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| The Amazing CD Collection, Bio's, Background | |||||
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| The Amazing CD Collection, Bio's, Background | |||||
"Thirty-Year Plan"First Step | "Thirty-Year Plan" |  | ||
| "Thirty-Year Plan" opens with a kick-ass live version of "First Step" taken from a Crusin’ performance on the "Paula Sands Live" television show. It contains a definitive rock vocal by Max Allan Collins and some superior screaming lead guitar by Paul Thomas. The studio version of "First Step" is contained on the "Bullets" CD on Beat Brothers Records and is the only duplication of any kind between the two records. As I state in the aforementioned "interesting and informative liner notes," when Seduction of the Innocent bandmate Max Allan Collins and I met for the first time, we hit it off immediately. One of the reasons being that we both had cult records of the sixties to our credit. I was signed to the Mustang/Del-Fi label as a member of the group Opus 1, whose "Back Seat ’38 Dodge" received substantial airplay before being consigned to cult status and relative oblivion by an over-zealous censor. Al’s cult garage-band classic was the mid-west radio charting "Psychedelic Siren" by The Daybreakers. "Psychedelic Siren" and its B-side "Afterthoughts," both penned by Collins are included here in digitally re-mastered form. Founding members of The Daybreakers, co-producers Collins and Thomas have wisely chosen to scramble the historical playing sequence of the tracks on "Thirty-Year Plan." One of the positive results of that choice is that the tracks written by and featuring lead vocals by the late Bruce Peters, are scattered throughout the package like little jewels. This is no insult to the excellent work of Collins or Thomas as I know their accomplishments quite well, having performed live with them and having worked closely with them during the development of the "Bullets" CD. Their work together will continue for years to come, and their catalog of compositions will continue to grow. For me, the big discovery in "Thirty-Year Plan" are these marvelous Thomas’ produced demos by Bruce Peters. "Some Kind of Love" with its slightly Buddy Holly-ish groove and Beach Boys influenced background vocals just tears me up! It contains an absolutely killer lead vocal. "I Want You for All Times" is another Peters’ knockout. It starts with an almost Ramsey Lewis style acoustic piano by Collins, accompanied with finger snaps and hand claps, and then it drops into a driving eighth-note groove that pounds it home for 3:14! There’s more, but I don’t want to neglect my buddies Al and Paul. As I write this, I am listening to an excellent rocker by Thomas, "Her Rock ‘n’ Roll Man." It has a great groove with an early rock feel. You can almost smell the beer and cigarettes. A dynamite musician and lover of the "grimy Fender sound," Paul Thomas was originally the group’s bassist, graduating to Demo-Master and eventually to Lead Guitarist/Co-Producer. Another good reason to buy "Thirty-Year Plan" is the vocal performance by Paul (The Donna Reed Show) Petersen on "Little Ice Princess." It’s his best since "She Can’t Find Her Keys." "Little Ice Princess" was written by Max Allan Collins and is one of several cuts included on the CD from the "Mommy" and "Mommy’s Day" movies. Those films starred "The Bad Seed" Patty McCormick, and were directed by Max Allan Collins. There are also a couple of cuts that show the group as the raging road warriors that they are (were). Live versions of Joe Tex’s "Show Me" and Spirit’s "I Got a Line" present the group in a raw sweat-shedding mode, that also serves to put into context much of the experience and influences of their 30-plus years as road dogs. As an aside, I have to say that my buddy Dr. Demento roadied for Spirit and contributed to the lyrics of "I’ve Got a Line." "Thirty-Year Plan" is a lot like discovering a special radio that can pick up music that sounds like an old friend that’s made brand new again. Though the recording quality varies because of the age of some of the tracks, and after all, demos were just that, DEMOS, it is surprising just how fresh this stuff sounds at the end of the 20th century. As they say "Everything old will be new again." This is an entertaining, rocking package that is a lot more than mere nostalgia. | ||||