Tommy Keene – Songs From the Film: The 1984 Reflection Sessions (Dolphin)
Somewhere Tommy Keene is smiling
For Record Store Day – Keene’s second album, the way he wanted it
The year is 1984 and Tommy Keene’s star is rising. The Washington, DC musician had spent years perfecting a unique blend of melodicism and muscle (later dubbed “power pop”). Dolphin Records, an independent label based in Durham, NC, took notice, and issued the fantastic Places That Are Gone EP that year. It garnered heavy praise from both Rolling Stone and the Village Voice. Later in 1984, Keene returned with “Back Again (Try),” a 4-track, 12-inch single, also on Dolphin, produced by T-Bone Burnett and Don Dixon (two very hot individuals at the time).
The back cover of the single promised “from the forthcoming album Songs From the Film” – so anticipation was high. But then? Silence.
A full two years elapsed before Keene was heard from again. In 1986, here was Songs From the Film, but now on Geffen Records. And…this didn’t really SOUND like Tommy Keene.
What we later found out was that Keene had been involved in negotiations with several major labels, and decided to go with the upstart Geffen Records. But, from the start, things turned weird. Even though Keene had laid down a completed version of Songs From the Film with Burnett and Dixon, Geffen told him NOT to release it, or the deal was off (huh?).
Instead, Keene and band were flown to the exotic island of Montserrat to work with legendary Beatles’ engineer Geoff Emerick. What sounded like a perfect match quickly turned sour as the elder producer failed to capture the excitement of a Tommy Keene live performance. Heavily using gated reverb (which Keene objected to), the album somehow sounded both overproduced and underproduced at the same time – stripping away virtually all of Keene’s patented jangle, yet never really fully going big either. By the time this completely different Songs From the Film arrived in 1986, Keene’s momentum had stalled.
Now, for the first time, thanks to former Dolphin Records’ owner, Josh Grier and brother Bobby Keene, who’s taken over stewardship of Tommy’s catalog after his passing nine years ago, the original Songs From the Film can be heard, just in time for Record Store Day.
The album leads off with the aforementioned “Back Again” – opening with great harmonies, pounding drums, and Keene’s soaring vocals. That’s quickly followed by the fabulously jangly “I Don’t Feel Right at All,” which Geffen did release on the Run Now EP, from later in 1986, as kind of a half-assed attempt to salvage things. No song sums up this period more than the mid tempo “Faith in Love” – this is an artist making good on the promise of his earlier EP’s.
Next up is “Gold Town,” one of several examples of songs recorded for both versions of the Songs From the Film album. But, as in all the cases, this 1984 take is superior. The pounding drums create an eerie backdrop that’s totally lost in the re-recording. This sounds more like a soundtrack to a spaghetti western (dig that crazy ending!).
Rounding out side one is Keene’s most-underrated song, the driving “Call on Me” – what a great chorus. This SHOULD have been a huge college radio hit. And, maybe the only time when the Geffen version rivals the original (I prefer the way the later rendition breaks down in the middle, and Tommy’s vocal is better too).
Side two opens with the excellent mid tempo, “They’re In Their Own World,” also issued later on Run Now. I love the way the bass and drums interlock on “Fall Down Too,” and love those harmonies on the chorus. The country two-step of “We’re Two” breaks things up a bit, before another excellent rocker, “Away From It All.”
It’s interesting to hear the Dixon/Burnette take of “Run Now.” Keene would re-record this with Bob Clearmountain for the EP of the same name. This version is more jangly and lacks the muscle of the redo, but is still a fantastic song. The album closes with “The Story Ends,” which opens acoustically before building and then receding near the end.
The LP packaging is great. I love the vintage photos of Keene and band. Plus, the mostly-white album sleeve preserves the continuity of his first two releases. And, it’s fun to see that long-defunct Dolphin Records label logo too.
Listening to these eleven tracks some 40 years later, I’m struck with awe at how good a songwriter Tommy Keene was – hooks and melodies are bursting from the grooves. Had this been released in 1984 or early 1985, when Keene’s initial popularity was at its peak, it would’ve most certainly received more accolades and college radio airplay. But, Geffen Records had a history of messing up great bands (just ask Lone Justice). Had he gone with another label, who knows?
All that we’re left with is this fantastic music. Songs From the Film: The 1984 Reflection Sessions is the missing piece in the fertile Tommy Keene catalog. Grab it while you can for Record Store Day. And, Tommy? You finally got your wish —Tony Peters