Grant Lee Buffalo - Classic or Dud?

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I'm not someone who normally goes in for "Americana" and all this "alt.country" crap that's all the rave in some circles these days, but I really quite dug Mighty Joe Moon, and I think "Truly, Truly" on their final album, Jubilee is simply gorgeous and utterly swoon-worthy. Haven't heard Grant Lee Phillips' solo stuff (though he toured with the mighty Robyn Hitchcock, a promising double-bill to be sure). I find some of GLB's music to be genuinely haunting....

what say you?

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 2 May 2003 06:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Truly, truly and Fuzzy are beautiful - more of a singles band, don't you think?

― Sonny Tremaine (Sonny), Friday, 2 May 2003 06:50 (twenty-two years ago)

If i got round to answering the '5 albums u have that don't reflect your taste' thread, i was going to to choose 'Fuzzy' at the top. I'm not a huge fan of this kind of stuff, but there's somehting about the record that i just love - esp Fuzzy and Jupiter and Teardrop, but also the rest of it too. I've never heard the others - they are one of those bands i don't want to hear anything else by, coz i know it won't be as good.

― Robin Goad (rgoad), Friday, 2 May 2003 08:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Mighty Joe Moon is a classic album, one of my personal all-time favorites. The rest of the albums have their fair share of excellent songs (including Grant's solo albums), but they are all varying degrees of uneven. I feel that Grant Lee Phillips is a painfully underrated musician/songwriter, and is unfairly dismissed by way too many people.

re: Grant's solo albums - Ladies Love Oracle = quite good, Mobilize = very weak.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Friday, 2 May 2003 12:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Every year I test myself on wether I can sing the chorus of "Mockingbird". Still got it.

― Lynskey (Lynskey), Friday, 2 May 2003 13:00 (twenty-two years ago)

i've only heard "the whole shebang" off the velvet goldmine soundtrack. i think it roolz but i was advised they don't normally sound like that/any good.

please tell me they do. or tell me something that does.

― brian badword (badwords), Friday, 2 May 2003 13:07 (twenty-two years ago)

Brian, whoever told you that was wrong. While that song was intended to sound like an over-the-top early Bowie impression, it's not all that far off from their regular sound. Odds are, you'd probably really like the Mighty Joe Moon album, and assorted songs throughout the band's catalog.

Songs to download: "Drag" "Mockingbirds" "It's the Life" "Happiness" "The Shining Hour" "Fuzzy" "Bethelem Steel" "Dixie Drug Store" "All That I Have" "The Shallow End" "Testimony" "Were You There?"

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Friday, 2 May 2003 13:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Don't forget "Honey Don't Think", "Wish You Well" or "America Calling" now.

― Lynskey (Lynskey), Friday, 2 May 2003 13:36 (twenty-two years ago)

"The Whole Shebang" was indeed great fun, but the band never impressed me otherwise. But one good song is better than none.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 2 May 2003 14:20 (twenty-two years ago)

"Mockingbird" is one of my favorite songs ever. I've even got the video somewhere.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 2 May 2003 16:46 (twenty-two years ago)

I had the Fuzzy album on cassette, and wore out the first side. To me, those first few songs were better than anything that followed, either on that album or the ones that came after it.

― paul cox (paul cox), Friday, 2 May 2003 16:48 (twenty-two years ago)

"Mockingbirds" is definetely the song that got me into them...courtesy of its drowsy, slightly eerie delivery -- vaguely reminiscent of certain parts of the White Album, I find. Apparently it's about the early 90's earthquake that hit Los Angeles.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 2 May 2003 16:49 (twenty-two years ago)

I saw a Grant Lee Buffalo video on MuchMusic's alt.rock show back in the mid-90s and ended up picking up the first couple of albums. I didn't enjoy the albums after Mighty Joe Moon quite as much, though I still have Jubilee in my collection. I probably haven't listened to any of the albums in two or three years.
I've never given his solo stuff a listen.

