"Night Fades Away/Wonderland" by NILS LOFGREN – September 1981 and August 1983 US Albums on Backstreet Records - Featured Guests include Guitarists Jeff Baxter (Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers) and Elliott Randall (guested on Steely Dan albums), Pianist Nicky Hopkins, Keyboardists Greg Mathieson and Robbie Kondor, Trumpet by Chuck Findley, Drummers Richie Hayward of Little Feat, Jeff Porcaro of Toto and Andy Newmark, Bassists Neil Jason, David Hungate (of Toto) and Kevin McCormick with Singers Del Shannon, Louise Goffin, Edgar Winter and Carly Simon (March 2024 UK Beat Goes On Records (BGO) Compilation – 2LPs onto 2CDs – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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RATINGS: *** Material **** Remasters ***** Presentation

"…Feel This Explosion…"

This is the second release for England's Beat Goes On Records (aka BGO) of Nils Lofgren back catalogue that's been in collaboration with the artist. 

25 February 2022 saw his legendary live-double from October 1977 "Night After Night" be given a classy Remaster on the 2CD set Beat Goes On BGOCD1473 (Barcode 5017261214737) and here in March 2024, we get slot number two in what we must presume will be an on-going reissue series.

This time around we stretch into the Eighties after Lofgren and A&M Records parted company post the "Nils" album in June 1979. Backstreet Records (who were part of MCA) had signed Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers so Lofgren and his explosive guitar Rock must have seemed like a good fit. Big things were expected. But – and this is a big but for me with this reissue – when I worked at Reckless Records in Soho both these 80ts albums were strictly pound-fodder and for good reason (they remain so in 2024). "Night Fades Away" is mired in iffy sub-par material and dreadful bombastic Eighties production values into the bargain - while the saving grace for this twofer compilation is "Wonderland" – a criminally overlooked 1983 studio set that saw him return to the live simplicity of his former bandmates (Andy Newmark from the A&M days) so that when NL went into record – his playing was on fire and more important - the songs were far better. 

Long-term fans and Nils-nerds like me will welcome this great sounding and properly presented British 2CD reissue, but I would advise any newcomers to get a listen first. To the details…

UK released Friday, 1 March 2024 (17 March 2024 in the USA) - "Night Fades Away/Wonderland" by NILS LOFGREN on Beats Goes On Records BGOCD1512 (Barcode 5017261215123) offers 2LPs Remastered onto 2CDs (no Bonus tracks) that plays out as follows:

CD1 (37:27 minutes):

1. Night Fades Away [Side 1]

2. I Go To Pieces

3. Empty Heart

4. Don't Touch Me

5. Dirty Money

6. Sailor Boy [Side 2]

7. Anytime At All

8. Ancient History

9. Streets Again

10. In Motion

Tracks 1 to 10 are his fifth solo studio album (sixth overall) "Night Fades Away" – released September 1981 in the USA on Backstreet Records BSR-5251 and in the UK on MCA Records MCF 3121. Produced by JEFFREY BAXTER (and dedicated to Vietnam Veterans) - it peaked at No. 99 on the US Billboard Rock LP charts and at No. 50 in the UK. All songs written by NL except two co-writes with Jeff Baxter on "Streets Again" and "In Motion" and two cover versions - "I Go To Pieces" by Del Shannon and "Anytime At All" by The Beatles.

BAND and GUESTS:

NILS LOFGREN – Guitars, Accordion, Synths and all Lead Vocals

JEFF BAXTER of Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers on Guitar, Guitar Synth and all Production

ELLIOTT RANDALL on Electric Guitar for "I Go To Pieces", "Sailor Boy" and "Anytime At All"

TREVOR VEITCH on Acoustic Guitar for "I Go To Pieces" and "Anytime At All"

NICKY HOPKINS on Acoustic and Tack Piano for "Streets Again" and Fender Rhodes Electric Piano on "Night Fades Away"

GREG MATHIESON – Fender Rhodes Electric Piano on "I Go To Pieces", "Sailor Boy" and "Anytime At All"

ED GREENE – Drums 

JEFF PORCARO of Toto on Drums for "Sailor Boy" and "Anytime At All" 

RICHARD HAYWARD of Little Feat on Drums for "Empty Heart", "Dirty Money", "Streets Again" and "In Motion"

NEIL JASON on Bass Guitar for all tracks except NEIL STUBENHAUS on "I Go To Pieces" and "Anytime At All" and DAVID HUNGATE (of Toto) on Bass for "Sailor Boy"

DEL SHANNON – Vocals on "I Go To Pieces"

CHUCK FINDLEY – Trumpet on "In Motion"

JERRY PETERSON – Saxophone on "Don't Touch Me"

CD2 (40:37 minutes):

1. Across The Tracks [Side 1] 

2. Into The Night

3. It's All Over Now

4. I Wait For You

5. Daddy Dream

6. Wonderland [Side 2]

7. Room Without Love

8. Confident Girl

9. Lonesome Ranger

10. Everybody Wants

11. Deadline

Tracks 1 to 11 are his sixth studio album (seventh overall) "Wonderland" – released August 1983 in the USA on Backstreet Records BSR-5421 and in the UK on MCA/Backstreet Records MCF 3182. Produced by NILS LOFGREN, KEVIN McCORMICK and ANDY NEWMARK and dedicated to James Honeyman Scott and Pete Fardon of The Pretenders – it didn’t chart in either country. All songs written by NL except "It's All Over Now" which is a Bobby Womack cover version done by The Rolling Stones also in the Sixties

