The Jayhawks, "Tomorrow the Green Grass"

Mitch tries to find some harmony on Newbury St.

Mitch Blum

CJ Kaplan

, and

Ken Warshaw

May 25, 2022

Mitch’s Pitch:

The Jayhawks have one of the coolest origin stories in all of rock and roll.

Perhaps it’s apocryphal, but as legend has it, George Drakoulias, fresh off signing The Black Crowes for Def American, was on the phone with Twin Tone Records in Minneapolis. In the background he heard The Jayhawks’ Blue Earth playing, asked about the band, tracked them down, and signed them.

If that’s not an argument for playing music at the office, I don’t know what is.

Signed to a major label, The Jayhawks proceeded to drop back-to-back classic albums in Hollywood Town Hall and Tomorrow the Green Grass, break-up, come back as an excellent power pop band, reform, break-up again, become Ray “Kinks” Davies’ backing band, and finally settle in as respected journeymen, still making excellent records and putting on great live shows to this very day.

But perhaps the craziest thing about The Jayhawks isn’t that they’re an alt-country band from not-so-deep-south Minnesota, or their serendipitous discovery, or their twisted path along the way. Nope, the craziest thing about The Jayhawks is that they’ve never had a hit song or sold a lot of records, even though they’re probably the best sounding band of our generation.

Thankfully, EONS is here to right this grievous wrong, and to give these grievous angels their due.

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Tomorrow the Green Grass always struck me as a beautiful name for an album, being both wistful and optimistic, and this album is indeed beautiful, sad, and hopeful. Nearly all Jayhawks albums are pitch-worthy, but I picked TTGG primarily for its gorgeous vocal work. The Jayhawks were originally built around the close harmonies and twin vocals of Mark Olson and Gary Louris, but I love the addition of Karen Grotberg to the mix, and every song on this album features unique and wonderful vocal arrangements. The way they sing certain phrases literally gives me shivers, like when Mark & Gary hit “I’ll survive, it’s true” in “Two Hearts” or Karen’s sympathetic “oooo’s” in “Red’s Song”. This is the kind of album where you want to sing-along with every song, convincing yourself that you sound just as good as the band.

The songs on TTGG are so well written, and are deceptively sophisticated in their construction and arrangement. The chord choices, the use of bridges and pre-choruses, the solos and instrumental breaks are just genius - the work of expert craftsmen. Songs like “Blue”, “I’d Run Away”, “Two Hearts”, “Over My Shoulder”, “Ann Jane” - are just top-shelf, and there’s not a bad tune on the whole album.

As expected, the lyrics are mature, thoughtful and slightly spiritual. Relationship themes dominate, and there is beautiful writing throughout the album. I adore the line in “Miss Williams’ Guitar” - “I remember watching her play, and the whole damn crowd seemed so far away” - which is so wonderfully evocative, perfectly romantic, and deftly hidden within a raucous rock song.

And there’s the real secret to The Jayhawks’ magic: Gary Louris’ guitar playing.

The risk of being a harmony-led band is that the music can get a little too soft, lacking an edge, and too many songs end up sounding the same. The Jayhawks don’t have that problem because they rock out behind the muscular yet twangy sound of Louris’ Gibson SG - giving him a distinct sound from all of the usual Les Pauls and Telecasters that most rockers favor.

Gary Louris is seldom mentioned among the ‘90s guitar greats, probably because he’s seen as an alt-country guy, but he is a truly fantastic player who can shred, but is incredibly tasteful and has an excellent tone. The guitar solos and rock songs on Tomorrow the Green Grass are the perfect counterbalance to the harmonies and the sweet stuff, and prevent the album from ever feeling redundant or wearing out its welcome.

Another welcome addition to the album is the unexpected cover of Grand Funk Railroad’s “Bad Time”. We’ve often had to apologize for cover tunes, but this one is a keeper. They improve upon the original arrangement by doing exactly what The Jayhawks do best: playing tight and delivering flawless vocals.