― Bruce Urquhart (Bruce Urquhart), Friday, 2 May 2003 17:08 (twenty-two years ago)

But I lean towards classic just for those first coupla albums

― Bruce Urquhart (Bruce Urquhart), Friday, 2 May 2003 17:08 (twenty-two years ago)

I've been thinking about these guys a lot lately, debating whether or not I want to part with their albums. I love Phillip's voice but his songwriting can get CRAZY austere (especially when he gets on the historical tip - that stuff is horrendous). Alex is OTM about "Truly, Truly" and Mighty Joe Moon is probably their best (esp. "Honey Don't Think," my other fave GLB song), though I've never heard "Fuzzy." If any album goes, it will be Copperopolis for sure. But I'm gonna say Classic cuz I find them impossible to remove entirely from my record collection.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 2 May 2003 21:00 (twenty-two years ago)

two years pass...

Listening to "Truly, Truly" again right now, and find it virtually impossible to not sing along to. Oh my lord, and when that guitar takes over the refrain at exactly 03:27.....heartbreak. Such a damn beautiful song.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 15 October 2005 04:55 (twenty years ago)

Holy!
Mockingbirds is one of my favorite songs of all time. It is truly transcendent on every level! The chorus is divine.

Nice to see other people shelling out the kudos for said song.

― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Saturday, 15 October 2005 22:57 (twenty years ago)

Not many people have a better voice than Grant. I love that he's the town minstrel on the G Hos (Gilmore Girls)

If you combined the best songs from Mighty Joe Moon and Jubilee, you'd have one of the best Americana records ever....

Side 1 (Mighty Joe Moon)
Lone Star Song
Mockinbirds
It's the Life
Sing Along
Last Days of Tecumseh
Honey Don't THink
Rock of Ages

Side 2 (Jubilee)
APB
Seconds
Change Your Tune
Truly, Truly
Come to Mama She Said
Everybody Needs a LIttle Sanctuary

― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Saturday, 15 October 2005 23:09 (twenty years ago)

I love them. The only real nitpick I can muster is that Philips's super-folksy pronounciation ("Americker") and locutions ("done lost my head") don't always work.

They are definitely a singles band. My GLB POX would look something like this:

Fuzzy
America Snoring
Jupiter & Teadrop
Lone Star Song*
Mockingbirds
Sing Along
Mighty Joe Moon
Happiness
APB
Truly, Truly

*my favorite among their lyrics; like Alex, I normally don't go for Americana etc, but: "They nailed him down to a T / With a T for Texas / And his apostles with artillery / Held the fort inside / And when the deal went down / Down on Dealey Plaza / We already caught the smoke / Read the TV Guide". The man compresses Jesus, JFK, Alamo and Koreshans into four perfectly limpid lines, then throws in some great alliteration to boot.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Saturday, 15 October 2005 23:20 (twenty years ago)

nine months pass...

Classic, with Mighty Joe Moon being my favorite of their albums.
'Demon Called Deception', 'Lone Star Song', 'Mockingbirds', and 'Rock of Ages' are all fantastic.

MJM > Copperopolis > Jubilee > Fuzzy (production on this one is strange)

― cdwill (cdwill), Monday, 17 July 2006 02:51 (nineteen years ago)

Classic.
sadly, there has been very little mention of Copperopolis, which in my opinion has some of their best material, especially "Even the Oxen," "Arousing Thunder," and "Homespun." I am glad that this thread was posted--i recently picked up Grant Lee's "nineteeneighties"
and have realized how much i missed his delivery.

favorite GLB lyric:

"Man built a furnace a Mercedes-Benz
Man built the cities of Kansas and Berlin
Man slew the bison and he built a Thieves' Road (oh oh oh oh)
That pass over Tel Aviv-Jaffa and lead to the Mother Lode
Mother Lode

***

Man built an empire out of ocean and earth
Man built the prisons of Joliet San Quentin Leavenworth
And man built a market for Muhammad Ali (oh oh oh oh)
Evel Knievel and the legacy of John Wayne
Gacy--Gacy" from 'Sing Along', Mighty Joe Moon

― J. Grizzle (trainsmoke), Monday, 17 July 2006 13:54 (nineteen years ago)

So, is Nineteeneighties any good?

I'm intrigued by the supposedly all-falsetto rendering of "Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me."

