Scorcher

Despite the written description of this as a compilation cd including both "Fervor" and "Lost & Found"..... It is only the "Lost & Found" album, as shown in the photo of the CD...

The track listings are also way off, as the first track is actually "Last Time Around." ALL TRACKS LISTED AHEAD OF THAT ONE ARE NOT ON THIS DISC!

The "Fervor"/ "Lost & Found" compilialation is out of print, but the re-issue of "Lost & Found" is available.... That is what you get if you order this....

It may still be worth the price to get "Lost & Found", as it has been out of print a while, but you will not get "Fervor."

I bought Fervor on cassette in 1984 and it hardly ever left my cassette deck. I played it for years until the tape squeals made it unlistenable. Same with Lost & Found. I found Fervor a few years later in the cut-out bin on cassette again. Same thing, played it till it was in ribbons. I've bought the CD combos of these two twice. Once, I lost when I moved. Second, I lent to a friend who had never heard JATS and never got it back. Well, were these songs really worth all that? Oh yes!!! I believe the first 2 JATS releases are the best American rock ever! There isn't a bad song in the bunch, even the slow tunes are great. I honestly can't pick a favorite tune, they're all that good. I do especially like Warner Hodges' solos on "Shop it Around," and Dylan's "Absolutely Sweet Marie." Dylan's version of the song seems rather pedestrian after listening to the Scorchers, well, scorch it. On Fervor, the last song, "Both Sides of the Line," Jason wrote with Michael Stipe from REM, and the guitar has a sound similar to that of U2's Edge, but Warner is way better than the Edge could ever dream to be. I believe that JATS and X are not only the best bands of the 80's, but best American bands ever. As big as alt-country/Americana and "punk" are now, none of the bands playing these styles can hold a candle to these two.

It was great to see this music availble again, bringing back some good memeories of being a DJ in college radio. Only thing wrong with it is the tracks are mislabled, so the "Ferver" tunes are actually first on the CD. The tracks are also mislabled if you're running them on a computer program. But at least the music is there. Minus one star for the glitch.

The "Fervor" album was an incredible, though short, venture into the realm of "cowpunk". I wore out the grooves on that LP! Glad to see it revived on CD. The Dylan cover "Absolutely Sweet Marie" and the well-penned "Help, There's a Fire" are stand-outs. The follow-up album, "Lost & Found", had a few gems but was not as wholly enjoyable. Well worth the price to get these 2 on one CD.

In 1965 the Byrds created folk-rock with a revelatory cover of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man." Nearly twenty years later, Jason & The Scorchers blow the doors off Bob Dylan's "Absolutely Sweet Marie" melding punk swagger with traditional country sensibilities. Their 1984 7-track EP FERVOR was twenty-two minutes of raw energy, and now rereleased with their 1985 full-length album LOST AND FOUND is available for the first time in more than a decade.

Jason & the Scorchers sound owes as much to Hank Williams as it does the Rolling Stones (both artists the Scorchers covered on later releases). Frontman Jason Ringenberg's vocals ranged from the hyper-energy of a track like "I Can't Help Myself" to the honky-tonk pleading of "Pray for Me Mama (I'm a Gypsy Now)."

Like many ground-breaking bands (The Flying Burrito Brothers, The Velvet Underground), their popularity never matched their influence. I was lucky enough to catch Jason & The Scorchers in 2002 when they briefly regrouped to perform a handful of dates. Ringenberg was still a powerful vocalist and lead guitarist Warner Hodges performed like some kind of whirling dervish. They were still as good as ever.

In 1992, EMI first rereleased these two recordings with the title ARE YOU READY FOR THE COUNTRY, adding five bonus tracks, including "Greetings from Nashville," that was originally released as the B-side of "The Golden Ball and Chain" single. The other four were tracks that previously had only been released in the UK, incuding live covers of "Honky Tonk Blues" and "Absolutely Sweet Marie." It would have been nice to see these rare tracks included here, but it's good to see these seminal recordings back in print. [Running Time - 56:47] VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Very solid nine song LP in a dark period
for great Alternative-County-Christian-
Metal band from NashVegas, Tn. Jason
solo is a treat as well. Pick up on this,
Thunder and Fire, Essential J& S and ALL
Jason solo LPs!

