JANGLE ON! – November 2021

by Eric Sorensen

Christmas came early for jangly music fans this year.  New CDs from Starry Eyed And Laughing and the Belltowers – two bands who wear their Byrds/McGuinn Rickenbacker influences on their sleeves – were both released in the past month.  In addition to these “must have” CDs for jangleholics, numerous other jangly “ear worm” tunes have been released.  Standout pop/rock albums and tunes with jangly and chiming guitar riffs include:

            Bells of Lightning – Starry Eyed And Laughing.  Although the lineup has dwindled to only two of the original members – Tony Poole and Iain Whitmore – the signature Rickenbacker 12-string sound and the wonderful vocal harmonies are the same!  Included with the full-length CD is a bonus CD – Love|Song – with eleven cover songs.  Tony Poole’s Rickebacker 12-string chimes on almost all of the 22 songs, but my favorites are “I See My Rider,” “The Girl In A Gene Clark Song,” “Stranger In My Time” (now a studio track) and “American Dreamer” – which livens up a Gene Clark ballad by borrowing  the chord progression from the Records’ “Hearts In Her Eyes,” Tom Petty’s “Listen To Her Heart” and Coyote Moon’s “Yesterday’s Streets.”  Poole and Whitmore also cover Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan, John Stewart, Leonard Cohen and Randy California – and there are some interesting Simon & Garfunkel, Firefall and CSN references in some of the original tunes.  This two-CD offering is a testament to the fact that any song can be embellished with Tony Poole’s Rickenbacker 12-string guitar and the pair’s excellent harmonies.  I certainly hope that there is more material where this came from.  Long may you run, Sir Tony and Sir Iain!

            Magnetic – the Belltowers.  Paul Mutchler (formerly of the Lears) is just as much a Roger McGuinn acolyte as Tony Poole is.  In fact, Mutchler’s signature sound has a bit more Rickenbacker 12-string compressed snap, crackle,  pop and sustain.  Yes – some of the songs on this long-awaited full-length CD (eleven songs) were included in earlier EP releases, but it’s all excellent, and the listening experience is akin to stepping back in time to hear the Byrds, Love, the Leaves, the Robbs and other mid-60s bands.   “Sunshine Nursery Rhymes,” “Annabel Lee,” “I Can’t Wait,” “She Reappears,” “Yesterday’s Dawn” and “Dusted” will convince you that you have entered a chiming time warp. Many thanks to Ray Gianchetti for releasing this terrific CD on his Kool Kat label.   Long may you run, Sir Paul and your Belltowers band mates.

            Another new CD on the Kool Kat Musik label is Ian M Bailey’s Songs To Dream Along To.  “I’m Not The Enemy” may be the most jangly track, but shimmering guitars appear on numerous tracks.  This is no surprise, since Bailey collaborates with Daniel Wylie (Cosmic Rough Riders) on all of the songs on this CD.

            In the recently rediscovered category is Shane Lamb’s 2011 CD Better Here.  The title track has Tom Petty’s chiming fingerprints all over it, and “I See Now” is an equally catchy jangly pop/rock tune.

            Fellow Byrds enthusiast Ray Verno has unearthed more “nuggets” and he has compiled Byrdsian Volumes 148 and 149 – featuring songs by the Lost Doves, Gabriel’s Dawn, Starry Eyed And Laughing, and others.

            Notable singles from the past month include: “Say What You’re Thinking” by C.L. Blake; “The Seams” by the Seams; “Buggin’ Out” by Nick Frater; “Hey Charlene” by the Bastards of Melody; “January Jones” by the Blusterfields; “Just Drive” by Cliff Hillis; “A Better World’s To Come” by Emmett Morris; “Older” and “When I Don’t Understand” by the prolific Andrew Taylor and the Harmonizers; “Hey Cecilia” by Finn Swingley; “Today” by the Happy Hate Me Nots; “A Million Little Trees” by the Kerosene Stars; “This Will Be Your Year” by On The Runway; “Butterfly” by Sound And Fury; and “Second One To Know” by Zebra Hunt.

            Until next time, jangle on!  ERIC