The Man That Time Forgot
Studio album by John Paul Keith
Released 2011
Recorded 2011
Genre Rock, Soul, Country
Length 33:19
Label Big Legal Mess
Producer Bruce Watson
The Man That Time Forgot is the second solo album by John Paul Keith, a brilliant singer-songwriter and blistering guitarist. Before launching his solo career, he played in The V-Roys, The Nevers, Ryan Adams' Pink Hearts, Stateside, Harlan T. Bobo, Jack Oblivian, and Jim Dickinson's garage rock project, Snake Eyes.
Professional Ratings:
allmusic 4/5 stars
PopMatters 8/10 stars
American Songwriter 4/5 stars
Review by Matt Collar of allmusic:
Twangy Memphis-based singer/songwriter John Paul Keith and his band the One Four Fives deliver a rollicking mix of power pop, country, and blues-inflected rock on Keith's 2011 sophomore effort, The Man That Time Forgot. Picking up where 2009's Spills and Thrills left off, The Man That Time Forgot is an even more sharply honed piece of rootsy melodicism that brings to mind a mix of Elvis Costello, Dwight Twilley, and Gram Parsons. In fact, for fans of that kind of slapback, Fender-twang pop played by other like-minded popsters from Buddy Holly to Big Star to Tom Petty, John Paul Keith will be a kind of second coming of the power pop savior. He has a knack for distilling his musical influences down to their most addictive qualities and writing songs that sound like instant classics. To these ends, Keith channels Gram Parsons' wry and rambling persona on "You Devil You" and nails the bluesy dance-rock of Twilley on "Anyone Can Do It." Similarly, the romantic blue-eyed soul ballad "Somebody Ought to Write a Song About You," much like the rest of The Man That Time Forgot, sounds like the best rediscovered '60s AM pop hit you forgot how much you loved.
Review by Ben Child on PopMatters:
On his second full-length release, The Man That Time Forgot, John Paul Keith preserves his basic template of rough-hewn garage rock while occasionally ranging into new territory. A founding member of KnoxvilleÕs Viceroys and a former Nashville next-big-thing-in-training, Keith has found a sweet spot with his Memphis-based band, the One Four Fives. This is a group that has carved out its tight-knit sound by barnstorming around the southern states in the finest fashion Ñ one recent gig had them in the halftime show at a Grizzlies game. And this is a record that never loses sight of its terrain: at different stops throughout The Man That Time Forgot, you catch glimpses of the converging forces that have made Memphis a recurring hotbed in American music. The unholy alchemy of blues, originary rock ÔnÕ roll, country, and gospel that drifts in with the river and settles into the air permeates The Man That Time Forgot from top to bottom. Yet this is a record that never shies away from the Bluff CityÕs Beatle connections. A track like ÒI Think I Fell in Love TodayÓ, for instance, sounds like a scratched-up B-side from some alternate world in which Help! was cut in 1970s Midtown. Like Big Star, I guess, but less patently anglophilic.
Other reference points are more diffuse: ÒI Work at NightÓ is a clear tribute to Mose Allison, aiming for the sound of Mose stretching out and getting rowdy in some mythic after-hours bar. Although AllisonÕs pithiness isnÕt easily matched, the song is rescued from any possible slightness by a reeling guitar part and a whirling church organ. ÒThe Last Last CallÓ, however, is a quietly perfect closer, a somber recitation in the Porter Wagoner/Luke the Drifter tradition that stirs the eschatology of the bleakest gospel in with a barroom weeper. And the tex-mex stomp of the opener is plainly evocative of Doug Sahm, with a wheezy, Continental-sounding keyboard. There are a couple spots Ñ ÒBad Luck BabyÓ, for instance Ñ that might be a bit too predictable to fully realize the albumÕs scruffy potential, but according to the logic of garage rock, where the past so consistently sounds like the future, itÕs a genuine relief that KeithÕs observations never slide into facile past-baiting. In other words, itÕs always now somewhere on The Man That Time Forgot.
When considering KeithÕs songwriting, itÕs worth bearing in mind that, above all else, heÕs a skilled melodist: ItÕs to their great strength that many of these tunes end up sounding so familiar. With its sturdy songs and elegantly loose production, then, The Man That Time Forgot should find a receptive audience among listeners interested in feeling their way into the greasy edge of contemporary American rock ÔnÕ roll. In ÒIÕm Afraid to LookÓ, the singer offers up a compendium of all the realities he would rather not face Ñ an dwindling bank account, an empty gas tank, and, perhaps most bitterly, a dearth of record sales. This might be a structural problem wrought by the digital era, but itÕs an unfortunate one: Keith is a major talent and his album deserves a spot on your shelf.
Review by Hal Horowitz on American Songwriter:
ÒIÕm an old familiar tune that you used to hum, set your watch back baby when you see me come,Ó croons Memphis=based John Paul Keith on the title track of the follow-up to 2009Õs Spills & Thrills. That pretty much sums up his retro approach to songwriting. Any of these dozen short/sweet tracks would have sounded just fine blasting from a transistor radio hanging from the rear view mirror of a 60s convertible out for a Sunday spin.
Keith and producer Bruce Watson clean up the sound from his last release, replacing those gritty spills and thrills with a generally less raucous but just as energetic traipse though the musical history books of anyone who appreciates his backwards-looking style.
Rockabilly, Tex-Mex, soulful R&B, Brit Invasion and garage are revisited with new songs that instantly sound like familiar ones and are every bit as hooky as the hits they might have been 40 years ago. Keith churns through the chords of Eddie CochranÕs ÒSummertime BluesÓ on ÒAnyone Can Do ItÓ and sings like a heartbroken Rick Nelson on the plaintive ÒSongs for SaleÓ with such natural charm, it seems like he truly is a man out of time. One-Four-Five band member Al Gamble helps enormously with candy coated roller rink keyboards that recall everyone from Dell Shannon to Augie MeyersÕ work with Doug Sahm.
What makes this more than just a hip exercise in reproducing classic styles for ageing pop-music geeks is KeithÕs malleable vocals and uncanny ability to whip off catchy gems featuring sing-along choruses with a flair thatÕs never studied or pretentious. Tunes like ÒBad Luck BabyÓ could be an old Buddy Holly B-side and the opening ÒNever Could Say NoÓ feels like an Animals/Searchers/Them mash-up. Like the Smithereens or Marshall Crenshaw, Keith funnels the most clichŽd influences into irresistible pop, even as he downshifts into jazz organ combo mode on the swinging ÒI Work at Night.Ó After moving into Tommy James/Johnny Rivers/Rascals territory on the impossibly hummable mid-tempo ballad ÒSomebody Ought to Write a Song About You,Ó youÕll stop trying to finger his influences and just go with the hip-swaying flow.
LP track listing
All songs written by John Paul Keith.
Side One
1. "Never Could Say No" - 2:38
2. "You Devil You" - 2:35
3. "Anyone Can Do It" - 2:33
4. "Songs For Sale" - 2:34
5. "Afraid to Look" - 3:05
6. "The Man That Time Forgot" - 2:34
Side Two
7. "I Think I Fell in Love Today" - 2:32
8. "Dry County" - 2:04
9. "Somebody Ought to Write a Song About You" - 3:07
10. "Bad Luck Baby" - 2:08
11. "I Work at Night" - 4:34
12. "The Last Last Call" - 2:55
Personnel:
* John Paul Keith - guitar, vocals
* Al Gamble - organ, piano
* Mark E. Stuart - bass, vocals
* John Argroves - drums, vocals