Finally, finally this classic Jason and The Nashville Scorchers album is available again on CD (out 'o print copies of the CD have been fetching big dollars on ebay for years). This is one of my favorite Jason CD's - and the best of their later releases. The bonus tracks are kind of a throw away, if'n you ask me, but that don't take nuthin' away from the greatness of "My Heart Still Stands," "Shotgun Blues" and "Ghost Town," among others.

Relive the glory days of the short-lived cow punk movement (these guys are not really cow punk but somehow they got lumped in with bands like Blood on the Saddle, Tex & the Horseheads, and Rank & File, to name a few) and buy this CD. This music stills sounds fresh as the morning dew on Jason's pig farm even after all these years.

I sympathize with the "No guitar solo" reviewer, & understand why someone so personally influenced by J & S would be so disappointed with this re-release. But I come from a more objective perspective, having never heard "Still Standing" before now. I was turned on to the group two decades ago by "Fervor," and discovering this piece of their journey now is like a great goldmine. "Still Standing" is full of wonderful songs, and best of all, that fiery, unique J & S sound. So don't pass it up. Not only a glimpse into the band's evolution, but a glimpse into a period of sonic joy, exuberance, and "fervor" that otherwise will never be recaptured.

A lot of hard core Scorchers fans have been waiting forever for Still Standing to be re-released. Cd copys of the original are very hard to find. The extra cuts are always something to look forward to. So anyway I pop the cd in the player, start getting into Golden Ball & Chain and it's sounds like something's missing. I go back and listen again, and the guitar solo is gone!... As a Scorchers fan from almost the very beginning and a musician, that guitar solo is one of those solos that made me want to play guitar. Jason & The Scorchers are one of those bands that never really "made it" as far as mainstream music goes and this record was released, I'm sure, to please the long time devoted fans who bought the vynil or cassette versions before cds were common. So for the record company to
edit out that solo is a big disservice and a major letdown to any Scorchers fan. I think Capitol should pull the cd's and re-re-release it with the solo back in the song where it should be or refund peoples' money. What a dissappointment.

Thunder and Fire is not well liked by band members
Warner Hodges, still the guitar player for this
band and former two-time Bassist, (shades of TP
in CT!), Jeff Johnson. When J&TS played here in the
Virginia Beach area in '96 for the Clear and Impet-
uous Morning Tour, at the H2O club (which no longer
exists), I asked Warner and Jeff their opinion about
it. Understand that Jeff was out of the band by late
'87 - first temporarily replaced by JB, formerly of CT
then Canadian Andy York.

Warner's comment was: "It sounded like us COVERING
ourselves", what with THREE (3) lead guitarists. A&M
records (yes, they still did press some vinyl on this
release) tried to 'Amp Up The Scorchers', which is like
asking Cheap Trick and Webb Wilder to 'please turn it
up, guys...'

Jason's lyrics and country singing, in particular, are
better here on this underapreciated release than on any
other Scorchers 'record' [opps, showing my "roots" again].

The Scorchers were ALWAYS the real deal, since they did
not denigrate country (white peoples 'soul' music)
BUT PLAYED REAL COUNTRY TUNES as well as the best Rock
this side of Cheap Trick (when they had a real Bass play-
er)[i.e., IN THE '80'S). There are no bad songs here.

I know it (three lead guitarists) caused a temporary break-
up of these guys, but by the thinnest of margins, it PROB-
ABLY is their best LP. I recommend getting this, Siren,
All Is Forgiven, Webb's Hybrid Vigor and the four Cheap
Trick releases of the 1980's with Jon Brant on Bass, while
you still can! Aloha!

Powerful playing, good singing, great melodies. Maybe the best
record of the band I think. I'm listening it again and again.

Another very fine compilation of
B songs, sides, 'in-the-can' stuff
and goofs as only this band can make
them sound good. Fine collectable,
but look especially for Essential
J& S! Pick Up on It!

This is made up of 19 tracks of outtakes, rarities & live stuff. Jason Ringenberg gives a couple of sentences of background info on each song. Some of the highlights are a live guitar duel in the true sense of the word between Warren Hodges & Link Wray...covers of Polk Salad Annie and Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town with the guitarist from The Georgia Satellites and there is a real tearjerker that's sung by Hodges' mom. As individual songs go, this disk is a great collection...but as an entire album it fails because the songs genres jump too drastically between mellow C&W weepers into live raunchy "guitars on 11" rockers. It was laid out chronologically but in this case it's too jarring. But it should sound great in my CD shuffler.

