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"...The Real Thing Comes Along..."
There's
a 1963 Elektra Records upper-body-shot publicity photo for Wisconsin's Judy
Henske on Page 19 of the booklet that accompanies "The Elektra
Albums" and it says beneath her perfectly manicured Bob haircut and serene
expression 'JUDY HENSKE looks like this...' You turn over to the last page of
the booklet (Page 20) to find where the dots lead and it says '...and sounds
like THIS!'
There's
our Judy – late 20’s – no longer the-girl-next-door - mouth open like the
Mississippi in full-on flood-mode - literally screaming her lungs out into a
microphone like she's gonna swallow that sucker whole. And when you play the
first two tracks of "Judy Henske" - a studio album recorded live in
front of an invited enrapt audience - you understand why Elektra wanted to
emphasise her sheer vocal power (THIS!) - a sort of early Janis Joplin voice
meets the wit of Phyllis Diller via the sheer out-front force and shocker good
looks of Grace Slick.
For
sure her gravel voice and quirky beat-them-into-submission personality was not
(and would not) be for everyone and some of this 1963 and 1964 material is
seriously dated in 2018. But there's much to love here (the second studio album
is a bit of a forgotten gem in my opinion). When she does her intro to
"Ballad Of Little Romy" - it lasts for nearly five minutes -
brilliant repartee with the audience who are in fits of laughter at her bawdy
explanation of a murder ballad – a personality so big you just had to love her
(she’d a thing for old-timey songs and their eyebrow-raising words and themes).
Judy famously banged her foot so hard keeping time during one song - she
punched right through the floorboards in front of the audience. Six-foot tall
Henske just laughed it off and went on with the gig. Let's sing the praises of
an American lady who deserves our applause...
UK
released Friday, 28 July 2017 (August 2017 in the USA) - "The Elektra
Albums" by JUDY HENSKE on Ace Records CDCHD 1501 (Barcode 029667079921)
offers two Stereo LPs from 1963 and 1964 in their entirety Remastered onto 1CD
and plays out as follows (79:47 minutes):
1.
Low Down Alligator [Side 1]
2.
Empty Bed Blues
3.
Ballad Of Little Romy
4.
Wade In The Water
5.
Hooka Tooka
6.
I Know You Rider
7.
Lily Langtree [Side 2]
8.
Lilac Wine
9.
Love Henry
10.
Every Night When The Sun Goes In
11.
Salvation Army Song
Tracks
1 to 11 are her debut album "Judy Henske" (aka "Miss Judy Henske")
- released 1963 in the USA on Elektra Records EKL 231 (Mono) and EKS 7231
(Stereo) - the STEREO mix is used.
JUDY
HENSKE - Vocals and Stories
JOHN
FORSHA - Guitar
JOHN
(STREAMLINE) EWING - Trombone
JIMMIE
BOND - Bass
ONZY
MATTHEWS - Orchestral Arrangements
12.
High Flying Bird [Side 1]
13.
Buckeye Jim
14.
Till The Real Thing Comes Along
15.
Oh, You Engineer
16.
Baltimore Oriole
17.
Columbus Stockade
18.
Blues Chase Up A Rabbit [Side 2]
19.
Lonely Train
20.
Duncan And Brady
21.
God Bless The Child
22.
Good Old Wagon
23.
You Are Not My First Love
24.