BAND:

NILS LOFGREN - Lead Vocals, Lead Guitar, Keyboards

ROBBIE KONDOR – Synthesisers

KEVIN McCORMICK – Bass Guitar and Background Vocals

ANDY NEWMARK – Drums with JIM MAELEN on Percussion

GUESTS:

LOUISE GOFFIN sings on "Wonderland" and "Everybody Wants"

CARLY SIMON sings on "Lonesome Ranger"

EDGAR WINTER sings on "Across The Tracks"

The outer card slipcase and substantial 20-page booklet with new liner notes from CHARLES WARING via new interviews with Lofgren give this 2CD Reissue a look and feel of class (let alone artist endorsement). The artwork front and rear for both LPs is here as are other photos (the sweaty teeshirt shot taken by Annie Leibovitz – his small band for album number two sat on steps). Instead of dry facts, Lofgren talks of leaving A&M after four studio albums and one hugely popular live double, his new signing to Backstreet Records (a subsidiary of MCA) and the high hopes both albums had that did not translate into public interest. 

Nils give a song-by-song insight – ex Steely Dan and Doobie Brothers stalwart Jeff Baxter is given real praise – a man who had worked with Nazareth and understood Rawk (he and Nils did pre-production work for weeks at 'Skunk' Baxter's place in Laurel Canyon). The "Night Fades Away" title track was flipped with "Ancient History" as a US 45-single which led the charge in October 1981 (Backstreet BSR-51191) - but it did little business. Released in September 1981, the album stalled on the US LP-charts at No. 99 but did much better in the UK at No. 50. The liner notes recall the great axeman's heyday and how he morphed into the Boss's sideman (Lofgren has been a permanent member of Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band since 1984 – an astonishing 40 years burning down that code of the road whilst maintaining a Solo Career on the side). The new BGO Records Remasters are by ANDREW THOMPSON from Universal-licensed original tapes and both shine as much as original techniques will allow (2024 ears will have to adjust to that bombastic 80ts sheen production values they had back then - especially on the "Night Fades Away" album which of the two fares worse in my books). You can't make a purse out of...but what is here is very clear and well done. To the music...

As upbeat as "Night Fades Away" is an opening salvo, there is a crass feel to "Don't Touch Me" and the dismissive anger in "Dirty Money" feels forced too. "Sailor Boy" is a bopper opening Side 2 that does little to help the feeling that there are no tunes - while an ill-advised cover of The Beatles "Anytime At All" feels like Southside Johnny doing a filler song. The flipside of the album’s only single, "Ancient History" is for me the best dead-aim song on a patchy album – the treated guitars, piano and vocals doing the business. His fifth studio album "Night Fades Away" rolls home using two co-writes with Jeff Baxter – the decidedly un-pc lyrics to "Streets Again" making for a weird and uncomfortable listen – the Side 2 finisher "In Motion" with its striking and daring Chuck Findley Trumpet solo being so much better. In his fabulous Great Rock Discography books, music chronicler Martin Strong awards the "Night Fades Away" album a stingy 4-stars out of ten (worst in his catalogue) but I have to say, I unfortunately agree with him. Strong then gives "Wonderland" (next up) 6-stars and again – right about that too.

In the liner notes, Lofgren explains that his band had been jamming and rehearsing and gelling for months prior to the recording of "Wonderland" in 1983 – a back to basics approach - and man does it show. After the almost sedate playing displayed on "Night Fades Away" - it is like Lofgren went mad with his solos on "Wonderland" because they are incendiary. He was clearly excited about the material (10 originals and one cover that suited), his tight unit of a band – the no-nonsense production achieved by all three principal players in his group. Almost Rolling Stones in its down-to-business sound and wild playing - "Across The Tracks" opens proceedings with a kicker – a song about a boy and a girl from different sides of the social divide – Daddy with his shotgun by the railings should young lips touch. "Into The Night" is a typically excellent Lofgren song, simple yet touching, melodic yet softly rocking in its own way.

Things return to Rawk with the only cover on the LP – a hard-hitting very Chuck Berry chugging go at the Bobby Womack song "It's All Over Now" – Nils building the menacing guitar chords to a great solo (breakfast in bed, ease my aching head). The next offers huge guitar pings as an opening where "I Wait For You" later goes into echoed guitar soloing. There's a cool chord chug to "Daddy Dream" that might have made a good double with "Wonderland" as a US 45 (Louise Goffin, daughter of Jerry Goffin, sings on both "Wonderland" and "Everybody Wants"). "Room Without Love" feels like a Ry Cooder ballad – a room without hope where our Nils has been pining for a lady gone to greener pastures. No less than Bob Dylan told Nils in a corridor quick-chat that he loved "Confident Girl" – sound and changes – not bad. The island-beach-sand shuffle of "Lonesome Stranger" features a subtle backing vocal on the chorus from Carly Simon – sweet support that works. The LP romps home with the slight reggae-feel of "Everyday Wants" while his trademark guitar-led rocking bricks "Deadline". 

"Night Fades Away" did OK but despite his high hopes, "Wonderland" the LP didn't chart and was largely ignored. Why - truth be told – neither album is a blinder and it's easy to hear why less than a dollar or a pound will secure either vinyl LP a full forty-years after the events. 

But Nils Lofgren fans will also know that outside of expensive and now deleted Box Sets these hard-to-find platters are new to standalone CD and accompanied as they are with quality Remasters and great presentation – you have to say that England's BGO Records have done it again - and how. Wallet ahoy daddy-o, Nils won't go, but you may have too...