The Lone Justice Saga

This is the first in a series of posts that will look back on bands and artists that should have hit the mainstream but never did.  In a sense, this series will delve into the positive and negative aspects of commercial failure as well as the consequences of being thrust into the spotlight by premature industry hype.  Lone Justice toured with U2, was highly touted by Rolling Stone, Dave Stewart, Annie Lennox, Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, among others.  Rising quickly from humble beginnings in Los Angeles, Lone Justice lasted only two albums and four years.  But they are the best little band everybody forgot about (or never even heard of).

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Lone Justice began as a duo composed of singer/guitarist Maria McKee and guitarist Ryan Hedgecock.  After the couple added Marvin Etzioni on bass and Don Heffington on drums, a following gathered at popular Los Angeles Clubs each time the band played their signature cowpunk covers and originals.  "What the hell is cowpunk?"  you may be wondering.  Cowpunk, a relative of rockabilly, is a fast-paced fusion of traditional country with deviant rock.  Lone Justice built a following at the legendary Whiskey a Go Go (here is a really excellent article on the Whiskey's history, if you're interested) and The Palomino when McKee was still a teenager.

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McKee's half brother, Brian MacLean, was a guitarist and songwriter in critically acclaimed '60s rock  band Love and also wrote one of my favorite Lone Justice tracks, Don't Toss Us Away, which appeared on LJ's self-titled debut album.  It's difficult to pull off a heartbreak song and still sound strong live, but McKee's vocal is focused and flawless, even live.

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The group's signing with notoriously artist-centric Geffen Records drew the input of many top names in the industry.  Jimmy Iovine, who has worked with Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Nicks, Tom Petty, and U2, produced the album and Steven VanZandt, of Springsteen's legendary E Street Band, co-wrote the second single, Sweet, Sweet Baby (I'm Falling).  After Hedgecock, McKee was dating Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers' keyboardist Benmont Tench, who contributed piano, organ, and background vocals to the album in addition to co-writing slow burning rocker "Sweet, Sweet Baby" with VanZandt and McKee.  Tom Petty and Mike Campbell, also of the Hearbreakers, wrote the first single, Ways to be Wicked, which perfectly suited McKee's style at the time.  McKee gave a raw and powerful voice to women everywhere--her extreme ability to control a strong and dynamic voice allowed her to sing everything from country to hard rock to sentimental ballads.  Marvin Etzioni was no slouch either--the bassist wrote three tracks including the electrifying album opener East of Eden.  Sounds like a recipe for success, right? 

Wrong.  Despite a marketing campaign rivaling the hype surrounding Beatlemania, the debut flopped, only reaching number 56 on the Billboard 200.  Reviews were mostly positive, and live shows were always outstanding, so why did Lone Justice fail commercially?  Perhaps they were marketed wrong, or else the energy of their lives shows could simply not be captured in the studio.  With Iovine producing and with contributions from Petty and VanZandt, the sound they grew into on the debut was more rock oriented than the material they played while building a following in Los Angeles, and production definitely smoothed out their familiar sound a bit.  However, I think the production choices were decent because they allowed the group to choose a direction while maintaining most of their artistic integrity.  If not for the hype, LJ could have gone down in history as a modestly successful and influential band.  But because neither the record nor the singles broke into the rock or country top ten, the endeavor was over before barely beginning.  Should the label have marketed the group more heavily to country radio?  That strategy probably wouldn't have helped sales either, because not even country was popular in the mid eighties--synth pop was king and there was no room for a band as audaciously unrestrained as Lone Justice.  

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After the tour with U2, Etzioni, Hedgecock, and Heffington left the band and McKee enlisted keyboardist Bruce Brody, guitarist Shayne Fontayne (who also worked briefly with Bruce Springsteen and Joe Cocker), drummer Rudy Richman (who went on tour for Springsteen's album Human Touch), and bassist Greg Sutton.   Although technically speaking, the second incarnation of the band was superior to the original, pared down lineup, the follow up album paled in comparison to the debut.

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Rolling Stone music critic Jimmy Guterman described 1986's Shelter accurately when he noted, ""That (the album) falls short of the debut says more about the unstudied brilliance of the first album than the few shortcomings on this one."  Although I enjoyed shelter, (aside from the cover, which looks like a creepy collage on the wall of a dentist office's restroom), I agree with Guterman's statement.  Topping Lone Justice would be a difficult feat with the same lineup.  With a hodgepodge of new faces surrounding McKee, the personality of the band wasn't the same.  The new sound was glossier in an attempt to gather followers from rock's mainstream.  Although Iovine and Van Zandt produced, the change in sound must have been a conscious decision, although McKee herself was alright with how the album sold.  The following is a quote from a 1993 article in the LA Times:

"I was OK with the sales because my whole concept was slow growth anyway . . . which is what all my heroes had gone through--from X to Springsteen," McKee recalls. "But everyone else . . . they didn't freak out, but it was like, 'This isn't exactly what we had planned.' "

In the same article, McKee also admitted, "Marvin was gone, Don was gone, Ryan was gone, and it wasn't Lone Justice anymore. The fact that the album was called Lone Justice is ludicrous."

