Paul Weller: The Paramount, Huntington, NY (10/1/2017)

Paul Weller had been an early favorite of mine who, over the course of time I simply forgot about. The ex-frontman for The Jam and The Style Council was one of the best songwriters from the class of  '77. Defiantly British, in the same vein as The Kinks before them and Blur after them, The Jam were melodically somewhere between The Buzzcocks and The Clash. There was a classicism to their material in the same vein as XTC or Squeeze. Yet, unlike those bands, they were hugely influenced by classic American R&B. So much so that Weller disbanded The Jam in late 1982 and formed blue-eyed soul-tinged outfit, The Style Council in early 1983. Weller has been exploring blue-eyed soul mixed with influences of folk and psychedelia since the early 1990's when he started his solo career.

That's basically where I stopped following his career. Big mistake. He's apparently released some amazing solo records (1993's Wild Wood, 2008's 22 Dreams, 2015's Saturn's Pattern to name but a few). After hearing these records, I realize how dull other people's solo records invariably always seem to be - something that Weller has seemingly been able to effortlessly avoid. I'm also struck by how different his vocal persona is as opposed to his near-cockney talk-singing in The Jam and Style Council. He's a full-throated singer in the same vein as Steve Winwood in Traffic. In fact, he kind of sounds identical to Winwood in his phrasing and his singing.

I'd never seen Weller before so I was overjoyed to see him on the first night of his American tour. The room was full of older folks (I'm somewhat used to being a young-in at a lot of these shows) who were all drinking on a Sunday night, Monday-morning-be-damned.Weller came armed with a full-sized band (about six or seven musicians backing him) and alternated between guitar and keyboards.
The only person in his band that I knew prior was Steve Cradock of Ocean Colour Scene. Weller has obviously aged a smidge, but he's still in perfect voice and is in great shape. And he's no less vital than he's ever been.

The songs; I have to admit not being familiar with ANY of his solo material before the show. Of the fantastic twenty-nine song set, the band performed two Style Council songs ("My Ever Changing Moods" and "Shout To The Top!" - both of which were perhaps the most well-received of the night) and Jam songs ("Start!" and "Monday") which were nice to hear, the former with a slightly reserved arrangement. Performed from the new album, A Kind Of Revolution, was the newest single, "Woo Sé Mama" and "She Moves With The Fayre". I presumed these songs to be covers of classic R&B songs from long ago, only to discover they're only months old and Weller originals.

The band performed six of the nine songs that comprise the Saturns Pattern album. I've come to conclusion that this may be Weller's greatest solo album. This is only because I've only heard a few so far, and they may be all tied for being as awesome as the one I heard last. He performed two songs ("The Weaver" and the title-track) from his most-acclaimed solo album, Wild Wood. 

So, aside from seeing the legendary Jam-frontman. I got to see a soulful elder-statesman who introduced me to his solo catalog. A solo catalog that not only does not suck, but I can wholeheartedly appreciate and actively enjoy it on its own terms and not make me long for The Jam or The Style Council. Also, his band is very well-rehearsed, and Weller is still a great performer.

A great show.

Special thanks to Doug Mashkow from CD Island and Bob Wilson of WLIR-FM.

The Box Tops: Soul Deep: The Best Of (Simply Vinyl/1999)

Memphis Tennessee’s The Box Tops were one of the greatest Blue-eyed soul bands of the 1960's. The band had a soulful pop sound that rested alongside bands like The Rascals, Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels and The Righteous Brother quite comfortably. In addition to such fine hits as “The Letter”, “Neon Rainbow” & “Cry Like A Baby”, the band was also responsible for producing one of the largest cult artists of the modern rock era in Alex Chilton. Chilton joined the band at age 16 and shortly thereafter recorded “The Letter” which went to #1 and was the bands biggest selling single. The band released four albums and twelve singles (10 of which were in  Billboard 's Top-100) before disbanding in early 1970.

Soul Deep: The Best Of The Box Tops is the definitive Box Tops compilation album. Originally released in the US in 1996 on Arista and the UK in 1999 on the Simply Vinyl label. The record contains all ten of the bands' charting singles including the  cover of  Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released”, the ode to prostitution “Sweet Cream Ladies Forward March”, the big production of “I Met Her In Church” and the Mark James-penned “Turn On A Dream”. The album also contains four of the seven Chilton compositions the band recorded. “I Must Be The Devil” is a legitimate blues-excursion.“Together” is a perfectly hazy late 60's confection. “I See Only Sunshine” is the lone song that possibly hints to the writing Alex would do with Chris Bell on Big Star's Number One Record.

Perhaps overstated is how vastly different Alex Chlton's voice sounds after he left the Box Tops. He went from the growling old-man vocals “The Letter” which he recorded at age 16 with The Box Tops to the sweet harmony-laden vocals of “Thirteen” when he was 20 with Big Star. Chilton has said he was just copying the direction of Box Tops producer Dan Penn and found his own true voice after spending a year in with the folk-set in New York City in 1970.

The only real compliant is the absence of the final two singles the band released before Chilton left the band. Those are Randy Newman's “Let Me Go” (which appeared in the motion picture The Pursuit Of Happiness) and the Wayne Carson Thompson song “King's Highway”. Both are fine singles and easily could've replaced average album-fare such as “Happy Times”, “Fields Of Clover” or “She Shot A Hole In My Soul”.

 Recommended for Big Star fans looking for a starting point in finding out where Alex Chilton got his start. And truth be told The Box Tops are a fairly easy band to enjoy. Chilton himself professed to preferring the Box Tops to Big Star in the 1990's. The material is well-produced and holds up as well made 60's pop.

Here's The Video Review:

Thanks to: The Box Tops.