Customer Reviews

Four Chords & Several Years Ago

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

An album filled with cover--er, excuse me, "tribute"--songs is usually a bad sign. A sign that the band or performer has run out of original material and maybe the record company is breathing down his neck for a new release, pointing to the contract that he signed. And even if that's not the case, if the tribute album is produced with entirely noble motives, it may very well sound like a bad night at the karoke bar--missed notes, flat singing or worse.

But that's not the case with Four Chrords, as I finally found out. I'm a Huey Lewis fan from way back and when this CD came out back in '94 I thought, "Oh no. This is the death knell for one of my favorite bands." But now I that I've finally listened to it, I know that I was wrong. Four Chords is a first-class production, handled by a group of singers and musicians who truly love good old fashioned rock & roll. I mean, their performance of "Little Bitty Pretty One" alone is worth the price of the CD.

When looking a cover albums, I put them into two categories: Those albums that pay tribute to a particular artist (such as the "Legacy: A Tribute To Fleetwood Mac's Rumours" in which many artists covered the tracks on Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours") and those in which an artist covers other tunes (Such as Barry Manilow's "Summer of 78" that cover songs from 1978). Most of the time, I am usually disappointed when it comes to either category. Whenever a classic song is covered, it is often very difficult to capture the essence of the original. In the case an artist puts out an album full of covers, it is often a very risky move. An artist will tend to do this when either they want a career boost or if they are at a point in their careers where they can afford the risk. In the case of Huey Lewis and the News, when they released "Four Chords and Several Years" ago, they had clearly reached that point where they could afford the risk. While there are some good covers on this collection, ultimately there seems to be something missing from this collection.

"Four Chords and Several Years Ago" is a cover of songs going back to the early days of Rock and Roll (late 1950s, early 1960s). In the 1980s, Huey Lewis and the News would peak with the albums "Sports" and "Fore". These albums were successful largely because of the style of Huey Lewis and the News. Namely, they would provide a nice mix of pop, rock, blues, honky-tonk, and retro sounds. On the "Fore" album, Huey Lewis and the News showed they could pay homage to the early days of Rock and Roll with the song "Naturally". This was a song that had a Doo-Wop feel and it was sung a cappella. While Huey Lewis has always incorporated a retro sound, this song would prove that Huey Lewis and the News were more than capable of delivering.

When it comes to early Rock and Roll, many people associate Doo Wop music with this period. I think it's valid to say that Doo Wop is a sub-genre of early Rock and Roll. There is some debate on what Doo Wop exactly is. I classify Doo Wop to be the style of early Rock and Roll that lent itself to those songs that had upbeat extended harmonies - sometimes they are vocal syllables as opposed to words. One thing that almost all of the sub-genres of early Rock and Roll have is that there is a heavy influence of Rhythm and Blues. While the song "Naturally" on "Fore" demonstrated Doo-Wop, Huey Lewis has always demonstrated a Blues influence throughout their career. So it makes sense that Huey Lewis would put together a collection of early Rock Songs with a strong Blues influence. There are some Doo Wop style songs on this collection (for example: "Mother-in-Law", "Little Bitty Pretty One", "Stagger Lee", "Surely I Love You"), but I still think the Blues influence is what Huey Lewis and the News aimed for.

"Four Chords and Seven Years Ago" includes 17 tracks. These might not be the best known early Rock tracks, but I give the band credit for including this on the collection. According to the liner notes, these tracks were recorded as they were in the 1950s - namely without the use of sophisticated computers and remixing. I give Huey Lewis and the News and producer Stewart Levine a lot of credit for this. Of these 17 tracks, there are only 2 tracks over 3 minutes and 20 seconds ("Good Morning Little School Girl" and "Better to Have and Not Need"). This keeps in tradition that the early Rock and Roll songs usually would clock in somewhere in between 2 and 3 minutes (so they would get radio airplay). Here are the 17 tracks and artists that are covered by Huey Lewis and the News

Shake Rattle and Roll (Big Joe Turner, Bill Haley and the Comets)
Blue Monday (Fats Domino)
Searching for My Love (Bobby Moore's Rhythm Aces)
Some Kind of Wonderful (The Drifters)
But It's Alright (JJ Jackson)
If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody (Freddie and the Dreamers)
Mother-In-Law (Ernie K Doe) - Dr. John is featured on the track on this collection
Little Bitty Pretty One (Thurston Harris)
Good Morning Little School Girl (Johnny Winter)
Stagger Lee (Lloyd Price)
She Shot A Hole In My Soul (Clifford Curry)
Surely I Love You (Rosco Gordon)
You Left The Water Running (Otis Redding)
Your Cash Ain't Nothin' But Trash (The Clovers)
Function At The Junction (Shorty Long)
Better To Have And Not Need (J.Blackfoot)
Going Down Slow (St. Louis Jimmy Oden)

While Huey Lewis and the News do an admirable job with this, something seems to be missing. There isn't that standout track that you are going to run back and say "Wow Huey Lewis and the News really captured that song". To me, if I want to hear these songs - I would much prefer them to be done by the original artists. While Huey Lewis and the News come close, there still nothing is like the original. In fairness, the band doesn't lose any points on these covers - they just didn't excite me all that much.

