The Continental Drifters were one of those bands whose popularity rested somewhere between cult status and household name — unfortunately, it was closer to the former. As far as I can tell, none of their recordings ever charted, but they have a loyal fan base on both sides of the Atlantic. Several of their members, however, were household names of sorts: Vicki Peterson (The Bangles), Susan Cowsill (The Cowsills), and Peter Holsapple (The dB’s and REM) were associated with Continental Drifters almost from the beginning.
The group actually began at jam sessions in a Hollywood dive club in the early 1990s before relocating to New Orleans. That early group featured three talented singer-songwriters in drummer Carlo Nuccio and guitarists Gary Eaton and Ray Ganucheau, plus bassist Mark Walton, who also played with Giant Sand and The Dream Syndicate and who was the one founding member who remained when the band broke up around 2001.
The recorded output that was released while the band was active consisted of a few singles and three albums, Continental Drifters (1994), Vermillion (1998) and Better Day (2001), all on indie labels. But before that self-titled ’94 album, the band comprising Nuccio, Eaton, Ganucheau, Walton, Holsapple, Peterson and Cowsill laid down enough tracks for an album that got shelved. It was released in 1993 by the German label Blue Rose under the title Nineteen-Ninety-Three.
The 13 tracks on Nineteen-Ninety-Three plus two previously unissued early versions of songs that ended up on Vermillion make up the first disc (The Beginning) of this exciting two-disc set released by Omnivore Recordings nearly a quarter-century after the band first jammed in L.A. The first disc actually opens with one of those two songs from Vermillion. “Who We Are, Where We Live” is a great choice for the opener even though it’s out of chronological sequence, because it’s pretty much a history of the band and a statement of its ethos. The other is “The Rain Song,” a superb and very accessible Susan Cowsill number that tries to put a smiley face on lingering feelings about a lover who’s gone. Both are very good versions of these songs, perhaps a bit more energetic and less polished (in a good way) than the previously released tracks.
The remaining songs on Disc One include four different versions than those on the Nineteen-Ninety-Three release. “Dallas” and “Mr. Everything” are alternate mixes and “Green” and “New York” are stripped-down demos. The tracks that really stand out for me this time (I reviewed the album for GMR in 2003) are Nuccio’s bluesy New Orleans rocker “Side Steppin’ The Fire” and Ganucheau’s soulful “I Didn’t Want To Lie.” What a sweet and powerful tenor singing voice Ganucheau has! But there are plenty of delights on this disc, including Eaton’s country-rocker “Match Made In Heaven” on which just about everybody sings; the swampy ode to “The Mississippi”; the deep R&B groove of “Dallas”; and Holsapple’s “Invisible Boyfriend,” with lots of his powerful Hammond B-3 playing.
Before Blue Rose released Nineteen-Ninety-Three the label put out a Europe-only release that was an homage to Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny, and Richard & Linda Thompson, called Listen Listen after Denny’s song. That collection makes up the second half of Beyond, the second disc in this set. The first half is a grab-bag of cover songs — some live and some studio, some previously unreleased, and some from various tributes and compilations. So where Disc 1 highlighted the strength of the group’s songwriters, this disc shows what a great cover band the Continental Drifters were. Whether on country-rockers like Gram Parsons’ version of “You Don’t Miss Your Water” or his own “A Song For You” and Michael Nesmith’s “Some Of Shelley’s Blues,” or folk-rockers like Lucinda Williams’s “Crescent City” and Neil Young’s “When You Dance I Can Really Love,” or oldies like Tommy James’s “Tighter, Tighter,” the Mamas and the Papas’ “Dedicated To The One I Love” or The Hollies’ “I Can’t Let Go,” this band nails it. The harmonies are gorgeous, and they can rock out on distorted guitars or zydeco to Holsapple’s accordion as the occasion calls for.
The songs of the Listen, Listen tribute weren’t new to me, because Mark Walton graciously sent GMR a review copy back in 2003. (I reviewed it together with Nineteen-Ninety-Three that year.) It’s a really fun little tribute to the folk-rocking Fairport family. In addition to the title track, there’s a rollicking “I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight” with lead vocals by Cowsill (I think — she and Peterson can be hard to tell apart); the early Thompson rocker “You’re Gonna Need Somebody” with I think guitarist Maché singing lead; Thompson’s obscure “The Poor Ditching Boy” and a wild-eyed “Matty Groves” both by Holsapple; “I’m A Dreamer” by Peterson; and everybody’s favorite Fairport sing-along “Meet On The Ledge” with walls of harmony. “Ditching Boy” from Thompson’s solo debut Henry the Human Fly is one of my favorite RT songs, and I love this band’s cover, a blend of reverence (lots of mandolin and accordion), and gleeful appropriation (some lyric changes and a sense of irony that’s more American than Thompson’s droll British version. Ditto for “Bright Lights,” a great song that’s hard to cover, but they do all of these songs justice.
This package includes a 20-page booklet that has a bunch of publicity shots of the band in its various iterations, an oral history with contributions from everybody, and full notes on the songs and their provenance.
How to classify Drifted: In The Beginning & Beyond? Part reissue, part compilation, it’s a loving tribute to a musical troupe that was a great big family, steeped in the great folk and rock songbooks of the second half of the 20th century. We’ll not see the like of the Continental Drifters again. A reunion show to promote this disc has just been announced for September 12 at Tipitina’s Uptown in New Orleans — The Continental Drivers are promoting it on their Facebook page, and if you can make it to New Orleans in September, you should! In the meantime, grab this set. Take a look at this promo video if you need more convincing.
(Omnivore, 2015)
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