some lazy twang, but also features a harbinger in some odd electronic percussion. The auto-beats dominate “Somewhere In Ohio”, which is mostly tuneful, but the reliance on “buh-buh bah bah” for too many missing lyrics just seems lazy, which the guitar crunch on the choruses doesn’t remedy. “A Break In The Clouds” is more straightforward, thanks to another killer chorus, a well-placed steel guitar, and wonderful harmonies from Karen throughout. Electronica returns on “Queen Of The World”, which has, yes, another terrific chorus, but “Life Floats By” is a rockin’ stomper, and welcome.

The plaintive acoustic and vocal on “Broken Harpoon” are disrupted by whoops and bleeps, while real strings compete with a Mellotron. Tim O’Reagan sings lead on “Pretty Thing”, which is basically a funkier arrangement of “Dying On The Vine” from the last album. We still have no idea what or who “Mr. Wilson” is about; pop culture tropes suggest Brian Wilson, but then the second verse seems to refer to Alex Chilton. More overdriven beats dominate “(In My) Wildest Dreams”, and the songs are starting to sound alike. “Better Days” is more along the lines of straight rock, and “Baby, Baby, Baby” turns it up for a finish with enough tambourine and feedback to sound like Oasis.

In the end, Smile is an overlong album that tries too hard. Maybe we can blame Ezrin, who gets cowriting credit on the most blatant outliers, or any of the four people credited for “programming”. Whatever the culprit, the grandeur they sought didn’t get the band anywhere, as the album flopped. After such a strong run, it’s a disappointment. (Oddly, “Who Made You King”, an electric outtake included on the expanded edition fourteen years later, would have been more welcome on the original album. Of the other bonus tracks, the brief “Gypsy In The Mood” is more of an unfinished interlude, but the studio-quality demos “A Part Of You”, “Greta Garbo”, and “Five Cornered Blues” (written with former Jayhawk Mark Olson) have a lot of promise. Tim sings on a live version of “Life’s Little Ups And Downs” by Charlie Rich, included for some reason.)

The Jayhawks Smile (2000)—2½
2014 Expanded Edition: same as 2000, plus 6 extra tracks

Jayhawks 5: Sound Of Lies

From the beginning, and for many, Mark Olson was the key songwriter in the Jayhawks, and Gary Louris was his indispensable foil. But after four albums, two of which had major label push, the rat race got to be too much for Olson, and he left the band to devote time to his wife, the singer-songwriter Victoria Williams, who was struggling with multiple sclerosis. Louris, bassist Marc Perlman, and newer members Karen Grotberg and Tim O’Reagan wanted to keep going, so they did.

As the story goes, they lost a key singer-songwriter and much of their twang, but they gained a band in the process, leaving us with Sound Of Lies, a much more eclectic collection than their previous efforts. The artwork is dominated by Louris’ distinctive glasses, and he wrote most of the songs on his own, each of which drips with despair even when paired with the sunniest melodies. But there are plenty of harmonies, thanks to Karen and Tim, and the addition of Kraig Johnson on rhythm guitar and Jessy Greene on violin keeps the sound full.

Side one is strong from start to finish. Karen’s piano is the first sound we hear, and will continue, along with her sweet voice. “The Man Who Loved Life” seems to emerge from a position of defeat, with contradictory turns of phrase and battle-torn imagery. It pulls back as often as it tries to get loud, while “Think About It” totally gives in to the urge, Gary’s wah-wah pedal on full distorto. “Trouble” shares some chords and feel with “Creep” and “The Air That I Breathe” while being country enough to stand on its own. The twang endures for “It’s Up To You”, one of the few songs on the album that points fingers rather than loathes one’s self. That is not the case with the absolutely heartbreaking plaints of “Stick In The Mud”, while “Big Star” turns the volume back up to blast the music biz while resigning itself to it.

Things slide a little to the left for the second half, beginning with the bongwater effects on “Poor Little Fish” and the gothic mystery of “Sixteen Down”. The phased guitars and wistful melody of “Haywire” help keep the mood this side of cheerful, with a nicely arranged middle section for dynamics. Contrast that with the driving menace of “Dying On The Vine” and the repeated “scared of you” hook, especially the late key change. Drummer Tim contributes “Bottomless Cup”, and just because it’s stuck next to last doesn’t mean it should be skipped, because it’s a solid, yearning keeper, especially since the title track is so quiet.

A little less country and lot more rock, Sound Of Lies proved the reports of their demise were thankfully exaggerated. It’s also on the long side, yet still flows. Strong as it was, it didn’t exactly burn up any charts, but remains a hidden gem truly worthy of attention. (The eventual Expanded Edition added two contemporary B-sides—the mildly funky “I Hear You Cry”, which Marc wrote, and the droning “Sleepyhead”—and three outtakes, including the “Kirby’s Tune” jam and alternates of “It’s Up To You” and the title track.)

