Terence Boylan [Single]

Terence Boylan | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 7, 1999)
• Original Release Date: September 27, 1979
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Single
• Label: Spinnaker Records
• ASIN: B00000JL7D
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #361,838 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Hey Papa

2. Tell Me

3. Don't Hang Up Those Dancin' Shoes

4. Sundown of Fools

5. Rain King

6. Shame

7. Dump It In The River

8. True Love Isn't Cool

9. Ice and Snow

10. Coming Home

11. Shake It

12. Keep Shining On

13. The War is Over

14. End of the World

15. Trains

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

Singer/Songwriter Terence Boylan recorded two albums for MGM/Verve before David Geffen signed him to Asylum Records in the late 70 s. Prior to that he had been playing and recording with Donald Fagen and Walter Becker at Bard College which resulted in the album Alias Boona (MGM/Verve FTS 3070). While on Asylum, he toured with Bonnie Raitt and Little Feat, and various members of Linda Rondstadt s band and the then forming Eagles. Boylan s 3rd and 4th albums, (Asylum) from which this material is largely taken, were National Breakout and Most Added on Billboard s radio charts, charted in the top two hundred, and have enjoyed a cult following since, appearing on top 10 lists in The Denver Post, Detroit Free Press, Boston Globe, Hartford Courant, The Rock Anthology and numerous retrospectives. BAND MEMBERS: Steely Dan members Donald Fagen, Jeff Baxter; Eagles members Don Henley, Timothy Schmit and Don Felder; Russ Kunkel, Dean Parks, Leland Sklar, Jim Gordon, Paul Harris, Larry Carlton, Jeff Porcaro, Mike Porcaro, John Klemmer, Victor Feldman, Chuck Rainey, Jai Winding, Steve Lukather from Toto, John Guerin and Max Bennett from Joni Mitchell/LA Express.

Product Description

DESCRIPTION: This is the first CD re-issue of WEA/Asylum albums Terence Boylan and Suzy under license from Elektra Entertainment Group, and includes 3 (more recently recorded) previously unreleased songs, Coming Home , True Love Isn t Cool and Keep Shining On . Critics hailed his two Asylum albums as astonishingly brilliant , witty, gorgeous, and exciting , and one reviewer, (Sal Manna of the Detroit Free Press) called him one of the four finest singer/songwriters on record. Most of the reviews drew comparisons to Dylan, Steely Dan, Van Morrison and Jackson Browne, and one critic described him as the F. Scott Fitzgerald of Rock . Combined sales of the original albums in the US were approximately 300,000, plus international sales (Japan, UK, Canada and Germany) of an additional 100,000.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a load of terrific material--evocative & affecting, November 30, 2004

By 

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

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Terence Boylan (Audio CD)

Terence Boylan is an artist who, in a certain sense, slipped through the cracks. His pair of late `70s/ early `80s albums were released on Elektra/ Asylum, & they were both big commercial disappointments, however, there is a wealth of great music to be found on these albums. If you haven't discovered his music yet, you really should--Boylan deserves to be remembered. If the idea of blending Steely Dan, the Eagles, & Jackson Browne together sounds promising to you (and it should), then you simply can't go wrong with this CD.

You may recognize the name John Boylan (he did production work) who was indeed Terence's brother. Donald Fagen & Walter Becker of Steely Dan were actually schoolmates of Terence's in the '60s & they clearly got along well--Fagen & Becker, respectively, handled all of the bass & keyboard work on Boylan's debut album "Alias Boona" which was originally released in 1969. However, this self-titled 1999 compilation CD doesn't contain anything from that album--instead, it contains tracks from his 2 Asylum albums--1977's self titled album & 1980's "Suzy"--plus 3 additional tracks.