I was one of the lucky few who caught Jason & The Scorchers during the handful of live dates they did last year. [It was July Jamm in Lincoln, NE, and worth the long drive back home to see these guys on stage!] While it looks like we can be waiting indefinitely for the re-release of their early albums (FERVOR and LOST AND FOUND especially!), this collection of demos, live tracks and outtakes is a welcome fix for those of us who got hooked on the Scorchers brand of high-octane country/rock.

Many of these songs--though presented here in different form--will be readily recognizable: demo versions of "Absolutely Sweet Marie," "Shop It Around" and a live version of "Lost Highway (recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour). But the real gems are the new songs. There's a haunting version of "Long Black Veil." The pull-out-all-the-stops version of "Tear It Up" performed before a live audience in Denmark features a guitar battle between Warner Hodges and Link Wray that will leave you breathless. They also tear through a rousing live version of "Polk Salad Annie" with Warner Hodges on vocals. And there's a classic country quality to the tearjerker "The Slow Train Never Ends," which features a duet with Warner's mother Blanche. One of my personal favorites is a live and unplugged radio show performance of "Jimmie Rodgers' Last Blue Yodel."

All told, this is a welcome addition to the Jason and the Scorchers canon. If you miss these guys half as much as I do, you owe to yourself to buy this album (before it goes out of print, too). HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

This is a surprizing mix of songs most done during the first two decades of Jason and the Scorchers. The liner notes are extensive with Jason giving tid-bits to enliven your understanding and enjoyment of the music. Some are covers of their standards, Absolutely Sweet Marie, Jimmie Roger's Last Blue Yodel and Cappuccino Rosie. These are very different versions from the versions that you have heard. A number of songs they never released are here as well.
If you enjoy Jason and the Scorchers, don't pass this by.

Jason and the Scorchers recorded two of the greatest Country-Punk-Rock albums : 'Lost and Found' and 'Fervor'. I was really excited when they released this collection of unreleased and rare material. However, it did not turn out to be the 'huge' album that I hoped it to be. All the previously released material is definitely better in its original then these alternative versions. The live material is a bit 'sloppy' at times and one of the tracks ('Tear it up') is even faded out - a definite 'no-no' for a live recording. The highlights to me are 'Fallen Angel', 'Buried me like a Bone' and the great cover version of 'Ruby, Don't take your love to town'. If you are a Jason and the Scorchers fan, this one should be part of your collection, otherwise try to get 'Both Sides of the Line' which combines the first two releases on one CD.

Lost and Found and Still Standing
or Jason's very good duo of Jason
and Pocketful of Soul, or A Blazing
Grace. The Graham Parsons song is
awful (expecially with Graham Parsons
singing it!). Sorry guys, anybody can
have a (mostly) bad decade. I do love
'Em however, but only five real good
songs here and only one country song
this set!

I like roots music, (Steve Earle, Slobberbone, Pawtuckets, Drive By Truckers, etc.) but Jason's singing is just "too much". Some twang helps a song sound genuine... But when it's excessive, it sounds like a total doofus is at the mic. I also thought too many of the tracks were built on banging one-chord guitars. After a couple of listens, this CD just doesn't sound fresh anymore.

From some of the most searing R&R guitar riffs to acoustic and pedal steel harmony - this CD has it all.
I mean quantity and quality.
"Lost and Found" move over for the new
Jason & The Scorchers benchmark CD.
Seriously, it's that (...) good.

Fast, hard, nothing held back and loud -- that's why they're called the Scorchers. This is take no prisoners country rock, steeped in love, God, and a belief in rock's redemptive power. Jason has always written striking original lyrics, but a particular constant strength of this band is its ability to take somebody else's tune and give it a new, and almost inconceivable, identity. They did it with Absolutely Sweet Marie on Fervor, with 19th Nervous Breakdown, with (perhaps most memorably) Take Me Home Country Roads on A Blazing Grace (inexplicably not available on Amazon.com), and on this CD with Drugstore Truck Drivin' Man. Other highlights here are To Feel No Love and Everything Has a Cost. The Scorchers play raggedly at times and Jason's nasal vocals can become tiresome on ballads, but this band has more 'tude than a roomful of rappers and for that alone Jason and his buddies should be a required part of any serious CD collection. Any one of their CDs is a keeper.