The Jayhawks Sound Of Lies (1997)—3½
2014 Expanded Edition: same as 1997, plus 5 extra tracks

Jayhawks 4: Tomorrow The Green Grass

While still in flux, the Jayhawks were bolstered by major label support, making the expectations for Tomorrow The Green Grass even higher. They obviously liked what keyboards brought to their sound, so Karen Grotberg was now an official member on piano; her high harmonies are welcome too. The drummer situation hadn’t been worked out yet, so session ace Don Heffington was used throughout, and Benmont Tench is credited for simply “organ”. Once again the songwriting were credited overall to Mark Olson and Gary Louris. (This time the liner notes were by legendary Minneapolis folk figure Tony Glover.)

The plaintive “Blue” has since become one of our favorite songs by anybody, and they must have known they had something special, as they got the legendary Paul Buckmaster to add strings. “I’d Run Away” gallops in on a chorus of violin and viola for a wonderful country jangle; Gary still has his “Carly Simon singing with Buffalo Springfield” tone in his voice. “Miss Williams’ Guitar” is a rare overt lyric from Mark, here unabashedly paying tribute to his new bride, cult folksinger Victoria Williams. “Two Hearts” is more subdued, breaking out with an “I am lonely” plea just before the guitar break, but “Real Light” turns the amps back on before “Over My Shoulder” layers on the lonesome harmonies. And what could be cooler than covering “Bad Time”, the last hit single by Grand Funk, a band who hadn’t been cool since, if that?

Gary’s bending picking is on display throughout the otherwise quiet “See Him On The Street”, to which “Nothing Left To Borrow” provides excellent counterpoint. “Ann Jane” is slow and either heartbreaking or creepy, since we’re not sure of the intentions of the narrator, and sports not only a Wurlitzer electric piano, but a backwards drum pattern taken from “Bell Bottom Blues”. “Pray For Me” is all doubled guitars and 12-strings, sounding most like the previous album. “Red’s Song”, the one track also credited as written by bass player Marc Perlman, is another party trick where the boys’ voices sound identical until they don’t. “Ten Little Kids” is a sneaky finale, beginning with an innocent strum and descending into an all-out thrash that moves through glorious choruses and ends in a wash of not unpleasant feedback that ends abruptly.

Tomorrow The Green Grass didn’t thrill right away, particularly if you were expecting more of the crunch from the last album. But the quality was all there, complementing Hollywood Town Hall very well, and not just to fill the other side of a Maxell XLII-90 tape.

Such was the stature of the album over time that it was prominently reissued anytime the erstwhile Def American label changed distributors, and was even blessed with a deluxe Legacy Edition 25 or so years after its initial release. The first disc was bolstered with three outtakes, as well as the title track, previously consigned to a B-side, as was Karen’s vocal spotlight on the country weeper “Last Cigarette”. Hidden at the end is a scratchy unfinished demo of “Blue” that provides a stepping stone to the second disc, which is loaded with so-called “Mystery Demos”, recorded by Olson and Louris acoustically throughout 1992 with an occasional fiddler. Some of these songs made it to this album, some would be tackled down the road, and the rest were never essayed again. It can make for an occasionally spooky, American gothic listening experience, but there are some wonderful moments.

The Jayhawks Tomorrow The Green Grass (1995)—4
2011 Legacy Edition: same as 1995, plus 24 extra tracks

Jayhawks 3: Hollywood Town Hall

The discography clearly states that Hollywood Town Hall was the Jayhawks’ third album, but it was also the first one designed as an album rather than collecting various demos. And given the backing of the Def American label, with Rick Rubin’s right-hand man George Drakoulias producing, this was most people’s first exposure to the band.

And what an excellent place to start. We originally described “Waiting For The Sun” with the suggestion to “imagine Buffalo Springfield if fronted by Carly Simon.” No? Decades later we realize we were taken in by the keening harmonies and fuzzy yet crisp guitars. Meanwhile, special guest Benmont Tench is having a ball on piano and organ, so clearly, if this album hadn’t happened, Tom Petty wouldn’t have written “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”. A blast of harmonica heralds “Crowded In The Wings”, with more choice close harmonies, but it’s that major change before the chorus and the major-seventh touch four bars later that push it over the top. The dramatic intro “Clouds” tries too hard, but a little guitar lick smooths it over and brings in another solid verse-chorus combo, though we still think “Diamonds” is a better title. “Two Angels” is repeated from the last album, and it’s a very similar performance, except that it’s Nicky Hopkins on piano. On “Take Me With You (When You Go)”, those harmonies circle all over the place, but then they go unison for the perfectly simple chorus. Years passed before we realized how slow the tempo is, but that leaves plenty of room for the guitar solo and closing feedback.

“Sister Cry” introduces two other Jayhawks motifs—the competing choruses with simultaneously different lyrics, and trying to figure out which part Mark Olson is singing and which is Gary Louris. It takes a large pair of stones to begin a song with “you came and you gave without taking”, but that’s just what “Settled Down Like Rain” does. “Wichita” isn’t much more than two chords and a riff plus a chorus, with inscrutable lyrics on top, but it gives Gary another chance to wail. Just as mysterious is “Nevada, California”, another slow one, with plenty of room for ache and Gary’s Clarence White-influenced bending. We’d like to find this place too. (The liner notes from fellow musician Joe Hardy reference this song, and are worth reading.) A remake of “Martin’s Song” has a lot more bite and energy than its previous take for a terrific closer.