Some credit has to go to the covers of "If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody", "Mother-In-Law" and "Stagger Lee". These are the best two covers even though "Some Kind of Wonderful" and "But It's Alright" got all the airplay.

The liner notes do not contain any lyrics. They do contain the musician and production credits for this collection. There is a terrific write-up that gives some perspective for the making of this collection. Although the liner notes do reference some of the original artists who covered these tracks, I'm disappointed overall that they don't list all the original artists who covered these tracks. Overall, this collection is good - but doesn't bowl me over.

The price on this is a little steep, but it's the one must-own album in the Huey Lewis & the News catalog. Say what you will about all the inoffensive, catchy, and forgettable hits these guys churned out in the mid to late 80's. On this album, a collection of covers of 50's and 60's rock standards, they were tight and sharp and in their best form. The recent "Soulsville" is along similar lines, but doesn't seem to have quite the same energy as this recording. "Stagger Lee," "(She's) Some Kind of Wonderful," and "Better to Have and Not Need" are standouts, but the whole thing is great for lovers of old-fashioned rock 'n' roll.

Crank it up and rock on. This is a great bluesy, rock and roll album that always makes me want to dance. Shake, Rattle, and Roll; just be careful when driving to watch the speedometer.

I really enjoyed this offering from Huey Lewis and the News. Harmonies are tight, music is tight, and they put a little different spin on these "Other People's Hits". By the way, if you have never seen Huey live in concert, you are definately missing a great show.

Fans always have mixed feelings when their favorite artist takes a stab at another project that may be a little outside the norm.

This record is definitely a departure from the "classic" sound of Huey Lewis and News. Matter of fact, Huey's raspy voice is really the only recognizable element that would make you ask your self, "What a minute, isn't that Huey Lewis?"

I don't remember exactly how this record joined my collection, but I suspect I purchased it while browsing countless material in used music shops in the mid to late 90's. I was never a huge Huey Lewis fan, I think I maybe owned "Sports" before this one, so the fact that I chose this over one of the band's more established pop records is a mystery to me.

It's a nice lighthearted collection of tunes, I enjoy "But It's Alright," "You Left the Water Running," and "Your Cash Ain't Nothin' but Trash."

This CD of many songs covers a span of music several years prior to Huey Lewis's peak of popularity, but he and his band are perfectly attuned to it. This is true of his vocals, the group's harmonies, the horns and other instrumentation. It is a very enjoyable reminiscence of music of the early sixties by a popular band of today. It's fun to sings along to or exercise to. I highly recommended it to Huey's fans and others.

I have to agree with one of the previous reviewers: there is nothing like hearing a band that knows how to play together as a unit. I wore out a cassette of this album. While the second half of the album (after Stagger Lee) is a little weaker and less energetic, the overall album is a fine tribute to early R&R bands. By far their most consistent and well executed effort. The band, as I mentioned, sounds terrific, hitting on all cylinders. The "official" review seems written by someone who doesn't care for HLN very much, and although I am not a diehard fan, I recommend this one very highly.

This is a cover album where Huey Lewis and the News pay tribute to the real fathers of rock and roll, and they do a great job. Apparently they used nothing but instruments used "in the good old days": no synthesizers, no drum machines, etc. It is just good ol' rock and roll. The best songs are the 2 singles, "(She's) Some Kind of Wonderful" & "But It's Alright," the semi-acapella "Little Bitty Pretty One," and the bluesy "Going Down Slow." Given that, it is less than what you'd expect from Huey Lewis and the News. The second half of the album is a bit slow - the songs are much better in concert. Besides that, it is a great collection of classics and a super tribute to the great ones.

This HLN cd is pretty good. It's all covers but w/ Huey's voice a good cd. ''Shake rattle n roll'', ''Some kind of Wonderful'' and ''It's alright'' make this cd worth the money. Theirs other good songs also. If you are a die hart Huey Fan, this is a Must. If not a big fan, buy Time Flies..The best of Huey Lewis and the News. I say this because if your not a big fan of Huey you will get the wrong impression of this band.