You’ve almost certainly never heard of Native Tongue, an album billed to the Tasty Kings with Blondie Chaplin. Recorded in Austin, Texas, over approximately 10 years and released by a small New York label in 2023, it was available only digitally and promoted minimally if at all. As such, it garnered little attention from music fans and critics before fading away in cyberspace. Now, though, it’s getting a CD edition and the second chance that it richly deserves.
Tasty Kings leader and guitarist Andrew Morse, who wrote all 10 of the record’s songs, isn’t well known. However, any rock fan who reads album credits will be familiar with the names of many of the other musicians who contributed to this release. Vocalist and guitarist Chaplin, for example, was a member of the Beach Boys in the early 1970s (he sang lead on Holland’s “Sail On, Sailor”) and has played on albums by the Byrds, the Band, the Rolling Stones, and numerous other groups. Also on hand are such A-list sidemen as bassist Darryl Jones, who has toured and recorded with the Stones since 1993; guitarist Charlie Sexton, who is perhaps best known for his years with Bob Dylan; and, on two tracks, the late keyboardist Ian McLagan, who was a member of Small Faces and Faces. Other players add drums, bass, dobro, sax, and more.
You don’t have to venture beyond the first few numbers on this third Tasty Kings album to suspect that you’re listening to a forgotten gem, and by the time you’ve heard the entire CD, your suspicions will have been confirmed. Chaplin’s gritty, heartfelt vocals and the band’s consummate musicianship are large plusses, and so are Morse’s deftly crafted lyrics and catchy Americana and folk-rock melodies.
Like Dylan, Morse often uses real-life places and events as mere jumping-off points for impressionistic verse that is sometimes abstruse but always richly detailed and memorable. “South America,” for example, is an enigmatic tune that Morse says was inspired by a woman with a birthmark that looked like a continent but that “falls into a bunch of hallucinogenic metaphors about a romance that self-destructed.”
The soulful “Done & Dusted,” which he wrote in New York during the quarantine, also employs unusual imagery, in this case to evoke a closed-down city. Another personal favorite is the funky “Oceans Unfaithful,” one of several rockers here that sound like something the late Warren Zevon might have recorded. Then there’s “Girl Next Door,” which Morse says reminds him of Lou Reed but is arguably more musically redolent of Rolling Stones ballads such as “Memory Motel” and “Fool to Cry.”
All four of these songs constitute highlights of the album, but so do the other six.
Also Noteworthy
Dave Murphy, A Heart So Rare. New Jersey–based singer/songwriter Dave Murphy has had his share of troubles. According to a press release, he is a cancer survivor who was “drinking heavily” and facing the messy end of a relationship when he recorded a “sad and angry” breakup record back in 2011. More recently he has been through a divorce.
So, don’t expect his self-penned seventh CD to be particularly upbeat, at least in its lyrics, which make this arguably even more of a divorce album than, say, Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks. Among the songs that appear to address Murphy’s marital split are the rocker “After the Hurricane” (“After the hurricane, life goes on”), “One More Time” (“Can we find some common ground, if there is some still around”), the folky “Josephine” (“I’m not looking for another chance, we danced our last dance”), and “Strawberry Red” (“Strawberry’s gone, she didn’t stay too long”).
Such melancholy lines notwithstanding, the introspective, affecting songs on A Heart So Rare are melodic and enjoyable, and they mark Murphy as an optimist who is looking ahead while reflecting on the past. He co-produced the record with Chris Tarrow, who plays electric guitars, pedal steel, lap steel, resonator guitar, banjo, and mandolin. Other accompanists on various tracks include Shawn Pelton (percussion, accordion, squeeze box), Richard Hammond (bass), Rob Clores (organ, piano), Todd Caldwell (organ), Ben Wisch (harmonium), Mark Erelli (backing vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica), and James Maddock (backing vocals). Together, they make a sound worth hearing.
Massy Ferguson, You Can’t Tell Me I’m Not What I Used to Be. Seattle-based Massy Ferguson turns the volume down a bit for this self-penned and mostly excellent album, which mixes more folk, country, and Americana elements with the rootsy rock that dominated its six earlier LPs. The group – which consists of vocalist/bassist Ethan Anderson, guitarist and vocalist Adam Monda, keyboardist Fred Slater, and percussionist Dave Goedde – benefits from contributions by a half dozen guest musicians. Among them is singer/songwriter Damien Jurado, who capably produced the set.
A few of the 11 tracks, such as “When You’re Not Around” and “Lights Get Low,” sound like standard-issue heartland rock – competently performed but forgettable. However, the quartet ventures into fresh territory on many of these numbers with satisfying results.
The guitar-driven “Seaside Town,” for example, is a bouncy, infectious rocker with an indelible melody, and “So Long, Carry On” is an emotive ballad that benefits from soulful backing vocals by folk/pop singer and songwriter Zan Fiskum. Also excellent are the brooding “I’m Almost There” and “You Were So High,” both focused on drug experiences and both a bit reminiscent of Wilco. Songs like these suggest that Massy Ferguson is moving beyond its bar-band roots and headed for a larger audience.
Jeff Burger’s website, byjeffburger.com, contains five decades’ worth of music reviews, interviews, and commentary. His books include Dylan on Dylan: Interviews and Encounters, Lennon on Lennon: Conversations with John Lennon, Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen: Interviews and Encounters, and Springsteen on Springsteen: Interviews, Speeches, and Encounters.