The next time you have control of the music in the office do everyone a favor and throw on The Jayhawks. You never know who’s going to discover their next favorite band. (And it’ll be a welcome respite from CJ’s usual office pick of “Ozzy’s Boneyard”)

CJ’s Response:

I find it ironic that my co-authors flayed last week’s sacrificial lambs (The Cult) for reinventing themselves several times in their career. And then Mitch goes and pitches a band that went from headlining the Wheeling Crystal Meth Fest (or wherever alt-country bands gather) to being the bastard cousin of Matchbox Twenty to singing “L-L-L-Lola” every night. But I guess if you’re a darling of the music cognoscenti that’s called “finding your truth”.

I don’t really care where The Jayhawks were on their journey when they released Tomorrow the Green Grass because I was far more intrigued by where the album itself took me. Halfway through I felt like I had heard this music before even though it was my first encounter with the band. But I couldn’t figure out when.

Then “Bad Time” came on and it all fell into place.

Mitch is right. This is a much better version than the original. And that’s because The Jayhawks are an updated version of a ‘70s soft rock band. They are a ‘90s Ambrosia, a dot-com era Firefall or, more accurately, a globalized Starland Vocal Band. They are AM Gold at a time when AM radio had become sports talk and screaming conspiracy theories. And I can see why that was refreshing in the midst of the doomy, gloomy grunge era.

I don’t love everything on this record, but there are plenty of standouts. “Blue”, “Real Light” and “Nothing Left to Borrow” would have been stellar long-distance dedications on Casey Kasem’s countdown. “See Him on the Street” is kinda dark and I kinda dig that. And “I’d Run Away” makes me think of Todd Rundgren, in a good way.

“Two Hearts” and “Ann Jane” drag a little too much to the point of being dirge-y. ‘Ten Little Kids” grated on me after repeated listening. And “Miss Williams’ Guitar” sounds like something Derek Trucks would write for Susan Tedeschi if Derek ever, you know, spoke.

Fortunately for Mitch, I have a soft spot for the ‘70s. When I’m cruising down the highway listening to the Boneyard and a song comes on that I don’t like (or anything by Ted Nugent), I flip over to the ‘70s on 7 faster than you can say “Brandy, you’re a fine girl.” So, I’m going to unhook the velvet rope and welcome The Jayhawks into Newbury St.

But not you Air Supply. You stay out here on the sidewalk until further notice.

Pitch Successful (The Jayhawks will be inducted into Newbury St. by Danny Manning and Paul Pierce.)

Ken’s Response:

About a year and a half ago, we did The Black Crowes’ The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion and if memory serves me correctly, I said something about them being the right band during the wrong era. This week I’m going to repeat myself; while staying well below the mainstream radar of Billboard charts and stadium headliners, The Jayhawks are a spectacular band that had the unfortunate chronological randomness of coming into the music business a decade or two (closer to two) late.

Using a base of relatively simple chord structures with more complex guitar riffs, bass lines, and drumming makes tracks like “Blue”, “Miss Williams’ Guitar” and “Over My Shoulder” an easy and pleasant listening experience even though those songs are all pretty intricate. It’s a delicate balance that reminds me of The Flying Burrito Brothers and The Byrds’ Sweetheart of the Rodeo.

If I were to make a “hot take” on Tomorrow The Green Grass, it would be that if it came out in 1973 (instead of 1995), both “See Him On The Street” and the amazing cover of Grand Funk’s “Bad Time” both would have been Top 10 hits.

With its pretty melodies and even more beautiful harmonies, Tomorrow The Green Grass is an absolute pleasure. I’ve always enjoyed The Jayhawks but never bothered to really take a deep dive into their catalog. That ends today. Their 447,197 monthly Spotify listeners just went up by one.

Pitch Successful (a near perfect album)

Mitch’s pitch was successful and The Jayhawks’ Tomorrow the Green Grass has soared into the Newbury St. collection.

Smile, for better days are ahead and The Jayhawks are the big stars at EONS this week. We loved Tomorrow the Green Grass for all the right reasons, but if it’s not too much trouble head over to the comments section and let us know what you think. It’s up to you!

Exile on Newbury St.

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