Terence Boylan

Terence Boylan - Terence Boylan - 1977 - Asylum

After writing and rehearsing an entirely new set of tunes, Boylan landed a recording contract with David Geffen’s Asylum Records, a famous stable of singer-songwriters that included Joni Mitchell, Warren Zevon, the Eagles, John David Souther and Tom Waits. Recording at LA’s Record Plant and Westlake Audio with members and musicians from both Steely Dan and the Eagles, Boylan merged different sensibilities into a stunning, lyrical, jazz-tinged rock album, with strong hooks and soaring harmonies, that went to number one on the Billboard National Breakout list the week it was released, and was the most added album at radio for five weeks straight. The level of writing and musicianship on Terence Boylan (Asylum 7E-1091) prompted a number of critics to hail it as "astonishingly brilliant", and the reviews were laudatory both in the US and abroad, winding up on a number of top ten lists at year’s end. Iain Matthews, a British singer, picked up on two of Boylan’s tunes for his album Stealin’ Home, and his version of Shake It quickly climbed to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. The following year, Boylan won two BMI Awards for Best Songwriting. © www.bluedesert.dk/terenceboylan.html

This is a brilliant album from a forgotten artist. It is transferred from vinyl, so you'll have to endure a bit of noise, but it's worth it to hear this rare original. It is extremely difficult to find any of Boylan's original LP's. I know that some of his early stuff is now being re-released on CD, so check it out. Has anybody got any info on his debut album, "Alias Boona?"

TRACKS

Side 1:

Don't Hang Up Those Dancing Shoes
Shake It
Sundown Of Fools
The War Was Over
Shame

Side 2:

Hey Papa
Where Are You Hiding
Rain King
Trains

MUSICIANS

Jim Gordon,
Russell Kunkel,
Jeff Porcaro,
Leland Sklar,
Chuck Rainey,
David Jackson,
Timothy B. Schmit,
Donald Fagen, (Plays piano on Don't Hang Up Those Dancing Shoes, & Shame)

Victor Feldman,
Mickey McGee,
Dean Parks,
John Klemmer,
Gary Foster,
Don Henley,
Wilton Felder,
David Paich,
Bob Glaub,
Don Evans,
Steve Lukather,
Al Kooper,
Ben Benay,
John Guerin,
Max Bennett,
Tom Kelly,
Dodie Petit

BIO

Terence Boylan was born in the late 1940's and grew up in Buffalo, New York, where he started out in music before age 13, in the appropriately named band the PreTeens. They even made an appearance on local radio station WBNY, performing "Playing Hard To Get", a song that Boylan had written at age 11. While in his early teens, he'd made it to New York City and Greenwich Village, and managed to cross paths with Bob Dylan (before he was a recording star) and Ramblin' Jack Elliot; with their encouragement, he pursued a solo music career in upstate New York and managed to attend the Newport Folk Festivals of 1963 and 1964. Boylan later attended Bard College in New York, and formed a band called the Ginger Men with his brother John. They managed to cross paths with the Blues Project and the Lovin' Spoonful during occasional gigs in Greenwich Village during the mid-1960's. By 1967, he'd attracted the attention of several New York-based record labels and signed with Verve Records, where he and his brother John cut an experimental music-and-comedy LP amalgam entitled Appletree Theatre, which became a kind of cult favorite, principally among other musicians (including John Lennon). John Boylan subsequently headed to California, where he established himself first as a session guitarist and later as a producer, while Terence Boylan remained in New York. By 1968, he was back at Bard and became close friends with classmates Walter Becker and Donald Fagen (who had musical aspirations of their own, although in those days they sounded too much like the Beatles for their own professional good) and played with them. With Becker and Fagen in tow, he cut his debut solo LP, Alias Boona (a reference to his nickname) for Verve Forecast, the jazz-spawned label's progressive/experimental rock imprint. The record was, like his earlier album, principally attracted the attention of other musicians, including Bob Dylan (whose "Subterranean Homesick Blues" received a beautiful reinterpretation on the LP). Rather than pursue his career in New York, he headed to California, where his brother John Boylan was working with Linda Ronstadt. He was working for his brother's production company and establishing himself on the West Coast. Terence Boylan was later signed to Asylum Records and recorded his self-titled second album in 1977. It was more of a West Coast production, especially in sound and texture. It was well received by the critics but was never more than a cult success. He did enjoy some success as a songwriter when Iain Matthews turned Boylan's song "Shake It" into a top five hit. He did a national tour behind the album with Bonnie Raitt and Little Feat, and returned to New York to do a third solo album -- acutally, a third and fourth that were finally combined into one LP. The result was Suzy, which was another critical success and commercial disappointment. In the years since, Boylan has principally involved himself with songwriting and soundtrack work, and his own record label and publishing company, Spinnaker Records"". © Bruce Eder, All Music Guide