...The Time That Two Future Cars Took A Turn Down Folk Rock Avenue...

Welcome back to Cars appreciation week! Oh, you didn't know it was Cars appreciation week around here? Neither did I, until just about now. But mentioning the long and winding path to the seeming overnight success of the Cars made me think that Ric Ocasek's and Benjamin Orr's  unexpected detour into folk/soft rock is worth a detour. So we jump in the car, next destination: Milkwood. 

So how exactly did Ocasek and Orr end up singing three-harmony soft folk songs? Blame Jim "Jas" Goodkind, who searched for band members to form a blues rock group (well, it was the early 70s...) and ended up with one Richard Otcasek, armed with an acoustic guitar and a couple of songs. So the two forgot about the whole blues rock deal and played as an acoustic duo, before Otcasek proposed bringing in his old friedn from high school, Benjamin Orzechowski. Milkwood built a bit of a following in Boston and the area, then signed with Paramount Records to record 1973's How's The Weather?, our One Buck Record of the day. 

Hey, what is Waylon Jennings doing there on the right? Oh, hold on, it's Benjamin Ortchowski, soon to lose the beard and then a ton of letters of his name...

And of course there is more to Milkwood than that, because Ocasek and Orr met Greg Hawkes while working on How's The Weather?, adding sax and taking care of the horn arrangements. So while Milkwood doesn't sound anything like The Cars, it's interesting that three fifths of the band were assembled here to work on an album that Milkwood had high hopes in, but sank like a stone. When How's The Weather? flopped, the band was done within weeks of that failure, with Orr and Ocasek moving on to other short-lived bands, until...well, you know. 

But enough about the band, what about the music? Well, it'spretty neat. Nothing earth-shaking, very much in the vein of America, with Ocasek's decidedly odd humour and slightly askew point of view only shining through in very brief moments. Ocasek is at least very well cosplaying the part of the sensitive folkie, with song titles including "Dream Trader", "Winter Song" and - don't laugh - "Timetrain Wonderwheel". This is all very pleasant, if not exactly what you'd expect three future Cars to come up with. But it's definitely more than just youthful ephemera. It will probably not climb up your personal best albums ever list, but it's a really nice early 70s folk-rock (with soft rock touches) album, if you are in for that kind of thing. 

Aah, the letters are still there, but the future Mr. Orr is much more recognizable like that...and check out the snazzy 'stache on Slick Ric...

Today's offering is a whole package, including artwork, photos and a Boston Globe article with enlightenig comments by Jim Goodkind that functions as virtual liner notes for this album. So, enjoy your trip into Milkwood, then we will be back with a last little Cars-related surprise in the next few days...