This is another welcome addition to the Jason & the Scorchers catalog. The album kicks off with the rocking "Self-Sabotage" propelled by Warner Hodges electrifying guitar playing and Jason Ringenberg's harmonica and trademark vocal.

And as with nearly every album since Fervor, their stunning 1984 debut, they serve up one killer cover song. On Fervor it was Dylan's "Absolutely Sweet Marie," on A Blazing Grace they provided a souped-up version of John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads." This time out it's a scorching version of Gram Parsons and Roger McGuinn's "Drugstore Truck Driving Man."

For the most part Clear Impetuous Morning is an all out rock 'n' roll album. The country influences that first showed up on Fervor and its follow-up, Lost and Found, are virtually gone. One exception is "Going Nowhere" and the duet with Emmylou Harris on "Everything Has a Cost" with its acoustic guitars and steel guitar (provided by Fats Kaplin). Another is on the stark arrangment of "Jeremy's Glory" about the death of a Union soldier in the Civil War. The closing number, "I'm Sticking with You," seems to be the most country-influenced song on the entire CD until Hodges' guitar comes charging in at the end of the first verse.

While Clear Impetuous Morning won't keep me from returning to Fervor and Lost and Found (two must-own albums!), this is a great collection of songs. And if you'd like to hear some of these songs ("Self-Sabotage" and "Going Nowhere") and other Scorcher favorites live, pick up the 2-cd Midnight Roads and Stages Seen. RECOMMENDED

Having followed this band since the early days I have "straped in" for several shows.. From a small uptairs club in Bloomington, Il..the night Jasin broke a tooth on stage..to Chicago Park West with opening by the Georgia Satillites.
For years these genra-busting blasts have left me thirsty for a live album! Unfortunatly this show was recorded with both audience and band knowing that it would become the long awaited live album. Fans and band alike are overdoing it on this record and it comes off as slightly phoney. The performances of some of the older songs represent the final evolution rather than the prime of life of these wonderful creations.
I still hope to someday hear a live disc representing these tunes from a collection of live tapes more representative of their true form. in the interval the most avid Scorchers fas are left to search bootleg sources for recordings of the band in it's hayday. My favotite is a 7-Up "unconcert" broadcast live on Chicago's WXRT inthe mid 80's from The Metro. I attended that show as well.

I have been an "Jason and the Scorchers" fan since the mid 80's. While I think that their studio albums are great, they are several times better LIVE. This album captures the energy and essence of their live show perfectly. Not an easy task given the intensity of their music. For those unfamiliar with them, imagine Hank William's Sr. Meets the CLASH!

I would have expected to see a lot more Scorchers fans feeding opinions into the review section. Living overseas it probably took me more time to get this CD in my hands than most...not much interest out there. I own all of the band's studio albums and like the previous reviewer...I am proud to own a quality live CD. I can't figure it out...wait, let me take my N' Sync CD out of the player. Yeah, that's it...they stink. Jason and the Scorchers have established themselves over the the last 15 (or so...) years as one of the quality bands to grace music. If you listen to this CD and don't like it...somebody needs to give you your money back.

The reasons I am recommending this cd is:

1. SOUND QUALITY and PERFORMANCE. It is one of the best Live albums ever recorded and performed. In a league with the Allman Brothers - Live at the Fillmore, Thin Lizzy - Live and Dangerous, Kiss - Alive, Duke Ellington - Live at Newport, Yes - Yessongs - to name a few.

2. PRICE. At the price of what a single cd costs, you get a double cd that I. a fan who already owns their studio recordings will be pleased with the live performance of the songs and II. an inexpensive way for a potential new fan to become acquainted the band.

3. THESE GUYS ARE THE MODERN EQUIVILANT OF ELVIS What Elvis did with great rockers like "Jail House Rock" to great ballads like "Love me tender"; these guys are doing with great hard rockers like "White lies" to great country songs like "Broken whiskey glass".