Terence wrote all 15 of the tracks on this CD himself, & his excellent songwriting & passionate, husky vocals are on display on track after track. Boylan had a major knack for soaring, dramatic choruses--brilliant tracks including "Hey Papa", "Tell Me", "Don't Hang Up Those Dancing Shoes", & "Ice and Snow" all bear this out; Boylan did make heavy use of descending vocal melodies on the choruses for each of these songs, & they do end up sounding quite similar to each other, yet it never feels annoyingly redundant. Other great tracks include the dreamy, splendidly tuneful ballad "Rain King" & the haunting "Shame" (which features Donald Fagen on piano)--these two tracks put Boylan's arrestingly evocative lyrics on display, and he delivers a couple of powerful songs about romantic frustration with the contemplative, mid-tempo pop-rocker "Tell Me" and the gorgeous acoustic ballad "End of the World". Boylan's cynical, sarcastic side also gets a nod with the country-blues flavored "Dump It In the River" which has fantastic acoustic guitar playing from Will McFarlane. Certainly there are other solid songs as well such as "Shake It" with its superb phased electric guitar, and "Sundown of Fools" which is extremely reminiscent of Jackson Browne's "Farther On".

As much credit as Boylan deserves for his excellent writing & production, you can't deny the contributions from the musicians who contributed excellent performances--players on the CD include a long list of legendary musicians (Russ Kunkel, Victor Feldman, Michael Omartian, even Al Kooper, & many, many others) including Timothy B. Schmit who adds excellent and easily recognizable harmony vocals on many of the tracks. The piano on the intro of "Hey Papa" (played by Jai Winding), the first song on this CD, has a melancholy, wonderfully contemplative & transcendent quality to it--it does a great job of "setting the scene" for what's to follow.

As for the 3 tracks here that aren't culled either from the either self-titled or "Suzy" albums, they sound like they were recorded in the mid-80s, & they`re worthy additions--"Coming Home" has some slightly frustrating lo-fi sound, but it`s a really enjoyable, sentimental ballad; "Keep Shining On" is a really nice feel-good tune; & "True Love Isn't Cool" is an irresistibly fun, catchy pop-rocker.

As much great music as there is here on this CD though, I really want to point out some of what is NOT on here, & that this is by no means the final word on Boylan. 8 of the 9 tracks from the 1977 self-titled album are here--the one track that got left off is "Where Are You Hiding?" which is a great track, although it had already appeared on CD on the Rhino label, which perhaps has something to do with why it isn't included here. Beyond that then is all the brilliant songs from the fascinating 1980 album "Suzy" which are missing, including the moody title track, the hilarious "Shake Your Fiorucci", a couple of kickass, gloriously cynical rockers with "College Life" & "$50 An Hour", a couple gorgeously tuneful and haunting tracks with "Roll Your Own" & "Did She Finally Get To You", the contemplative "Going Home", and the irresistible, Oriental-spiced "Miso Soup".

The sound quality on this CD is generally excellent although "Dump It In the River" sounds like it was taken from a second-generation cassette, and "End of the World" has some mildly distracting 'wrinkled tape' noise. Don't get me wrong--this is a great CD that I strongly recommend; it's packed with terrific material and it's no wonder than diehard fans are ecstatic with this release. If you're new to Boylan, this is a great start. Just don't forget to pick up a copy of "Suzy" though... "Suzy" is seriously one of the greatest albums ever made. Any serious listener will be really thankful that they checked Terence Boylan out.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blast from the past, June 14, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Terence Boylan (Audio CD)

Many years ago I was a college rock and roll writer who predicted great things for Boylan. I guess I am no psychic, but a recent conversation led me to do a search for Boylan and I came across his self-titled website and this record (and even a snippet from one of my reviews of Boylan from back in the day). What fun. I could quibble about some of the song selections here, but what a treat to have this terrific music again since I had long ago worn out my LPs.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally!, August 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Terence Boylan (Audio CD)

I have waited for this release for a long time, the disc sounds wonderful, except for some very minimal tape hiss that is not at all distracting. A couple of observations: 1.The time is a little over 57 minutes, why not use up the remaining 21 minutes with songs from "Suzy" or with "Where are you hiding?" the only song not on the disc from "Terence Boylan" 2.A web site on how to contact Terence Boylan would have also been nice. Or at least some info on where he has been for 20 years. 3.I hope that amazon pushes this cd, Terence Boylan deserves much wider exposure. Every single song he has ever written and sung is excellent. F.Y.I. The song "Where are you hiding" is available on cd! It can be found on a Rhino compilation called Mellow 70's - Summer Breeze. If you get this disc you will have all of the Terence Boylan self-titled album. It is available from Amazon. Question- If this sells well enough can we look forward to all four Terence Boylan recordings on cd? Spinaker Records, are you listening?