Carousel corner heartland bands, part 2. (The Music).

While neither the Jayhawks nor the BoDeans share the gripping intraband drama that propelled Uncle Tupelo and its offspring, Son Volt and Wilco, each has had its share of personnel changes, transcendent moments, and false starts. Better still, each has survived its diaper phase and continues to grind out essential rock'n'roll.

The Jayhawks. The Jayhawks (Bunkhouse, 1986), Blue Earth (Twin/Tone, 1989), Hollywood Town Hall (Def American, 1992), Tomorrow the Green Grass (Def American, 1995), Sound of Lies (American, 1997), Smile (American, 2000).

The brainchild of guitarists Mark Olson and Gary Louris, the Jayhawks grew up in and around Minneapolis, drawing their energy from its fertile music scene. Initially the Jayhawks reached into America's country roots, spurred on by Louris's uncanny ability to make his guitar chime with the strains of a pedal steel. Their vocals were modeled on Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman's with the Flying Burrito Brothers, their loping style on Nashville Skyline-era Dylan. Indeed, if they sought a tag, the alt.rock path blazed by Uncles Tupelo (Louris had guested on No Depression) seemed to fit. After Louris suffered a nearly fatal automobile accident in 1988, Twin/Tone, a local label, assembled the band's demos and outtakes, which were remastered and embellished by (Olson and bassist Mark Perlman into Blue Earth. That disc was enough to capture the attention of Def American, who quickly brought the band into the studio for the remarkable Hollywood Town Hall, the high water mark of that version of the band. Louris expanded his guitar vocabulary developing an attacking melodic style derived from influences like Jerry Garcia, Keith Richards, Stephen Stills, and Carlos Santana. The Jayhawks were a rock band.

Lyrically, Olson and Louris worked like photographers, taking snapshots, unadorned slices of life--letting the subjects speak for themselves ("Two Angels," "Nevada, California"). These alternate with short reflections on loves lost and in progress ("Crowded in the Wings") and the occasional prayer ("Take Me With You"), Tomorrow the Green Grass, while not breaking the novel ground of its predecessor, added strings ("Blue," "I'd Run Away") and a permanent keyboardist, Karen Grotberg, expanding the band's arrangements and dynamics. If anything, Green Grass, perhaps influenced by Benmont Tench's participation, displayed their absorption of jangly rockers such as The Byrds and Tom Petty's Heartbreakers. Then Greg Olson left the band to devote more time and energy to the career of his wife, singer Victoria Williams.

The band regrouped, hired another drummer (its fifth), added Kraig Johnson on guitar and Jessy Greene on violin, and cut Sound of Lies. Lies abandoned any pretense at The Jayhawks' claim as a roots-driven, alt.rock band. Louris's songs, although sharing songwriting credits with Olson and vice-versa, had always tended toward the hard-edged side of the ledger, and Sound of Lies turned him loose with a vengeance. Ever the sponge, Louris seems to have spent his time listening to British pop (Radiohead, Pulp, Blur and of course later Beatles), as Sound of Lies places dramatic emphasis on a larger, fuller sound, complete with choral flourishes and showcasing Grotberg's piano prominently. Inevitably, personnel changes beckoned. Greene departed and Grotberg recorded the band's next disc before bearing her first child, being replaced by Jen Gunderman. Another drummer was recruited, and the band emerged intact with Smile.

Smile expands Louris's take on BritPop, the title track soaring through its mountain imagery along with the best of Jarvis Cocker or Damon Albarn. But if there's one song which seals The Jayhawks transformation from alt.rock to a modern rock band it's "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me." There is a genre of pop songs that is characterized by a repeating series of guitar chords, a propulsive beat, and generally a lyric hook for the ages. It is as old as rock: from "Little Girl" (Syndicate of Sound"), "You're Gonna Miss Me" (13 Floor Elevator), "Hey, Joe" (The Troggs) up to "Yr Own Blues" (Blue Aeroplane), "If You Won't Love Me" (Pete Droge), "Save Tonight" (Eagle Eye Cherry), and so on. "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" joins this lofty pantheon with brazen Authority--and is reason enough to acquire the disc. However, the bonus is that each song stands out as a unique piece of work--Louris even resurrecting is pedal steel-inflected guitar licks for "A Break in the Clouds"--a reflection of the band's democratization of the song writing. Perlman, Grotberg, even new drummer Tim O'Reagan, share in the credits.

The Jayhawks are rumored to have gone back into the studio this year, tho' there's no new disc on the horizon. In the mean time Gunderson and Johnson have also left, the latter having been replaced by former-Long Ryder Stephen McCarthy. Louris, Perlman, and McCarthy toured smaller clubs this spring as an acoustic trio. The Jayhawks are one of those rare bands whose many guises and personnel have wrought distinctive sounds, from the early alt.rock of Olson and Louris to its latter-day pop, seemingly taking each, progressive step in stride. Barring something disastrous, we should hear from them for years to come.

BoDeans. Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams (Slash, 1986), Outside Looking In (Slash, 1987), Home (Slash, 1989), Black and White (Slash, 1991), Go Slow Down (Slash, 1993), Joe Dirt Car (Slash, 1995), Blend (Slash, 1996).

Another band, this one from Waukesha, Wisconsin-home of Les Paul, that arose from a high school teaming, BoDeans is the long-standing partnership between Kurt Neumann and Sammy Llanas. One is tempted to throw BoDeans into the "roots rock" or "alt.rock" bin simply because they otherwise defy a convenient label, unlike The Jayhawks or Uncle Tupelo. BoDeans emerged fully formed, like a butterfly that had mysteriously skipped the pupa, larva, and chrysalis phases, with little prior fanfare, heads bursting with delectable ideas and a sound quite like any other. Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams--from the Stones' "Shattered"--astonished with air-ready songs like "Fadeaway' and "She's a Runaway", each highlighted by Llanas's keening nasal tenor and Neumann's hauntingly spare, precise electric guitar.

