The Berry Project, Phase Two: Pop Goes The Berry!

I announced this back in November when I posted a primer on Wayne Berry, greatly underrated artist from the 1970s (take a ticket, buddy...). If you haven't yet picked up Berry's Cherries - A Wayne Berry Anthology I would strongly urge you to do so, because his mix of folk, country-rock and pop is definitely worth your listening time. I also announced that this was only part one of a bigger project. So here comes phase two. In his career, Berry only published two solo albums, one of which was out for about five minutes. A first solo album for Capitol was cancelled, then his career ground to a halt due to bad decisions, bad luck and bullshit from and around the music industry. (You can read up more on that in the fabulous No Depression profile of Berry I included as a text file with the anthology). 

But just because Berry had trouble getting his songs out to the public didn't mean that there weren't a bunch of them, nor that these weren't worthwhile despite not making the record stage. When his country/folk rock troupe Timber (with future soundtrack specialist George Clinton) collapsed in 1971 Berry's career was put on hold, but that didn't mean that he was just whiling away the time. He continued writing, and from time to time booked studio time to produce demos of his songs. And most of these weren't of the "a man and his guitar"-type spare affairs (though there are a couple), but fully produced songs with full band backing, background vocals, the works. A lot of these demos were essentially ready to be pressed to records that then never came. 

Enter One Buck Records, which will proudly present three albums that never were but should have been, presenting Berry's demos from around 1971 - 1974 in distinct albums, of which today's offering is the first. ...just a matter of time... presents Berry going full pop/rock. There's barely a hint of the country leanings that dominated half of his outstanding sole debut Home At Last, instead Berry tries a number of different pop flavors. There are songs that could have been soft rock hits like "Tell Her That You Love Her" and hints of a calypso beat underlying the ultra-catchy "Still Got You" which also sounds like it could have been a hit. The title song is one of Berry's patented mid-tempo shuffles that sounded like he alchemized the best of 1960s pop (listen to those "aaaah" and "oooh-oh-oooh" backing vocals) with an early 70s rock sound. I don't want to oversell the album, but in many respects ....just a matter of time... sounds a lot like a Greatest Hits album that unfortunately has no hits on it, but again, you can imagine an ultra-catchy song like "A Dream Come True" popping up on classic rock radio. And there's even a hint of a more agressive sound on the sneering "Big Girl Now" where Berry sounds a little like a proto-Elvis Costello, backed by some suitably squealing guitar playing. 

Listening to these songs you can't help but feel that Berry should have been a much bigger deal than he was. He had the songs, ha had the looks (get rid of the lumberjack beard and you could have tried to sell him as a bit of a hunk), but he didn't have the luck. And the fact that the songs on ...just a matter of time... are so relentlessly catchy and good-natured probably means that there won't be a full-fledged renaissance, as his music feels too close to the mainstream for someone to want to 'rediscover' and make a big thing out of it. One Buck Records, however, will do its modest part to try to spread the word on Mr. Berry. And on that note, hit the music...