Music Gift Guide: Tears For Fears, Cat Stevens, 'Ready Steady Go!', Mike Viola

With Hanukkah already here and Christmas fast approaching, here is a roundup of a number of special titles that will make great gifts for discerning music lovers.

Artist: Tears For Fears

Title: The Seeds Of Love - Super Deluxe Edition (UMe/Virgin)

You might like if you enjoy: Tears For Fears, The Beatles' "Abbey Road" and "White Album" 

Tell me more: Tears For Fears' brilliant third album The Seeds Of Love was released more than 30 years ago but sounds better and more relevant than ever. A recent reissue of the classic is available in several different configurations ranging from a two-disc audio CD set to a Super Deluxe Edition box set that consists of four CDs and one Blu-Ray which collectively tells the story of how this four-years-in-the-making album from Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith came to be. The recently-issued expanded Super Deluxe Edition reissue of the 1989 masterwork is truly a joy. Indeed, the box set includes 22 previously-unissued tracks from demo sessions, live jams and studio sessions. The material here spans the sonic landscape; the jazz-meets-rock "Bad Man's Song," soul-styled "Advice for the Young at Heart," genre-blending "Standing on the Corner of the Third World," gorgeous "Famous Last Words" and mind-blowing Beatlesque title track sound better than ever. Additional gems include a slew of 45's and B-sides; the adventuresome world music-minded "Tears Roll Down," experimental "My Life in the Suicide Ranks" and jazzy rocker "Always in the Past" are among this writer's favorites. Information: TearsForFears.com.

"Tea For The Tillerman" 50th Anniversary Super
Deluxe Edition

Artist: Yusuf / Cat Stevens

Titles: Mona Bone Jakon: 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition; Tea For The Tillerman: 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition (A&M/UMe)

You might like if you enjoy: Cat Stevens, Yusuf, Don McLean, Elliott Smith 

Tell me more: Back in 1970, rising artist Cat Stevens released not one, but two impressive albums. Fast forward 50 years to 2020 and both of those now-legendary LPs — Mona Bone Jakon and Tea For The Tillerman (released just months apart in 1970) — have been released at expanded 50th anniversary editions. While this year has certainly been a complete downer in terms of live music (let's face it, live-streaming can't replace the concert going experience), the parade of noteworthy expanded and special reissues has been spectacular as personified by these terrific and in-depth dives into the artistry of Cat Stevens (who changed his name to Yusuf following his conversion to Islam in December 1977); they are truly must-haves for fans of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer-songwriter. 

Mona Bone Jakon: 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition

The 2020 remasters of the original albums are incredible; there are also wonderful new 2020 mixes of each album as well. Listening to even well-known tracks such as "Wild World," "Father and Son" and "Where Do The Children Play" (from Tea for the Tillerman), and "Lady Darbanville," "Maybe Your Right" and "I Think I See The Light" (on Mona Bone Jakon) is to seemingly rediscover the beloved songs for the first time. Mona Bone Jakon includes 24 previously unreleased songs, and Tea for the Tillerman features 21 unreleased tracks alongside a number of other rarities. The multi-format releases were released Dec. 4, 2020. For more information on the Super Deluxe Edition box set versions of each of these albums, visit the artist's website. Information: CatStevens.com.

Title: Ready Steady Go!: The Weekend Starts Here (BMG)

Author: Andy Neill

Publisher: BMG Books

You might like if you enjoy: 1960s music, art and fashion, the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, British rock 'n' roll

Tell me more: "Ready Steady Go!: The Weekend Starts Here" is a comprehensive and definitive must-have book by author Andy Neill that provides an in-depth look at the pioneering 1960s British music TV show that hosted the era's greatest names beginning in August 1963. Weighing in at 6 pounds, the 268-page hardcover edition is beautifully  illustrated with a wealth of amazing images (The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Zombies, Chuck Berry, Little Richard and countless more!) — most never previously seen — and exclusive essays that provide more appreciation of the 173 episodes aired over the show's three-and-a-half-year run. Insights from the illustrious likes of Manfred Mann, Mick Jagger, Bill Wyman, Colin Blunstone, Rod Argent and Ray Davies bolster the fast-moving read. A guide also provides details on each of the episodes. Information: bmg.com.

