Marshall Crenshaw
Studio album by Marshall Crenshaw
Released April 28, 1982
Recorded Record Plant in NYC in January 1982
Genre Rock
Length 34:10
Label Warner Bros. Records
Producer Richard Gottehrer & Marshall Crenshaw
Professional reviews
Allmusic 5/5 stars
Rolling Stone 4/5 stars
Marshall Crenshaw is the debut album by Detroiter Marshall Crenshaw. It featured his breakthrough classic hit, "Someday, Someway", which reached #36 on Billboard's Hot 100 in the summer of 1982, as well as #31 on the Cash Box singles chart. The
Marshall Crenshaw (born November 11, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. Born in Detroit, Michigan, he grew up in the suburb of Berkley. Crenshaw began playing guitar at age ten. From 1968 to 1973 he led the band Astigafa (an acronym for "a splendid time is guaranteed for all", a lyric from "Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite" from the album Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles). He got his first break playing John Lennon in the off-Broadway company of the musical Beatlemania. While in New York, he recorded a single, "Something's Gonna Happen", for Alan Betrock's Shake Records, after which he was signed to Warner Bros. Records. Retro rocker Robert Gordon took Crenshaw's "Someday, Someway" to #76 in 1981, and Crenshaw's version made #36 the next year; it would be his only Top 40 hit. Spongetones member Jamie Hoover lists "Someday, Someway" as one of his top ten favorite pop songs.
Crenshaw's eponymous first album was acclaimed as a pop masterpiece upon release, proving him a first-rate songwriter, singer and guitarist. His second album, Field Day, sported a somewhat heavier sound that displeased some listeners, but the album is regarded by many critics as Crenshaw's best, and one of the classic power pop statements, although Crenshaw's work, like Alex Chilton's, transcends the genre. "Some of the stuff I've done you could call power pop," he told an interviewer, "but the term does have sort of a dodgy connotation."
Although Marshall Crenshaw has never sold enormous numbers of records, he enjoys a reputation as one of the finest songwriters of the era, with roots in classic soul music, British Invasion songcraft, Burt Bacharach and Buddy HollyÑto whom Crenshaw was often compared in the early days of his career, and whom he portrayed in the 1987 film La Bamba. In 1989, he compiled a collection of Capitol Records country performers of the 1950s and '60s called Hillbilly Music...Thank God, Vol. 1, which was extremely well-received. In 1993, he made an appearance in the cult TV show The Adventures of Pete and Pete, in the role of a guitar-playing meter reader. In 1994, he published a book, Hollywood Rock: A Guide to Rock 'n' Roll in the Movies. He continued to record in the 1990s and 2000s, and, in 1999, released the critically acclaimed #447. In the 2000s, Crenshaw played guitar as a special guest with the reunited members of the MC5. Crenshaw penned the title track from the 2007 film Walk Hard starring John C. Reilly; the song, as sung by Reilly, was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Song.
Crenshaw is also a noted guitarist who uses offbeat chord progressions (almost verging towards jazz) and tight leads.
Track listing
"There She Goes Again"
"Someday, Someway"
"Girls"
"I'll Do Anything"
"Rockin' Around in N.Y.C. "
"The Usual Thing"
"She Can't Dance"
"Cynical Girl"
"Mary Anne"
"Soldier of Love (Lay Down Your Arms)"
"Not for Me"
"Brand New Lover"
Personnel
Chris Donato Ð bass guitar
Robert Crenshaw Ð drums
Marshall Crenshaw - lead guitar
SACD Ripping Info
SACD Recording
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