Hollywood Town Hall puts it all together—tasty folk-rock guitars, close harmonies, and good songwriting. The overall feel is of a band rocking out in a room, but of course that wasn’t the whole story. When the album was reissued and expanded, George Drakoulias supplied new notes telling the genesis of the album, starting with how he signed them by hearing Blue Earth on hold. When the band didn’t gel immediately in the studio, Charley Drayton (most famous from the X-pensive Winos) came in on drums, and helped them lay down the backing tracks, complete with one broken toe. Then all the parts were painstakingly crafted and added, ending with the vocals. (Benmont and Nicky were also added after the fact.) They fooled everyone.

At any rate, the sound of the band was a lot tighter, yet still faithful to their influences. As for the bonus tracks on the reissue, the three outtakes from the wonderfully titled Scrapple promotional EP are welcome for completeness’ sake; “Leave No Gold” has some striking twists and turns, “Keith & Quentin” is more country than the rest of the album, and “Up Above My Head” is rock gospel that would have slowed it down the wrong way. The previously unissued “Warm River” is a further fine example of the Olson/Louris blend, and “Mother Trust You Walk To The Store” provides further mythology. All just prove how well constructed the original album was.

The Jayhawks Hollywood Town Hall (1992)—4
2011 reissue: same as 1992, plus 5 extra tracks

Jayhawks 2: Blue Earth

Three years had passed since the first Jayhawks album, and in that time the band wasn’t exactly focused on worldwide domination. Some demos recorded in that period were heard and spruced up by Minneapolis’s Twin/Tone Records, which duly released and promoted Blue Earth as the next big thing from the Twin Cities since the Replacements and Soul Asylum had gone the major-label route.

While the lonesome harmonica of “Two Angels” might suggest otherwise, the album is more jangly than the debut. The harmonies are firmly in place for a classic. The picking on “She’s Not Alone Anymore” suggests another throwback, but the chords say otherwise. “Will I Be Married” goes on a little long, and could be stated otherwise, though “Dead End Angel” sports some striking lyrics amid the standard changes. “Commonplace Streets” is an odd one, beginning with a “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover” shuffle and meandering verses, stepping back for Gary Louris to take lots of leads.

The slow burning “Ain’t No End” is another sneaky classic, and another fine example of the vocal blend. “Five Cups Of Coffee” turns a country cliché on its ear, while the harmonies on “The Baltimore Sun” deftly navigate the chord changes. The crunch comes back on “Red Firecracker”, Mark Olson does his best Gram Parsons baritone on “Sioux City”. “I’m Still Dreaming, Now I’m Yours” is a nice idea, but a better closer is “Martin’s Song”, which was a bonus track on the original CD, and just strains to break out of its cast.

As with the first album, Blue Earth only hints at the band’s potential, but often gets a fresh evaluation anytime another alt.country signpost is passed. A later reissue added three more tracks: the naïve “Fingernail Moon”, the misleadingly titled “Two Minute Pop Song”, and the superior “Nightshade”.

The Jayhawks Blue Earth (1989)—3
2003 Restless CD: same as 1989, plus 3 extra tracks

Jayhawks 1: The Bunkhouse Album

By the mid-‘80s, American country music was in a period of transition. The “urban cowboy” phase of a few years before had become a stereotype, and while more serious “artists” like Rosanne Cash and Lyle Lovett were slowly emerging as influential, most legacy artists were struggling in the mainstream.

But in the heartland of the United States, younger bands were discovering Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, and especially the late Gram Parsons, whose brand of “cosmic American music” provided an easier foothold into country rock than the latest Nashville syrup. These kids adopted the songs and styles, without a drop of parody in their interpretations. One of those bands was the Jayhawks, started by Minnesotan Mark Olson, whose voice came straight from the Flying Burrito Brothers, and blended so well with that of lead guitarist Gary Louris it was sometimes hard to tell the two apart.

Their self-titled album was only pressed in a run of two thousand, but word of mouth would eventually spread to the point where the so-called “Bunkhouse Album”—due to the cover art and the band’s self-assigned label—commanded high dollars on the used vinyl market. Not until 2010 did it get widespread release, which is how we managed to finally hear it.

It’s definitely twangy, with more overt country touches than their later albums, but the elements of what made the Jayhawks are all there. The likes of “Falling Star”, “Tried And True”, and “Cherry Pie” seem derivative, but “Let The Critics Wonder” and “Good Long Time” show off a unique voice. “Let The Last Night Be The Longest (Lonesome Memory)”, “The Liquor Store Came First”, “Misery Tavern”, and “Six Pack On The Dashboard” manage to take the drinkin’ song to new levels, while “Behind Bars” and “(I’m Not In) Prison” work on another trope and “People In This Place On Every Side” and “King Of Kings” play on the gospel elements of classic country. Again, these may seem like they’re poking fun at the more hokum elements of the genre, but time would prove their reverence.

The Jayhawks The Jayhawks (1986)—3