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Happy Hour
Overview
One of the on line record stores used to proclaim Happy Hour as "Best of Genre" and I've never understood why since, for me, the album has always been the least impressive of Ted's recordings. (Actually I've never understood which "genre" they were talking about either but that's another problem.) I believe Happy Hour was all recorded in 1986 (it doesn't sound as though Bromberg used any of his 1971 tapes). So what's the problem - Happy Hour doesn't have a duff track (apart from Let's Not Forget The Constitution - do you Americans take this stuff seriously? I don't recall the Beatles singing "let's not forget the Magna Carta" and then it bounces right back with My Last Goodbye (hey, this is Ted's best track with a band until The Next Hundred Years in 1994.) It seems to me that Bromberg over compensated for the rawness of Watch Your Step with a warmer, more rounded sound that Ted just doesn't need. Compare Gyspy Woman with the version that Thorpe Minster recorded a year earlier for The Venice Beach Tapes. Ted's steel tap on Bromberg's version sounds like someone walking in the corridor outside. Thorpe Minster (and later the BBC engineers) showed that with Ted Hawkins you need to strip the sound bare to show that voice at its best. But let's keep things in perspective, it's not Ted's best album but don't pass up the chance to buy it if you see it.
Availability
USA & online record stores. Released in 1986 on Rounder Records. Rounder 2033.
Track Listing
- 1. Bad Dog
- 2. Happy Hour
- (D MacKechnie, S Gillette)
- 3. Don't Make Me Explain It
- 4. The Constitution
- 5. My last Good Bye
- 6. You Pushed My Head Away
- 7. Revenge Of Scorpio
- 8. California Song
- 9. Cold & Bitter Tears
- 10. Gypsy Woman
- (Curtis Mayfield)
- 11. Ain't That Pretty
- 12. One Hundred Miles
All songs written by Ted Hawkins except where noted.
Produced by Dave Bromberg & Dennis Walker with Dale Wilson
Inlay Notes
THE FIRST TIME I MET TED HAWKINS, he was setting up his 'spot' along Venice Beach, Califoria's Ocean Front Walk, a one and a half mile stretch of musicians, entertainers, vendors and general onlookers. Ted was two and a half minutes into 'Watch Your Step,' the title cut from his 1982 Rounder debut, when the crowd began to multiply into large numbers. They were caught.
Ted Hawkins possesses a special vocal ability that grabs directly at the point of its origin, the heart. That voice, coupled with the piercing sincerity of his lyrics, produces a sound that goes beyond any technical scrutiny or analysis and reaches straight for the gut reaction.
His musical ability comes straight from the heart, soul and instinct. Ted's not looking to dazzle you with his high tech wizardry or elaborate chord progressions. He shares the ups and downs of life in a manner that everyone can understand and identify with.
Where the critically lauded Watch Your Step (Rolling Stone named it one of the top records of the year) was a reflection of a well-travelled and often weary Ted Hawkins, this new project marks the artist's musical and personal maturation.
Ted will readily admit that life hasn't been too easy and there are more than a few years he'd like to forget. But he'll also tell you that he's found a new freedom and satisfaction with his life and while his lyrics can convey a sense of despair, he now exudes a certain cautious optimism that comes from a complete dedication to his new life and music.
Among the truly introspective songs on this record is Ted's 'California Song.' He and his wife Elizabeth (contributing backing vocals) weave a tale of two people going to their modern day promised land to be in Hollywood and 'see the setting of the sun.' Ted is joined again by Elizabeth on 'My Last Goodbye,' a rollicking confrontation between a woman and a man that displays the full range of Ted's voice.
Also, take special note of Ted's cover of Steve Gillette and Dave MacKechnie's 'Happy Hour,' as well as a haunting version of Curtis Mayfield's 'Gypsy Woman.' In 'Happy Hour,' when Ted sees his partner slow dance across the floor with another man, you can literally feel his heart break with the change of his voice.
'You Pushed My Head Away' is a straight ahead blues number that displays Ted's ability to convey despair and disappointment with equal emotional force through yet another musical style.
Each cut on this record is Ted Hawkins pure and simple. There are no distractions, no lyrical mazes and no emotions that every man or woman hasn't felt in his or her lifetime.
Ted still comes to Venice Beach on the weekends. Only now it doesn't take two and a half minutes for the crowds to form. They come, sit and wait for the music to begin. When it starts, they gather around to watch and listen, and despite the numerous sights, sound and distractions, no one turns away from that voice. They are caught.
- Dave Adelson Cash Box Magazine