Artist: Mike Viola

Title: Godmuffin (Good Morning Monkey / Grand Phony Music)

You might like if you enjoy: Damon Albarn, Alex Chilton, Pete Yorn, Candy Butchers 

Tell me more: Anchored by one of the most bewitching singles in memory — the melodic "Ordinary Girl" — Mike Viola's new album Godmuffin quickly reveals its greatness beyond that undeniable cut. With its indie rock spirit, real life warmth and incredible song craft, the parade of great songs includes the lush Americana-tinged opener "Creeper," probing "We May Never Be This Young Again," biting "Drug Rug," tuneful "All You Can Eat" and gentle closer "That Seems Impossible Now." If Bruce Springsteen came of age a generation later he may well have penned "Superkid II, Trying To Do The Thing That I Thought I Was Born To Do," a brilliant original. Never heard of Viola? You have heard him; it was his top-tier lead vocals on the Oscar-nominated "That Thing You Do" title track from Tom Hanks' 1996 hit film and other cuts featuring the fictional band the Wonders heard in the movie. Information: MikeViola.com.

Robert Kinsler

Chris Hillman's memoir, 'Time Between: My Life as a Byrd, Burrito Brother and Beyond,' coming from BMG Books on Nov. 17

'Time Between: My Life as a Byrd, Burrito Brother and Beyond' memoir from Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Chris Hillman coming Nov. 17, 2020 via BMG Books

"Chris Hillman has been a well-kept secret in the history of rock. Yeah, we all know how great he was in the Byrds, but his contributions go well beyond that. Chris was a true innovator — the man who invented country rock. Every time the Eagles board their private jet Chris at least paid for the fuel." — Tom Petty

"Chris Hillman is a bona fide pioneering godfather to generations of musical souls who've sought inspiration at that divine crossroads where rock & roll, country, bluegrass, folk, honky tonk, and gospel music intersect and harmonize. He's a national treasure, truly a statesman." — Marty Stuart

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Chris Hillman is arguably the primary architect of what’s come to be known as country rock. After playing the Southern California folk and bluegrass circuit, he joined Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, Gene Clark and Michael Clarke as an original member of The Byrds. He went on to partner with Gram Parsons to launch The Flying Burrito Brothers, recording a handful of albums that have become touchstones of the Americana genre.

The Byrds in the studio / Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Hillman then embarked on a prolific recording career as a member of Stephen Stills’ Manassas, as a solo artist, and as a member of several groups that he insists sound more like law firms than bands: Souther-Hillman-Furay with acclaimed songwriter J.D. Souther and former Buffalo Springfield and Poco member Richie Furay; McGuinn, Clark & Hillman with two of his fellow former Byrds; and Rice, Rice, Hillman & Pedersen with Tony Rice, Larry Rice, and longtime collaborator and duo partner Herb Pedersen. As a songwriter, he appeared on the Billboard singles charts in four consecutive decades, and his songs have been recorded by a diverse range of artists, from Steve Earle to Patti Smith to Roy Rogers. 

Chris Hillman on stage with the Byrds in the mid-'60s.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images

In the 1980s, Hillman launched a successful mainstream country group when he formed The Desert Rose Band with Pedersen and John Jorgenson, scoring eight Billboard Top 10 country hits. In the midst of his country success he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame along with the other original members of the Byrds. He has since released a number of solo efforts, including 2017’s highly-acclaimed Bidin’ My Time, which was the final album produced by Tom Petty with executive producer Pedersen.

In Time Between: My Life as a Byrd, Burrito Brother and Beyond, due out November 17, 2020 via BMG Books, Hillman takes readers behind the curtain of his quintessentially Southern Californian experience. Raised in San Diego County’s then-rural Rancho Santa Fe, Chris grew up in an idyllic 1950s environment that was filled with TV cowboys, horseback riding, exploring the outdoors, surfing, discovering girls, and falling in love with music. When his older sister came home from college with a stack of records by folk artists such as Woody Guthrie and Lead Belly, Chris was hooked. He soon fell in love with the bluegrass music of Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, and The Stanley Brothers, spending hours mastering the guitar and mandolin. Once the Beatles invaded America, the various aspects of his musical DNA came together that would eventually lead to him become a pioneering founding father of country-rock.