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"Shelter," the album's first US single, peaked at #47 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the album only reached #65 on the Billboard 200.  Steven VanZandt played a bigger role on Shelter than he did on the debut in both songwriting in production, although McKee wrote or co-wrote all of the album's songs.  "Shelter" was the strongest track on the album, but most of the other songs fell victim to synthesizers,  generic '80s production, and the black hole of back to back midtempo ballads.  Don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of synths, when used artistically (like Prince's "Little Red Corvette"), but the intensity and lyrical strength of Lone Justice's first batch of songs had no problem standing alone.  Synths and updated production dampened the band's originality, diffused attention away from McKee's voice, and succeeded in turning early fans away.  "I Found Love" was one of the more organic efforts on the album but far more repetitive and indistinct than the songs Lone Justice was discovered for.  

McKee decided to break up the band after a brief tour in support of Shelter in order to focus on solo work.  Sadly, there are no official live releases featuring the original lineup, but I found BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert at Amoeba Records in Los Angeles, and the second lineup was definitely on top of their game then, playing old and new songs as well as the definitive cover of Lou Reed's "Sweet Jane" which I mentioned in a previous post.  Lone Justice still has a cult following, and McKee went on to a modestly successful solo career, which I will discuss next time.  Thanks for reading!  Oh, and The Vaught Tapes, an archive of the band's 1983 recordings with engineer David Vaught, will be released on January 14th, 2014.  Here's a little teaser.

Upcoming entries:
Maria McKee's solo career
The Life of the Waterboys

Laura Nyro
Sinead O'Connor

Album Review: Sky Ferreira's Night Time, My Time

Lately, I have been exploring the world of indie pop, which led me to Haim and has now led me to Sky Ferreira.  I believe that the genre with the highest quality music right now is a genre I call rock-based electronic pop, because it really is equally influenced by all three types of music.  What I like about the best artists in the genre is that they have actual talent.  I'm convinced that we're in the midst of a large musical shift that is centered in the United States (although the English have always been better at recognizing decent songs).  All of the Haim sisters are multi-instrumentalists who can seriously shred guitars and nail three part harmonies.  Sky Ferreira may have been discovered first as a model, but she will be remembered as a singer.  Here is my review of her debut album Night Time, My Time that I wrote for the Aquinas Saint:

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Sky Ferreira lights up the darkness

                Sky Ferreira has plenty of critics who refuse to accept her as a serious musical artist.  She made a name for herself as a model, and her name recently splattered across headlines for a drug arrest in New York while driving with her boyfriend, model and indie rocker Zachary Cole Smith.  But, as they say, haters are going to hate, and with her debut album Night Time, My Time, which was released on October 29, Ferreira has taken another step towards proving them wrong. 

                The 21-year old, who is “always anxious,” as she revealed in an interview with Bullett magazine, crafts surprisingly self-assured electro-pop songs that are edgy but comfortably familiar and modern, like a brand new pair of distressed jeans.  Although nothing on the album breaks new ground from a songwriting perspective, Night Time, My Time is an impressive effort from a singer who already knows the ropes of a music industry just as punishing as the modeling world.

                “You’reNot the One,” the first single, is a revelatory declaration of assertion at the end of a relationship.  The album encompasses both lows and highs of relationships, and Ferreira has a way of making even her struggles sound triumphant and motivating.  A breezy guitar loop soars above the dense synthesizer heartbeats on “You’re Not the One” and elevates the song above the likes of Lorde’s “Royals” and other hits from upcoming pop artists. 

                Ferreira’s voice is urgent and powerful, capturing the essence of her night owl lifestyle.  “24 Hours” begins with an alarm clock and explodes into a relaxed, churning groove immediately.  Drums give wings to Ferreira’s longing as she sings, “for 24 hours, you’re still mine,” and “there’s no tomorrow without you.”  Such lyrics could easily come across as overwrought or self-pitying, but Ferreira completely gives her voice to each word she sings, which lends the elegy undeniable honesty. 

                “NobodyAsked Me” is another highlight that showcases Ferreira’s ability to make vulnerability empowering.  Driven by refreshingly organic guitars, the song evolves into an alternative rocker with all the angst of early Avril Lavigne melded with the refined cool and smooth vocals of Blondie’s Debbie Harry.  The throwback vibe on the live version of “Nobody” is enhanced by the fact that Ferreira is a Harry lookalike who could easily play her in a biopic.  Ferreira never fails to drain all of the blood from her lyrics with the strength of her vocal control. 

                The title track closes the album and serves as a window into a haunting darkness not evident anywhere else on the album.  A dragging tempo, lethargic drum snaps, and an organ-based melody culminate in a state of dissonant paranoia.  The final song is a reminder of Ferreira’s life in the limelight just on the sane side of madness.  For the sake of all of her fans, I hope she stays that way.