Reviewed by Paul J Zickler & Stephen Ramone Lewis
Released: May 17 1981 The Dillman Band (AKA The Daisy Dillman Band) Lovin' The Night Away Genre: Country Rock Paul's Rating: 2.75 out of 5 Stephen's Rating: 2 out of 5 Average Rating: 2.38 Paul's Highlights: Lovin' The Night Away So Much The Smoother Stephen's Highlights: So Much The Smoother [Ed. Note: A slight mishap have given us 2 reviews for this Dillman Band album - enjoy!!] ********** Paul J Zickler's Review: “Dear Friends, With full hearts, we are announcing the end of regular live performances in 2022. We have had an incredible run of forty six years together (it’s hard to imagine and seems like a dream). As a band of young brothers starting out in Excelsior in 1976, we never gave a thought to how far we might come.” (Letter to fans from the Daisy Dillman Band website) “We’ll be lovin’ the night away / Forget about our sorrows / Forget about tomorrow / Just hold me ‘til the light of day / Lovin’ the night away.” (Lyrics from Lovin’ the Night Away) The opening song of this 1981 album by The Dillman Band (known as The Daisy Dillman Band everywhere besides this release) is a pleasant slice of guitar-picking, saxophone-swaying country rock. The chorus is lovely, with its piano-driven rhythms and rich harmony “oohs.” It’s not going to inspire you, but it wouldn’t sound bad at all on a cold Minnesota winter’s evening as you curl up with your loved one (or your dog) in front of a nice fire. According to their website, the boys in Daisy Dillman have been playing together steadily since ‘76, sometimes as a full band, other times as the three piece Daisy Dillman Acoustic. Their era of releasing commercially viable recordings seems to have ended with this, their second LP, in 1981. The record was made at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and it managed to crack the top 50 of Billboard’s Hot 100. The boys look very excited on the cover, ready to leap into the burgeoning country-rock industry. As Tom Petty put it, “the sky was the limit.” "A third album was never released due to internal restructuring at RCA Records." (History of the band from their website) Some of these songs sound a bit like pre-McDonald Doobie Brothers, others more like Pure Prairie League. Side one ending instrumental, So Much the Smoother, opens with a Kansas-like feel, with orchestral keyboards and effects pedal violin leading into harmonizing guitar riffs. Later it all gives way to a bluegrass beat and some fine fiddle playing. She’s Just a Stranger rocks just enough to resemble Glenn Frey, albeit with some weirdly echoed spoken lines: “It just isn’t the same / Boy she’s really changed.” C.O.D. follows a fairly dull AOR blueprint, even including the ubiquitous quick guitar/keyboard arpeggios under the chorus. The closing track veers into MOR pop with its smooth beats, syrupy lyrics, and slick sax solo. In other words, these guys are kinda all over the place musically. Lead vocalist Steve “Stymie” Seamans’ ragged tenor reminds me of a twangier version of Patrick Simmons. Pat Frederick’s violin playing stands out more than anything else, and I imagine he was the featured soloist in the band’s live sets. The album features lots of studio musicians, picking and grinning in support of the five band members. Pianos swell, mandolins chime in, kettle drums boom, and the aforementioned sax croons sweetly on several songs. Clearly, the label put some effort into this recording, so they must have had high hopes for these Minnesota fellas. The songs are mostly pretty decent, if not particularly memorable. Maybe the problem is that they were neither country enough nor rock enough to grab anyone’s attention. Like so many of the bands on the Housekeeping list, they had their brief moment of near-fame, then went back home to entertain the local folks for a few decades, reminiscing about their glory days, gracefully aging until the inevitable announcement that it’s time to hang it up. ********** Stephen Ramone Lewis' Review: One thing I learned from watching Sex Sent Me to the ER is that if something is going great don’t mess it up by trying something new. No matter what your wife’s best friend’s sister says. No matter what that weird blog says. No matter what you read above the urinal in that gas station’s men’s room. If things can’t get worse, sure, chance it, but if you’ve got no complaints then the produce should stay in the kitchen, save the double D batteries for the flashlight and leave the sheepshanks to the fishermen. If Sex Sent Me to the ER was on TV in ‘81 it could have saved this band the hassle of recording this record. In ‘78 the Daisy Dillman Band were a country band winning a slew of awards in Minnesota. In ‘81 they signed with RCA and recorded at Muscle Shoals with Rick Hall (who worked with Paul Anka, Persy Sledge, and the Osmonds). I’m guessing that someone’s wife’s best friend’s sister convinced them to change everything that got them the contract. They changed their name to the Dillman Band and traded most of the twang that brought them success for a shot at pop magic. The single, "Lovin' the Night Away", supposedly cracked the Billboard top 100 but I’m sure I never heard it before. The album sounds like the goal was to sound like Alabama or the Doobie Brothers, but I don’t think the guys' hearts were in it. Other than “So Much the Smoother”, a neat country-rock boot stomper that sounds like Kansas jammed with Charlie Daniels, everything sounds uninspired. After their failed attempt at superstardom the Dillman Band ended up in the ER having all the traces of top forty removed from their urethras. After the swelling went down, they reverted to the Daisy Dillman Band and resumed playing award winning country music. LESSON LEARNED!
No comments:
Post a Comment