Blue Ash

Also-ran Power Pop band from Ohio that not a lot if people heard– because Paul Nelson wanted to focus on The New York Dolls? Because they weren't actually that good?– who often get mentioned in passing in comparison with other better-known acts, often dismissively. I just got inspired to give them a try and they've got an interesting drive even if the songwriting is somewhat generic. A rarities album just came out at the end of last year.

Somewhere I have a 2008 reissue, No More, No Less, which I remember liking a lot--called it "stylish and passionate," I think---but where? Can't find it on year-end blognotes, or Pazz--oh well, should be worth a listen if it's posted somewhere and you're into or curious about power pop (there are threads).

prob "stylized" (or James's "generic") would be more appropriate, but yeah, "passionate'/"interesting drive."

I like their sound on tracks like "Abracadabra." I like that moment in time where what would become power pop was just another direction in heavy rock, not a reaction against it or anything.

The group they most reminded me of on first listen is Wally Tax's Outsiders from Amsterdam, in that their grooves seem a little off-kilter in some way that is hard to pin down but make a lasting impression.

On the demo recording there is some almost amateurish busy, Billy Yule-level drumming going on that I theoretically should dislike but it's somehow staying on the right side of the thin line.

Listening to the more produced stuff and thinking things like: okay, this is their Byrds cop, it resembles in particular "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better." Wonder how this will sit with me when I hear it a few more times.

The next tune sounds like "Saturday Night," by The Bay City Rollers! Hmm.

Starting to see why Paul Nelson favored The Dolls.

Well yeah. Found previous Blue Ash talk on Rolling Country 2008:

So I finally heard Blue Ash's renowned and finally reissued No More, No Less: power pop as passionate and blood-sugary as it is stylized, folk-rocking Dylan's otherwise-unknown-to-me "Dusty Old Fairgrounds" like Thin Lizzy's version of "Whiskey In The Jar"; non-laidback country rock and tinges and twinges of real-country country pop--restless ain't-love-somethin' domestic ruminations--before hitting the stage again, stomping those platform shoes (you can tell they played out A LOT, as well as writing and tape-recording, before and after their brief LP career)(so how is the second album, and the demos/outtakes Around Again?)They've been playing together again the last few years, and scheduled for their native Youngstown OH 11/15.
---dow

I have one of the Blue Ash records. Newspaper format on the cover. Never cared for them. Not as catchy when it should have been, nor as "power" as far as the power pop part of it went. Bad Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers record before TP started making bad records?
---Gorge

Been listening to those Blue Ash and Fotheringay reissues a bit myself; definitely prefer Fotheringay, though I have been liking Blue Ash more than I'd remembered liking them back when I had the album on vinyl -- when, yeah, they definitely struck me as too powerless for a good powerpop band. Jason Gross compared them to Cheap Trick on his blog this week, and I'm not hearing it. Actually hear a little Grateful Dead choogle in there, though, which I didn't expect (and I'm not sure whether I approve of yet.) Cool that they come from Youngstown, though -- Chris Stigliano country, right on the Ohio/Pennsy cusp. I've actually spent nights in crappy hotels there with my kids, while driving from Philly to Detroit. Pittsburgh's not far enough for one day, and if you get all the way to Toledo, you might as well just finish the trip, right? I'm sure Joe The Plumber would tell you the same.
---― xhuxk

Ah, Blue Ash, they probably had a half-assed Beatles/Byrds things going, too. The Records covered one of their songs. I liked the Records, still have a live one by them with everything from Rock 'N' Roll Letter to the Blue Ash thing. If I were going to pick something to reissue at a reasonable price, I would've picked Pezband. They were in the same vein but managed to last for four albums or so, about one and a half which I actually enjoyed.

― Gorge

(Though I concede that their studio tracks were uneven, and suspect that they were a lot more impressive live, so maybe I'll look for posted shows.)

I really like "Plain to See," James Redd! If you're going to kind of base your song on some other song, "Feel a Whole Lot Better" is a good one to do that with. There were three singles from that album, so Mercury gave 'em a shot. I like the version of "Anytime at All," too. That was the third one.