I live in the suburb of Overland Park in a pretty normal neighborhood, filled with pretty normal people, except maybe closer to the Glenwood Theater, there seems to be a neighborhood of hipsters with children in homes near there. Anyway, I consider my nextdoor neighbor to be a pretty normal dude. In his 40's, he works a lot, he drives an economical Nissan, he likes to mow his lawn, and he is always willing to have a friendly conversation. I don't know him to be hip on musical trends, one time he told me he was going to a Metallica show and I've pretty much stopped talking to him about music since then. On one rare occasion I did discuss music with him I was feeling him out to see if he remembered any local bands from the years he attended KU. His answer was the Homestead Grays. He fondly recalled this band as a "big deal" in and around Lawrence back in the 80's.
This EP was put out the same year KU won a NCAA Basketball Championship with Danny & the Miracles. Not that the basketball has anything to do with the music, but as a KU alumnus, I felt the need to point that out. If you listen to the EP, you get why they were a popular band around town. They were being touted as a "next big thing" right next to artists like the Rainmakers. Both bands were steeped in roots rock, but due to the lack of production budget the Grays have aged much better. This band wasn't drenched in bad studio effects so the recordings don't sound as dated. Further, all four songs featured here are all solid. You can tell for they held back in the studio, but the potential for rowdy live performances is evident.
The first two tracks border on honky-tonk and are bar room stompers. High energy, each track would have gotten the crowd worked up. The two tracks on the flip side are really clever pop tunes. There's a little twang on "I'd Like to Get to Know" and even a country breakdown, but overall, it's got as much to do with the Beatles as it does Hank Williams. The final track entitled "285 DeSoto" is diverse, it's got a conga line drum beat, a ska derived guitar line, and chanted lyrics. Despite that, it still finds a way not to sell it's soul and keep some twang. It's a hit song that never happened.
The group was centered around the talents of Lawrence native, Chuck Mead. After the Grays disbanded, Mead went to Nashville were he still sustains a career in music. Currently he is a solo artist, but was previously helped form the alt. country pioneers and heavily acclaimed band, BR 549. He also had success in Nashville songwriter. Other members, Guy Stephens drummed for local bands Tendoerloin, Arthur Dodge & the Horsefeathers and did work for another local legend, Todd Newman. Gray Ginter also played in Tenderloin and a number of other local bands, as did Brock Ginther, although I don't believe Brock was ever featured in Tenderloin.
Like to hear this one, all right
ReplyDeleteNice to stumble upon this post as gray hair provides a background for nostalgia. I experienced The Homestead Grays in the summer of 1989 at The Blue Note in OKC when started my first gig as a journalist at the El Reno (then daily) Tribune. I wasn’t hip enough to have found them on my own and remain indebted to the two reporters a few years ahead of me in more ways than one.
ReplyDeleteThe Grays energized the sleepy dive bar and there was plenty of room to dance. I wasn’t a dancer but with some social lubricant packaged in beer cans, I asked pretty young woman to dance. I believe she was legally blind. We exchanged bits of conversation during the song. When it ended I asked for her number. She smiled, looking way up towards my face. “No, that’s sweet and you’re cute but, no.” She rejoined her friends, in and out of my life, three minutes flat. But it left plenty of room for The Homestead Grays for years of revelry and reflecting to come. The four songs on this EP truly remain BIG HITS.
It was this experience of The Grays that also introduced me to the then undervalued and nearly invisible history of Negro League Baseball. Thank you, guys!
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