Charlotte Town
Tracks
12 to 24 are her second album "High Flying Bird" - released 1964 in
the USA on Elektra Records EKL 241 (Mono) and EKS 7241 (Stereo) - the STEREO
mix is used
JUDY
HENSKE - Vocals
JACK
MARSHALL - Guitar
JOHN
FORSHA - 12-String Guitar
JOHN
(STREAMLAND) EWING - Trombone
BILL
MONTGOMERY - Bass
EARL
PALMER - Drums
Production
and Arrangements JAC HOLZMAN
The
20-page booklet features new liner notes from KRIS NEEDS whose penned many's a
review for England's Record Collector magazine. In between the superb history
(which includes interviews with Henske now in her 80s) - we get label repro's
of the first album's lone 45 - "I Know You Rider" b/w "Love
Henry" on Elektra EKSN-45003 and the second record's pair - white labels
demos of "High Flying Bird" b/w "Till The Real Thing Comes
Along" on Elektra EKSN-45007 and "Lonely Train" b/w
"Charlotte Town" on Elektra KSN-45010. There are gold Elektra LP
labels for the Mono variant of the US debut (both sides) and the gorgeous
front-sleeve artwork for both albums gets a full-colour page each. There's even
an advert for the MGM Movie "Hootenanny Hoot" which featured a bikini-clad
Judy hanging out with various hipster types. It's the usual Ace Records classy
affair. But little preps you for the Stereo mixes of both LPs remastered by
DUNCAN COWELL - an Audio Engineer with longstanding ties to Ace Records and the
Blue Horizon CD reissues (including Fleetwood Mac). These recordings sound
utterly amazing - clean and full of life - clearly the tapes have been looked
after. Let's get to the songs...
"...And
now ladies and gentleman...a special treat...it's another song! This is about a
woman with an empty bed - Lord!" The invited audience laugh - and why
wouldn't they. Her version of "Wade In The Water" is a little hissy
for sure but powerful nonetheless as God troubles the river. Her "Hooka
Tooka" song is a history capsule of how children were used as warning
signals in the red-light district of Chicago - look-outs should the cops come
calling - and the audience joins in - her voice and the harmonica match
perfectly as she sings about mama chewing tobacco. Elektra tried "I Know You
Rider" as a 45 but I'm not sure who they were aiming this rapid-paced
big-voiced Folk at? Better is "Lilac Wine" where Judy sounds like a
gruffer version of Julie London pining for her man with a jug of blitz in hand
(lovers of Jeff Buckley will instantly recognise the melody and lyrics of
"Lilac Wine" from his 1994 masterpiece "Grace" - a song
that dates back to the Fifties and was first covered I believe by Eartha Kitt).
The audience gets in the sing-a-long act with the witty "Salvation Army
Song" where she forsakes drink, drugs and sex in the gutter with naughty
men for banging her drum (with a sigh).
The
second album wisely forsakes the gimmicky 'live' vibe and is a straightforward
Folk, swinging R&B, Blues Standards album with fab tracks like "Till
The Real Thing Comes Along" where Jack Marshall and John Forsha both get
to stretch out on Acoustic guitars. "Oh, You Engineer" is a co-write
between Henske and Shel Silverstein where a wife hears of her husband's busy
schedule with the ladies down the line and she urges him to turn his Piston
Rotations down (nice). Hoagy Carmichael's "Baltimore Oriole" gets a
Bluesy acoustic make-over where Henske's voice feels like she's channelling
Karen Dalton six years hence. Low and lonesome vocals and shimmering shuffles on
the hi-hats give "Blues Chase Up A Rabbit" a melancholic yet sweet
feel - book shop and café society cool. The American Traditionals "Lonely
Train" and "Duncan and Brady" both get ticket-and-travel
acoustic versions where her aching vocals sound like she's feeling the weary
lyrics for the first time. And on it goes to the bedroom lure of "You Are
Not My First Love" where the singer admits through a fog of cigarette
smoke that others lovers were merely trial runs for her present squeeze...
She
would go on to cult fame with Jerry Yester (ex Modern Folk Quartet) and
cult-hero fame on the "Farewell Aldebaran" album in 1969 on Straight
Records (a huge influencer in the UK) - but this is where her
Folk and Traditional's musical career started. A very cool reissue from Ace and
one to check out - especially that "High Flying Bird" album...
PS: see also my review for "Farewell Aldebaran" by JUDY HENSKE and JERRY YESTER. It was issued June 1969 on Frank Zappa's Straight Records in the USA (STS 1052). The 2016 Omnivore Recordings CD Reissue offers a new remaster from original tapes and five Previously Unreleased Instrumental Home Demos as Bonus Tracks...
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