Marshall Crenshaw - This Is Easy: The Best of Marshall Crenshaw
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Free Music Notes for This Is Easy: The Best of Marshall Crenshaw
Free Music Review: This Is....great songwriting
Hit: 5 Stars
Like so many "smart songwriters" in the world of rocking pop music (think John Hiatt, Clive Gregson, Dwight Twilley, Tim and Neil Finn, etc), Marshall Crenshaw never seemed to get the total respect due him. Sure, he's had some breaks. Not everyone gets their songs covered by Bette Midler or gets featured in a few big budget Hollywood movies. Or for that matter, even gets to crack the top 40 at all, as Crenshaw did with "Someday Someway." It's just that musically, Crenshaw released a perfect debut to critical raves and pop success, then saw it slowly recede as he released solid albums year after year. While I am fortunate to have most of the original CDs, most of them are out of print. Most aren't even listed on Amazon as available used!So then as usual, it's Rhino to the rescue. Gathering 22 songs from the albums up to "Miracle of Science" must have been a daunting task. After all, how could you choose what to include and omit? While I do agree that some of his later day albums get the short shrift (especially "Life's Too Short"), there is hardly a song here that I can't listen to over and over again. Like the modern day Buddy Holly he is, Crenshaw blends both a certain innocence and naivete with world weary charm, perhaps best exemplified by "This Is Easy" and "Cynical Girl."
Go ahead, just try and listen to the CD and NOT go around with at least one of the hooks bubbling around in your head for the next 36 hours. From the rockabilly shake of that first single, "Something's Gonna Happen," to the closing beauty of "Starless Summer Sky," this is pop with bits so catchy you'll think something is stuck to your shoe. Even his cover selections (Hiatt's "Somewhere Love Can't Find Me," Ben Vaughn's "I'm Sorry (But So Is Brenda Lee)") show the kind of affection for sophisticated pop music that would glut the radio if there were any justice in the world.
I really can't think of anything bad to say about this CD, other than the fact that I want "This is Easy, Too" to eventually show up. "Fantastic Planet Of Love," "Hold It," "Rocking Around in NYC," "Steel Strings," "Crying, Waiting, Hoping" (from "La Bamba"), "She Hates to Go Home," "Valerie," "Some Hearts," etc. about it Rhino?
Free Music Review: This is easy, easy music to love
Hit: 5 Stars
THIS IS EASY is a way above average greatest hits collection, for the simple reason that Marshall Crenshaw has been one of the finest writer/performers of the past twenty years. Beginning with his stunning debut album MARSHALL CRENSHAW, in 1982, he has produced a string of first rate albums filled with superb songs, the vast majority written by Crenshaw, with an occasionally gem by someone else, like the incredible "I'm Sorry (And So Is Brenda Lee)," written by Ben Vaughan.The bulk of the great songs come from Crenshaw's first three extraordinary albums (all well worth owning) the eponymous first album (1982), FIELD DAY (1983), and DOWNTOWN (1985). Over half the album derives from these three albums. These contain what is arguably the best pop rock produced by any American performer in the early 1980s. I've played the album for friends who were only slightly familiar with Crenshaw, and while they recognized and liked the songs, I have wondered why they weren't far more widely known than they are.
I have become increasingly convinced that record companies play no useful role in a society where methods of music distribution have changed so dramatically. If one could eliminate the record companies, eliminate monopolies like Clear Channel (the first of these is inevitable, the second unfortunately not), perhaps talent rather than hype and promotion and the monopolization of the airwaves would determine whether or not performers would rise to the top. There are literally hundreds of bands and musicians who have been forced down our throats because the record companies have built them up and then overexposed them. Meanwhile, first-rate talents like Marshall Crenshaw don't receive the hype, and don't get the exposure that they deserve. The record companies and the monopolies don't deserve to control the airwaves if for no other reason than the fact that they have done such a miserable job of promoting talent.
In a better world, where talent determined whether or not someone's music was widely heard, Marshall Crenshaw would have been huge. This isn't a hard conclusion at which to arrive. In fact, it is easy.