4.ORIGINALITY and INTEGRITY. No other band has ever been able to play such extremes in music with such quality, integrity, conviction and in a constant manner, as well as often combining these extremes that amazingly sound so great combined, and consequently, this band sounds like no one else.

They are one of the few original acts today, who despite receiving indifferent treatment from the narrow minded modern radio stations and the majority of the music buying public who can't accept such extremes in music today - have never sold out and tried to become just another country group or just another hard rock group.

For music recordings, all Jason and the Scorchers cds should get 10/10.

For Jason and the Scorchers recordings it gets a 8/10 due to the superiority of their studio recordings being "Lost and Found", "Still standing", "Fire and Lightning" and "Clear impetuous morming"

A MIX OF OLD AND NEW. SOUNDS PRETTY DAMN GOOD.THESE GUYS ARE A TRUE BAND. VERY VERSATILE YET STANDARD.ROCK N' ROLL AND COUNTRY ALL IN ONE BALL OF WAX. DEFINATELY WORTH IT.

Seven strong songs, and Jason has never
sounded better. Yes, Virginia, THIS IS
A ROCK LP! The best one of the Country/
Rock bands in that their Country ACTUALLY
SOUNDS GREAT! Fabulous guitar work by the
massively underrated Warner E Hodges as
well. A nice man, I met he and his wife
in Virginia Beach at a show in '96 for
the somewhat turkey Clear Impetuous
Morning, which only has five REALly
strong songs on it.

Jason and the Scorchers were without a doubt, one of the greatest live bands ever. I had the great pleasure of seeing them at least five times during the 1980s. They gave you everything. I fell in love with that rockin' honky tonk sound they had on their first albums. Well, as time passed and the band lost some key members (Maynard), the band started to take on a different sound, one that emphasized the hard rockin' sound more. It is not as great as their early Nashville sound, but what is? This album still rocks and is worthy of a perfect score. Of course, I am biased, I still believe this is one of the greatest band ever.

What a great compliation, almost a
greatest hits assortment, that came
out when Jason and the boys had broken
up - the first time! This is a must
have for any Scorchers band fan's
collection. Better than other even
good Compliations by the Noise Boys
from NashVegas, Tn.

32 songs including both versions of Absolutely
Sweet Marie make this Jason & The Scorchers disc
a classic - but wait. I give it three-and-a-half
stars out of five only because they have too many
compilations out already [not their fault here that
a former record company is doing it again!], and
the disk one year ago is better. Also try Midnight
Roads and Stages Seen for the 'Best Of...(through
'98!) LIVE!! Pick Up On It only if you DON'T alre-
ady have one J & T S compilation disk.

Thunder and Fire is not well liked by band members
Warner Hodges, still the guitar player for this
band and former two-time Bassist, (shades of TP
in CT!), Jeff Johnson. When J&TS played here in the
Virginia Beach area in '96 for the Clear and Impet-
uous Morning Tour, at the H2O club (which no longer
exists), I asked Warner and Jeff their opinion about
it. Understand that Jeff was out of the band by late
'87 - first temporarily replaced by JB, formerly of CT
then Canadian Andy York.

Warner's comment was: "It sounded like us COVERING
ourselves", what with THREE (3) lead guitarists. A&M
records (yes, they still did press some vinyl on this
release) tried to 'Amp Up The Scorchers', which is like
asking Cheap Trick and Webb Wilder to 'please turn it
up, guys...'

Jason's lyrics and country singing, in particular, are
better here on this underapreciated release than on any
other Scorchers 'record' [opps, showing my "roots" again].

The Scorchers were ALWAYS the real deal, since they did
not denigrate country (white peoples 'soul' music)
BUT PLAYED REAL COUNTRY TUNES as well as the best Rock
this side of Cheap Trick (when they had a real Bass play-
er)[i.e., IN THE '80'S). There are no bad songs here.

I know it (three lead guitarists) caused a temporary break-
up of these guys, but by the thinnest of margins, it PROB-
ABLY is their best LP. I recommend getting this, Siren,
All Is Forgiven, Webb's Hybrid Vigor and the four Cheap
Trick releases of the 1980's with Jon Brant on Bass, while
you still can! Aloha!

Powerful playing, good singing, great melodies. Maybe the best
record of the band I think. I'm listening it again and again.