02-07-2022
Marshall Crenshaw - My Rock and Roll Hero - Inside the Guest Studio!!
A Place For My Stuff - Yes I have/had another podcast. A couple of podcasts actually. With the rising price of everything, I opted not to pay to have Inside the Guest Studio available forever.
I have this convenient landing spot called My Alien Life Podcast which WILL remain forever - thus, this is part of my life, as will be the episodes of Inside the Guest Studio. A podcast that is graced by some unique and very talented people that live slightly off the grid.
Enjoy
Cameron
In 1982 I walked into a music store in Kalispell Montana and heard his hit Someday Some Way... I was hooked. From that day forward, the cassette I purchased before going to Bible camp, was in every car I ever owned until 2015. I mailed the cassette to my friend who had gotten out of drug treatment. We listened to that cassette so many times in my car during high school. The cassette arrived in his mailbox, SMASHED... I was crushed.
It was my indeed pleasure to interview, Marshall Crenshaw. My hero.
Marshall Howard Crenshaw (born November 11, 1953) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for hit songs such as "Someday, Someway," a US Top 40 hit in 1982, "Cynical Girl," and "Whenever You're on My Mind." He is also the co-author of one of the biggest radio hits of the ‘90s, the Gin Blossoms, "Til I Hear It From You." His music has roots in classic soul music and Buddy Holly, to whom Crenshaw was often compared in the early days of his career, and whom he portrayed in the 1987 film La Bamba.
Born in Michigan, Crenshaw performed in the musical Beatlemania before releasing his self-titled album in 1982. Crenshaw could not replicate the commercial success of Marshall Crenshaw and follow-up Field Day (1983) with later albums. Crenshaw has also contributed songs to other artists, writing singles for Kirsty MacColl and the Gin Blossoms. A quote from Trouser Press summed up Marshall Crenshaw's early career: "Although he was seen as a latter-day Buddy Holly at the outset, he soon proved too talented and original to be anyone but himself."[
Marshall Crenshaw on Marshall Crenshaw
— “One of the fundamental things about the project was that I set out
to not make an album,” Marshall Crenshaw notes. “So I did this project, and now at the
end of it, there’s this album, for the album fans!….”
The celebrated singer-songwriter-guitarist-producer is discussing #392: The EP
Collection, his new CD on the Red River Entertainment label. The 14-track set collects a
dozen standout tracks drawn from the innovative series of six 10” vinyl EPs that
Crenshaw released between 2013 and 2015, plus a pair of never-before-heard rarities
chosen especially for this collection.
The EP series was the product of Crenshaw’s decision to break away from the standard
album/tour cycle by recording and releasing a steady stream of new music over an
extended period. The endeavor proved wildly popular with his fans, and brought in lots of
“I really did love the EP project, and I’m kind of sad that it’s over,” Crenshaw comments.
“I was looking for a different way of working that would keep me motivated; it was cool,
because it had a sense of urgency; there was always something that had just come out
and always something that was on the way. It was an inspiring way to work.”
#392: The EP Collection’s twelve studio recordings encompass six new Crenshaw
originals and six cover songs. The former group includes the bittersweet and beautiful
“Grab the Next Train,” the surging and howling “Move Now,” and the hypnotic and
atmospheric “Driving and Dreaming”, while the cover numbers include a reverent remake
of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David/Carpenters chestnut “Close to You,” James McMurtry’s
“Right Here Now,” longtime Crenshaw favorite Bobby Fuller’s classic “Never to Be
Forgotten” and vintage numbers by the Easybeats, the Move and the Lovin’ Spoonful.
Rounding out #392: The EP Collection are two previously unreleased tracks: a powerful
live version of the Everly Brothers classic “Man with Money,” recorded with Crenshaw’s
frequent touring partners the Bottle Rockets, during the week after Phil Everly’s passing,
and the infectious “Front Page News,” a ’90s recording of a previously-unheard original
that Crenshaw wrote with noted country tunesmith Leroy Preston (“I can’t remember
when I did it, or why, but I like it!”, says Crenshaw).
“I was fortunate to have lots of brilliant people helping me on these tracks, and they really
lifted the proceedings,” Crenshaw reports. “I’m proud about the range of super-excellent
musicians who came on board for these sessions.”
#392: The EP Collection includes contributions from avant-jazz trumpet icon Stephen
Bernstein, noted jazz vibraphonist Bryan Carrott, versatile Nashville bassist Byron House,
Daniel Littleton of the band Ida, renowned composer/keyboardists Rob Morsberger and
Jamie Saft, along with longstanding Crenshaw cohorts like guitarists Glen Burtnick and Andy
York, bassist Graham Maby, Brian Wilson/Beach Boys sideman Jeffrey Foskett, and
acclaimed indie troubadour Dan Bern, who co-wrote four songs with Crenshaw.
Meanwhile, on several tracks, Crenshaw worked on his own in his home studio,
overdubbing all or most of the instruments and vocal harmonies himself. Crenshaw
states, “I’ve been into the Narcissist, solitary-genius thing for a long time. For instance,
“‘Cynical Girl,’ on my first album, is just me, and ‘Someday Someway’ is my brother on
drums and me on everything else. So working alone sometimes is standard procedure for
Over the course of a recording career that’s spanned three decades, 13 albums and
hundreds of songs, the Michigan-bred artist’s musical output has maintained a consistently
high level of artistry, craftsmanship and passion, endearing him to a broad and loyal fan
After getting an early break playing John Lennon in a touring company of the Broadway
musical Beatlemania, Crenshaw began his recording career with the now-legendary indie
single “Something’s Gonna Happen.” His growing notoriety in his adopted hometown of
New York City helped to win Crenshaw a deal with Warner Bros. Records, which released
his self-titled 1982 debut album. That collection established Crenshaw as one of the era’s
preeminent rock ’ n’ rollers, and that was confirmed by such subsequent albums as Field
Day, Downtown, Mary Jean & 9 Others, Good Evening, Life’s Too Short, Miracle of
Science, #447, What’s in the Bag? and Jaggedland.
Along the way, Crenshaw’s compositions have been covered by a broad array of
performers, including Bette Midler, Kelly Willis, Robert Gordon, Ronnie Spector, Marti
Jones and the Gin Blossoms, with whom Crenshaw co-wrote the Top 10 single “Til I Hear
It From You.” He’s also provided music for several film soundtracks, appeared in the films
La Bamba (in which he portrayed Buddy Holly) and Peggy Sue Got Married, and was
nominated for Grammy and a Golden Globe awards for writing the title track for the film
comedy Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. Since 2011, Crenshaw has hosted his own
radio show, The Bottomless Pit, on New York’s WFUV. He’s currently working on Martin
Scorsese and Mick Jagger’s much-anticipated HBO series Vinyl, doing “some session
work, a little bit of songwriting..”
His eclectic resume aside, songwriting and record-making remain at the center of
Marshall Crenshaw’s creative life, and #392: The EP Collection confirms that his musical
flame continues to burn as brightly as ever.
“I still love recorded music and believe in it as an art form, whether it’s a single or
album, or vinyl or CD,” Crenshaw asserts, adding, “I think I’ll probably stick with it.”
