Wednesday, June 03, 2009

You Ain't Going Nowhere

From the uneven but ultimately wonderful 1996 tribute album to Cleveland's finest -- Raspberries Preserved -- please enjoy power pop god (and former half of the mega-country duo Foster and Lloyd) Bill Lloyd and his amazing version of "Going Nowhere Tonight."





"Going Nowhere" is one of the perhaps less celebrated Raspberries tracks; in fact, the original is a kind of throwaway Eagles-lite country pop thing that never made much of an impression on me despite (or perhaps because of) appearing as the B-side of the sublime "I Wanna Be With You." Lloyd, however -- genius that he is -- located the passionate guitar rocker lurking within it, and the result is a perfect mix of soaring harmonies, romantic longing and glistening Stratocasters that wouldn't have been out of place on a Big Star album. Just terrific.

And as always, if the download thingie over at the divShare link doesn't work, just e-mail me and I'll send you the mp3.

10 comments:

steve simels said...

Note to self: Obscure cuts from decade old tribute albums less interesting than expected.
:-)

Kid Charlemagne said...

Still has a bit of twang to it! Good one! Worst COVER ever! Where they marketing to that heretofore untapped foot fetish market?

steve simels said...

The second best cut on this album is a George Harrison/Badfinger-esque version of the even more obscure "Rose Colored Glasses."

I'm prejudiced, though -- the band that does it features the drummer I've been playing with since the early 80s.
:-)

Noam Sane said...

Now that's what I call powerpop. Very cool.

Are those supposed to be raspberries on the cover? Looks more like carmel corn.

Mmmm, carmel corn.

Blue Ash Fan said...

What about the Flashcubes' cover of "I Can Hardly Believe You're Mine"? Definitely one of the stand-outs on a somewhat uneven tribute album.

Of course, I realize I'm being redundant in saying "uneven tribute album."

TMink said...

Bill is great, I met him at some parties when he was with Foster and I was married to a woman who worked at RCA. A very likeable chap, he signed my copy of Feeling The Elephant.

I need to get the rest of his stuff pronto.

Trey

NYMary said...

Bill's my Facebook buddy; we chat sometimes. Yes, a genuinely nice man. But I think I marginally prefer his version of "Step Inside" from Play Hollies in Reverse to this one.

steve simels said...

Lloyd's "Step Inside" is pretty spectacular, and that whole Hollies tribute is worth hearing.

And Lloyd's "Set to Pop" album is masterpiece. Just saying.

Kid Charlemagne said...

That Hollies trib LP is one of the best of the genre. Mary, what did you think of "Shoe Fetish"?

Blue Ash Fan said...

"Step Inside" is indeed spectacular. But don't forget to give Brad Jones his due on that one, too.

"Set to Pop" was the record that turned me into a rabid power popper in the '90s. "Masterpiece" truly is the word, Steve. Not a duff track on it.