Written in an honest and unadorned style, Hillman’s memoir recounts his early experience in bands like The Scottsville Squirrel Barkers and The Golden State Boys, which included future country music legend Vern Gosdin. He shares the story of getting his hands on a borrowed bass — an instrument he’d never played — to try out for the Byrds, and offers up details on why Miles Davis was responsible for their success. He shares about the moment the Byrds were nearly axed from The Ed Sullivan Showfollowing an explosive showdown with the producers, and reveals how participating in a recording session with South African trumpet player Hugh Masekela inspired him to write his very first song, “Time Between,” which then became the first true country rock record. “To me,” Tom Petty once revealed in an interview, “Chris invented country rock, more than anyone I can think of. As far as taking country music and trying to nurture it into a new form, he is absolutely the first guy that really did that.”

Additionally, Chris sheds new light on his productive but sometimes-complicated relationship with Gram Parsons and offers insight into the real man behind the ever-growing myth. He tells us what really happened on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry when the Byrds made their controversial appearance during the recording of the Sweetheart of the Rodeo sessions, and offers up the details on the band’s disastrous trip to South Africa. From becoming one of the first musicians to move to the artistic enclave of Laurel Canyon, to the historic moment he quit the Byrds, to breaking new “outlaw country” ground with the Flying Burrito Brothers, to recording with Manassas, to making the connections that launched the careers of Buffalo Springfield and Emmylou Harris, to his vastly different experiences as a performer at both Monterey and Altamont, Hillman opens up the fascinating pages of his life and career with engaging detail.   

While giving insight into the recording of classics like “Mr. Tambourine Man,” “Turn, Turn, Turn,” and “Eight Miles High,” the musical details of Time Between are only half the story. Pulling back the curtain like never before, Chris reveals the details of his personal life with candor and vulnerability. He writes honestly about his father’s suicide, his subsequent struggles with anger, and how his spiritual journey led him to a place of deep faith that allowed him to extend forgiveness and experience wholeness. He writes of overcoming his overwhelming shyness, building a family with his beloved wife Connie, earning a second degree blackbelt in karate, battling a life-threatening disease, and escaping three (!) house fires.

Featuring a foreword by Dwight Yoakam and dozens of photos from Chris’s personal collection, Time Betweenis filled with Hillman’s encounters with characters such as Lenny Bruce, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bo Diddley, Otis Redding, Chuck Berry, and Buck Owens, as well as his musical collaborations with Clarence White, Bernie Leadon, Stephen Stills, Dan Fogelberg, Herb Pedersen, John Jorgenson, Al Perkins, Jay Dee Maness,Tom Brumley, and more. From tales of hanging out at the famed Ash Grove club in Los Angeles as a teenager to Hillman’s 2018 Sweetheart of the Rodeo anniversary tour with Roger McGuinn and Marty Stuart, this engaging memoir always comes back around to Hillman’s first love. “I never thought about the money, the future, or chasing down stardom,” he writes. “It was always allabout the music.” 

Though he’s a four-time Grammy nominee, three-time CMA nominee, three-time ACM Award winner, and recipient of both the Americana Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award and Mojo magazine’s Roots Award, Hillman remains a disarmingly humble man. Though he would never say it about himself, as his story unfolds in the pages of Time Between it becomes clear that Chris Hillman is much more than a rock star. He is truly one of the architects of American music.

“I’ve had a great life,” says Hillman. “And it’s not over — we’re not done.”  With that affirmation, it is safe to say, moreof the best is yet to come. 

“This book brought back a lot of great memories, the humorous origins of the Byrds and subsequent adventures.”

—Roger McGuinn

“Without Chris Hillman acting as the connective tissue between West Coast country music traditions and the rock ’n’ roll generation, from Buck Owens to the Byrds, there would be no modern country music.”

—Dwight Yoakam

For more information about Chris Hillman, visit:
www.chrishillman.com
www.rounder.com (label)www.skylineonline.com (for booking)