BoDeans, eschewing the definite article like Talking Heads, modeled themselves after a number of primal influences: the Stones of course, R.E.M. with their insistence on group credit for playing and production, and The Ramones for adopting--at least at first--a group persona: Kurt BoDean, Sammy BoDean, etc. What has become aphoristic for BoDeans is their penchant for penning one or two utterly irresistible pop songs per album, perhaps the compulsion that kept at least one fan poised for each disc's release without having heard so much as an eighth note. Outside Looking In yielded "Only Love" and "Pick Up The Pieces." Home brought "When Love Is Good," concert fave "Beautiful Rain," and the ultimate Chuck Berry homage, "Good Work." Black and White brought us "Naked" and "Good Things"; Go Slow Down brought us "Closer to Free" (later adopted as the theme song for television's "Party of Five"); and Blend gave us "Heart of a Miracle" and "All I Ever Wanted."

But to peg or dismiss BoDeans as a flashy singles band is to miss the point. They've issued some material that upon reflection sounds shallow, trendy--and, er, derivative, Black and White's "Black, White and Blood Red" and "Any Given Day" two cases in point. But the bulk of their work is novel, heartfelt, and, despite a few fits and starts, has worn well.

Lyrically, both Neumann and Llanas traverse many of the same fields as Springsteen, with as much passion if without The Boss's sense of epic poetry. The pair shift easily from life's dirty, homespun lessons (Home's "Brand New") to poignant genre scenes ("Heart of a Miracle"). Llanas's lyrics occasionally veer toward the ham-fisted, but not so close to the edge--Mellencamp comes to mind--that one considers he's taking himself a bit too seriously. Then again both can tend toward the anthemic, Neumann's "The Understanding" (Blend) and Llanas's "Naked" prime examples. For the most part, tho', the production values are appropriate to the song, and we'll readily trade a wince or two for their soaring harmonies, a trademark tandem that neither Mellencamp or The Boss has ever managed to achieve.

The ultimate BoDeans is BoDeans live, and Joe Dirt Car, recorded during a number of dates between 1989 and 1994, is as good as BoDeans live gets. Despite a parade of drummers--anyone who has ever been in a rock'n'roll band understands this--Neumann and Llanas have kept bassist Bob Griffin around, so the different bands aren't so different. Indeed, their stage presentation is so consistent, especially Neumann's guitar tone, that one could easily mistake five years' worth of takes as a pleasantly rowdy night in Waukesha. We haven't heard from BoDeans in too long, and two greatest hits collections (1998's Thick As Thieves and 2002's Slash and Burn) do not portend well. Record companies may issue greatest hits collections to capitalize on an artist's popularity while the artist is still active and potent, but two? Well more often than not that's a death knell. BoDeans are still touring--a smattering of dates dotted the Summer 2002 calendar, and Warner/Reprise/Slash still offers their full catalog. More?

DVDs.

Neil Finn & Friends, 7 Worlds Collide (Nettwork)

What fascinates me about Neil Finn, aside from his incredible talents as a songwriter, guitarist, and singer, is his compulsive productivity. 7 Worlds Collide was a short series of live dates in Aukland, New Zealand by a band that Finn assembled for the sole purpose of playing a short series of live dates. As he says, "Before that band could come to blows and do what bands do ..." And what a band: Eddie Vedder, Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway from Radiohead, Johnny Marr, Lisa Germano, Finn vet Sebastian Steinberg, and of course Tim Finn. The songs are mostly Finn's with a Couple of Germano originals ("Paper Doll" and "Crywolf"), Eddie Vedder's "Parting Ways," Johnny Marr's "Down on the Comer," and The Smiths' scrumptious "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" included. Finn's son Liam's band, Bechadupa, performs the ecstatically ironic "History Never Repeats" with ferocious abandon and with Vedder on vocals. There's not a bad number from the concerts--a great time having been had by all. The sound is nearly perfect, though Ed O'Brien's guitar is frequently buried in the mix, and the video is as good as concert footage gets. And if by the end you're not in love with Lisa Germano, you have no soul.

Buena Vista Social Club (Artisan)

Okay, this one's been flogged to death. The old habanistas have gotten their due, Cooder's a hero, and son reigns once again. Doesn't matter. The digital transfer is spectacular, the sound pristine, and the sheer joy of performing, reflected in the radiant faces of Compay Segundo, Ruben Gonzalez, Eliades Ochoa, Omara Portuondo, and the inestimable Ibrahim Ferrer is something I don't think anyone with a heart can ever tire of. To paraphrase Father Mulcahy: who cannot hear the first chords of "Chan Chan' and not feel changed?

Obits. Every kid has idols. Besides The Shirelles, Del Shannon, Dion, and Ben E. King, mine were Willie Mays, Sam Snead, Ted Williams, and Ken Venturi. The last couple of months, I-we--lost Slammin' Sammy and The Splendid Splinter. We also lost Rosemary Clooney, Ray Brown, John Entwhistle, Alan Lomax, Lionel Hampton, and Arthur K. "Spud" Melin. Look him up. (We also lost Spud' s old colleague, "Steady Ed" Headrick, sad to say. You could look him up, too.--KWN) E-mail: [e-mail]. We'll see them on the flip side ...

--KE