Jack Tempchin

Jack Tempchin | Format: Vinyl

Product Details

• Vinyl
• Label: Arista
• ASIN: B0019AHWTM
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #416,772 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Songs Include : Stingaree / She Belonged To You / Peaceful Easy Feeling / Fifteen Days Under The Hood / Lifetime Friend / Golden Life / Tijuana / Pick Up Truck / Skateboard Johnny / Walkaway

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars review, December 26, 2011

By 

Scott Blackerby (Reston, Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Jack Tempchin (Vinyl)

Having heard dozens and dozens of mid-1970s singer/songwriter projects my expectations for this album were pretty low. That said, I'm happy to tell you I was dead wrong with regards to this one.

Recorded after the collapse of The Funky Kings, 1978's cleverly-titled "Jack Tempchin" may be the best Eagles album the band never recorded. Produced by lead guitarist Pete Carr (who nailed Don Felder's unique guitar sound on several tracks) and recorded at Muscle Shoals' Fame Studios, Tempchin had a surprisingly attractive voice and a knack for penning catchy country-rock material. Your life won't be changed by any of this, but if you like early-career Eagles then you'll probably enjoy tracks such as 'Stingaree', 'She Belonged To Me' and 'Fifteen Days Under the Hood'. Other highlights included Tempchin's collaboration with Tom Waits 'Tijuana' and 'Pick Up Truck' (The Eagles should have covered this one as well). Elsewhere the biggest disappointment is Tempchin's version of 'Peaceful Easy Feeling'. Slowing it down to a dirge with Jennifer Warren's providing harmony vocals was simply the wrong thing to do to this country-rock classic.

Arista also tapped the album for a single in the form of:

- 1978's 'Peaceful Easy Feeling' b/w 'Fifteen Days Under the Hood' (Arista catalog number AS-0370).

For anyone interested, here's a live YouTube performance showing a slightly older Tempchin doing "Peaceful Easy Feeling":
[...]

"Jack Tempchin" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Stingaree (Jack Tempchin) -
2.) She Belonged To Me (Jack Tempchin) -
3.) Peaceful Easy Feeling (Jack Tempchin) -
4.) Fifteen Days Under the Hood (Jack Tempchin - Warren Hughey) -
5.) Lifetime Friends (Jack Tempchin) -

(side 2)
1.) Golden Life (Jack Tempchin - J.D. Souther) -
2.) Tijuana (Jack Tempchin - Tom Waits) -
3.) Pick Up Truck (Jack Tempchin) -
4.) Skateboard Johnny (Jack Tempchin) -
5.) Walkaway (Jack Tempchin) -

I've never heard it, but Tempchin also released an independent 45:

- 1979's '95 Octane Dream' (Promo Records catalog number 95)

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars competent, but not very engaging, May 24, 2007

By 

Dave "missing person" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jack Tempchin (Audio CD)

Jack Tempchin was one of the three songwriters for the Funky Kings on their lone, self-titled album from 1976. Released on Arista, "Funky Kings" was a commercial bust, despite being a solid album of mid-'70s, West Coast singer-songwriter rock. Plans for a second Funky Kings album fell through, but Tempchin stayed on board with Arista, perhaps as a means of contract fulfillment, and in 1978 came a self-titled solo record from him.

One gets the impression that the lack of commercial success for the Funky Kings was a serious downer for Tempchin. The wonderfully ludicrous amount of confidence he'd displayed on the "Funky Kings" album has been completely washed away, and despite slipping in a fine sighing ballad with "Golden Life", Tempchin mostly sounds like he's going through the motions here, churning out low-energy country-flavored soft rock that's tasteful but dull. It's as if Tempchin knew he'd been defeated and stood no chance for victory. The one song that tries for over-the-top humor, "Fifteen Days Under The Hood", sounds forced, choppy, and lacking genuine enthusiasm. Songs such as "Stingaree" and "Pick Up Truck" display respectable craftsmanship, but they lack punch, and they're hardly hook-fests, featuring very conventional country-rock melodicism. Tempchin also serves up a super-dull 'dreamy' version of "Peaceful Easy Feeling" with annoyingly 'heavenly' vocals from Jennifer Warnes.

So, despite the high level of professionalism and some pleasant tunes, this is an undeniably disappointing listen, with no truly great songs at all, and it's not surprising that it marked the end of Tempchin's career as a recording artist apart from an occasional appearance with Glenn Frey and a re-emergence in the mid-'90s.