Yesterday I went out record shopping with a buddy and picked up, among other things, two Jayhawks records, Hollywood Town Hall (1992) and Tomorrow the Green Grass (1995), recently re-issued by American Recordings.
I must admit I’m not much of an alt-country enthusiast and only dabble in Americana. In fact, I stumbled across the Jayhawks entirely because of their association, once upon a time, with Twin/Tone records, the Minneapolis indie that the Replacements and Soul Asylum grew up on. (The Jayhawks second record, Blue Earth, was put out by Twin/Tone in 1989.)
After listening to a few songs from Tomorrow the Green Grass I decided it was worth giving the band more serious consideration. When I spotted these I took the opportunity to grab them.
The re-issues are 180-gram pressings sourced from the original analogue tapes. American did an outstanding job on both. My pressings are clean and quiet and as dynamic as you’d hope for with a basic re-issue.
One minor complaint is that these didn’t come with digital download cards.
Still, on the whole, I’m very pleased. These records, I think, capture the ‘classic’ Jayhawks, including co-founders Mark Olson and Gary Louris, at their musical peak. (Olson left the Jayhawks after Tomorrow the Green Grass and the band went in a new direction with Louris as the principal singer/songwriter.) Both will be getting regularly spins over the next few weeks.
so, solely on your excellent review, i purchased the “green grass” record.
I am enjoying the tunes, which bring me back to Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen days….
Dad, I’m glad you picked that up and that you’re enjoying it so far. I was going to recommend this record to you as I figured it was up your alley. You might look into picking up Hollywood Town Hall and/or their earlier records as well.
Nice one! Tomorrow the Green Grass was an essential album for me back in the day.
mp3 versions of both these re-releases are readily available on the tubes (I grabbed them last week when they first leaked).
Also, you should listen to Rainy Day Music one day; an amazing album start to finish.
Glad to see you on the alt-country.
Yeah, I managed to find both records in mp3 format easily. Still, it’s preferable to get them via digital download as, at least, the quality is reliable/stable.
I’ll try to get on Rainy Day Music.