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Friday, 28 July 2006 00:08 (nineteen years ago)

Would a reasonable definition of a successful covers album require that at least half the covers be as good as or better than the originals?

If so... meh.

― M. V. (M.V.), Friday, 28 July 2006 01:09 (nineteen years ago)

It's a good definition but how about this one: would at least half the songs sound great if you didn't know the originals existed?

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Friday, 28 July 2006 03:57 (nineteen years ago)

By that definition, I might give it a borderline thumbs-up.

― M. V. (M.V.), Friday, 28 July 2006 17:21 (nineteen years ago)

Long ago, I accidentally killed a deer while driving around outside Chapel Hill with my sister, waiting for a Grant Lee Buffalo show to start.

Had no idea who the band, were, just wanted to go see a show. As it turned out, they weren't worth a deer.

― fuckfuckingfuckedfucker (fuckfuckingfuckedfucker), Friday, 28 July 2006 17:24 (nineteen years ago)

weren't worth a deer

I see a new ILX meme.

― M. V. (M.V.), Friday, 28 July 2006 17:29 (nineteen years ago)

nineteeneighties isn't a 'must have' by any means. i would suggest previewing the tracks and purchasing the ones that appeal, as opposed to purchasing the entire album.

"last night i dreamt.." was a highlight for me, as was "age of consent.." and "love my way.."

i agree with MV's assessment. Grant was better with Buffalo..

― J. Grizzle (trainsmoke), Friday, 28 July 2006 18:19 (nineteen years ago)

Funny, I just remembered that when I saw GLB in Detroit in 1995 (St. Andrew's Hall, I believe... with the Dambuilders!), they did a half-cover of Split Enz' "I Got You."

And yes, absolutely, GL was far better with the B. I don't think anyone would argue otherwise.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Friday, 28 July 2006 18:27 (nineteen years ago)

-- fuckfuckingfuckedfucker (icantbelieveitsnotcoloncance...)

This may be the least pleasant thing I've ever read - all of it, I mean, including Baconwave.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Friday, 28 July 2006 18:29 (nineteen years ago)

four years pass...

90s reunion madness continues -- these guys are touring in 2011. http://www.flemingartists.com/artists/itineraries/go-itin.html

― tylerw, Thursday, 7 October 2010 15:49 (fifteen years ago)

Saw them live just before they released Mighty Joe Moon and they totally kicked ass. Also Grant Lee seemed a nice guy.

― Marco Damiani, Thursday, 7 October 2010 16:36 (fifteen years ago)

yeah i saw them in LA right around that time too (1994? Jesus.), and they were pretty great. it was a weird thing though, everyone assumed that they were about to blow up when that album came out ... why weren't they more popular?

― tylerw, Thursday, 7 October 2010 16:38 (fifteen years ago)

why weren't they more popular?

Mall punk and "ska" got in the way.

― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 7 October 2010 16:39 (fifteen years ago)

five years pass...

Not much to say except that Mighty Joe Moon is an album I never seem to reach the bottom of. Just heard 'Lone Star Song' for the first time in ages and, yup, still the same emotional response.

― Sunn O))) Brother Where Art Thou? (Chinaski), Thursday, 16 June 2016 16:19 (nine years ago)

Yes. I love this record. The follow-up, however, is one of the great momentum killing releases of the 90s.

― kornrulez6969, Thursday, 16 June 2016 18:01 (nine years ago)

seven years pass...

7 years, 1 month and a day later: *Mighty Joe Moon* is still end-to-end perfect.

You resent all of your trophies
They belittle human spirit like a timepiece
That is ticking in your breast pocket
And so you long to reach in and stop it

― (picnic, lightning) very very frightening (Chinaski), Monday, 17 July 2023 19:57 (two years ago)

All their albums are great, and the best of with the bonus disc of odds and ends is worth your time as well.

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Monday, 17 July 2023 22:46 (two years ago)

Have spent many late nights/early mornings stocking the hard seltzers at the corner store screaming "TRULY TRULY TRULY I DOOOOO" etc, anyways very classic

― Florin Cuchares, Tuesday, 18 July 2023 00:02 (two years ago)

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