Free Music Review: A National Treasure !!
Hit: 5 Stars
Thanks a million to Rhino Records for releasing this fantastic --and long overdue --collection!! The great Marshall Crenshaw, a grossly underappreciated American Treasure has, for two decades, produced some of this country's best pop music. Sadly, though, he remains a fringe cult figure ignored by radio, the public and the trend-seeking media. Yes, a guy who creates beautiful pop confection a la Buddy Holly and John Lennon can't get arrested while the airwaves are polluted with gangsta rap, Eminem and the Backstreet Boys. That's tragic!!Hopefully, this "Best Of" compilation, which chronicles much of his career, will introduce Mr. Crenshaw to the droves of fans he so richly deserves. Most listeners will be familiar with "Someday, Someway", which propelled Marshall into the limelight in 1982. While the irresistable "Someday" was his only big radio hit, many of the tunes on this collection are equally catchy and ultimately, just as deserving of recognition. First time listeners will be blown away by the pop craftmanship so evident on tracks such as "Mary Anne" and "Starless Summer Sky". And who wouldn't be moved by the clever tongue-in-cheek antics of "You're My Favorite Waste of Time", or the deliciously comic overtones of "Cynical Girl"? This stuff's so perfectly written, it ought to be titled "Songwriting 101". If you like the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Tom Petty or Fastball, chances are you'll dig Marshall Crenshaw. And chances are you'll be miffed as to why this guy, who belongs in the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame, has been virtually ignored.
Free Music Review: A fantastic collection
Hit: 5 Stars
The liner notes say it all - "the fact that... any of the... songs on this CD aren't pumping out of every pop radio station in these United States is not only a mystery but a miscarriage of justice."Marshall Crenshaw is one of the best rock and roll songwriters of the modern era, and during the 1980's (and continuing today), he created a number of "should-have-been hit singles" - beautifully crafted songs with clever lyrics, perfect pop hooks, and top-notch musicianship - practically year after year... but after his 1982 splash and the moderate success of "Someday, Someway" - radio began ignoring him, despite continued critical success and albums which were often artistic triumphs.
I have been waiting for a collection to truly represent Marshall's music and to introduce people who may have heard one or two songs to his large body of top notch songs and also to give fans a good not-too-concise collection for their Marshall fix. This is the collection I have been waiting for. Since I purchased this CD, it has moved from my house to my car and back on a regular basis. Rhino always does a nice package - great liner notes, a good selection of songs. They don't disappoint here.
If you are pondering purchasing this CD, then I must tell you - ponder no longer. This CD is worth every penny. You will not be disappointed. Marshall Crenshaw writes great songs, and you will enjoy his music if you enjoy a good well-crafted catchy pop song. There's many of those here.
Free Music Review: Perfect, much-needed compilation
Hit: 5 Stars
It's hard to believe that this is the first compilation on Crenshaw's careeer (not counting a promo-only release in 1991). But the folks at Rhino have done a great job. Seven of his eight studio albums are covered. The only one not covered is his 1999 Razor & Tie effort (#447). But, otherwise this picks up all the highlights. What you get are catchy, hook-filled songs that are hard to shake from your brain once you hear them. These are some of the best pop-rock songs of the 80's. He wrote or co-wrote all but 2 of these, and while there are no unreleased tracks we do finally get the B-side of "Someday Someway": the homemade demo of "You're My Favorite Waste Of Time", which is definitive and "Something's Gonna Happen" which was only released as a 12" single. Crenshaw has often been accused of being a Buddy Holly rip-off, but his music touches base with Power-Pop as much as it does with 50's Rock and Roll. If you've always been curious about Crenshaw then this is the perfect introduction. From there, pick up his debut self-titled album. There's only one other Warner Brother album in print, the fine Field Day, and his 2 Razor & Tie studio efforts, and a live and Demos album, but all of his other Warner and (one) MCA album are out of print as of August 2000. So, this is the way to go. The liner notes are by the late, great Cub Koda with Crenshaw adding song-by-song notes. One of 2000's best reissues and a must-have for your collection.