The Jayhawks have one of the coolest origin stories in all of rock and roll. Perhaps it’s apocryphal, but as legend has it, George Drakoulias, fresh off signing The Black Crowes for Def American, was on the phone with Twin Tone Records in Minneapolis. In the background he heard The Jayhawks’ Blue Earth playing, asked about the band, tracked them down, and signed them. If that’s not an argument for playing music at the office, I don’t know what is.
Signed to a major label, The Jayhawks proceeded to drop back-to-back classic albums in Hollywood Town Hall and Tomorrow the Green Grass, break-up, come back as an excellent power pop band, reform, break-up again, become Ray “Kinks” Davies’ backing band, and finally settle in as respected journeymen, still making excellent records and putting on great live shows to this very day.
But perhaps the craziest thing about The Jayhawks isn’t that they’re an alt-country band from not-so-deep-south Minnesota, or their serendipitous discovery, or their twisted path along the way. Nope, the craziest thing about The Jayhawks is that they’ve never had a hit song or sold a lot of records, even though they’re probably the best sounding band of our generation. Thankfully, EONS is here to right this grievous wrong, and to give these grievous angels their due.
Tomorrow the Green Grass always struck me as a beautiful name for an album, being both wistful and optimistic, and this album is indeed beautiful, sad, and hopeful. Nearly all Jayhawks albums are pitch-worthy, but I picked TTGG primarily for its gorgeous vocal work. The Jayhawks were originally built around the close harmonies and twin vocals of Mark Olson and Gary Louris, but I love the addition of Karen Grotberg to the mix, and every song on this album features unique and wonderful vocal arrangements. The way they sing certain phrases literally gives me shivers, like when Mark & Gary hit “I’ll survive, it’s true” in “Two Hearts” or Karen’s sympathetic “oooo’s” in “Red’s Song”. This is the kind of album where you want to sing-along with every song, convincing yourself that you sound just as good as the band.
The songs on TTGG are so well written, and are deceptively sophisticated in their construction and arrangement. The chord choices, the use of bridges and pre-choruses, the solos and instrumental breaks are just genius - the work of expert craftsmen. Songs like “Blue”, “I’d Run Away”, “Two Hearts”, “Over My Shoulder”, “Ann Jane” - are just top-shelf, and there’s not a bad tune on the whole album.
As expected, the lyrics are mature, thoughtful and slightly spiritual. Relationship themes dominate, and there is beautiful writing throughout the album. I adore the line in “Miss Williams’ Guitar” - “I remember watching her play, and the whole damn crowd seemed so far away” - which is so wonderfully evocative, perfectly romantic, and deftly hidden within a raucous rock song. And there’s the real secret to The Jayhawks’ magic: Gary Louris’ guitar playing.
The risk of being a harmony-led band is that the music can get a little too soft, lacking an edge, and too many songs end up sounding the same. The Jayhawks don’t have that problem because they rock out behind the muscular yet twangy sound of Louris’ Gibson SG - giving him a distinct sound from all of the usual Les Pauls and Telecasters that most rockers favor.
Gary Louris is seldom mentioned among the ‘90s guitar greats, probably because he’s seen as an alt-country guy, but he is a truly fantastic player who can shred, but is incredibly tasteful and has an excellent tone. The guitar solos and rock songs on Tomorrow the Green Grass are the perfect counterbalance to the harmonies and the sweet stuff, and prevent the album from ever feeling redundant or wearing out its welcome.
Another welcome addition to the album is the unexpected cover of Grand Funk Railroad’s “Bad Time”. We’ve often had to apologize for cover tunes, but this one is a keeper. They improve upon the original arrangement by doing exactly what The Jayhawks do best: playing tight and delivering flawless vocals. From: https://eons.substack.com/p/the-jayhawks-tomorrow-the-green-grass
