Casting light on The Blue Shadows
Legendary Americana classic gets 2-CD deluxe reissue
One of the great missing chapters of Americana music history
can now be rediscovered with the long-awaited reissue of the classic debut
album by the legendary group The Blue Shadows.
On The Floor of Heaven
is considered by many of those who got to hear it upon its initial release in
1993 as one of the great, unheralded achievements of the alt-country movement.
Out of print for more than 15 years, the roots rock masterpiece is now reissued
as a two-disc Deluxe Edition via
Bumstead Records on June 1.
Formed in Vancouver in the early 1990s, The Blue Shadows
consisted of guitarist and singer Billy Cowsill – who began his career as
leader of the legendary American bubblegum group The Cowsills (of “The Rain,
The Park & Other Things” fame) – and Canadian roots rocker Jeffrey Hatcher
– who enjoyed cult success in the 1980s fronting Jeffrey Hatcher & The Big
Beat. Together with drummer J.B. Johnson and bassist Elmar Spanier (later
replaced by Barry Muir), the quartet forged a style built on the rustic sounds
of classic country fused with the pop sensibility of The Beatles and tight
harmony vocals that have drawn flattering comparisons to the Everly Brothers.
From the opening fiddle-fueled blast of “Coming On Strong”
to the haunting climax “Is Anybody Here,” On
The Floor of Heaven is a feast for fans of hardscrabble country and 60s
pop, packed full of Hatcher and Cowsill’s inventive songwriting and
immaculately nuanced vocal harmonies, the quartet’s muscular rhythmic punch and
Hatcher’s tasteful, twangful touches on lead guitar. Songs such as “When Will
This Heartache End?” or the anthemic, mournful title track are both throwbacks
to a classic era before country and rock and roll went their separate ways and
timeless in the stories the songs tell and the emotions they evoke.
Despite releasing two albums, garnering critical raves and
touring extensively around North America, The Blue Shadows never managed to
reach beyond a wildly devoted cult following and they broke up in 1996. Cowsill
passed away in Calgary in February 2006. One of his last wishes was for a
reissue of On The Floor of Heaven so it could finally find a wider audience.
On The Floor of
Heaven: Deluxe Edition includes:
- The
classic 12-track album with remastered audio
- A
full disc of outtakes and cover songs including tracks originally recorded by
George Jones, Merle Haggard, Joni Mitchell and Michel Pagliaro.
- All
new packaging
- Downloadable
detailed history of the band and song-by-song notes written by Jeffrey Hatcher
available at www.bumstead.com/theblueshadows
The time is right for The Blue Shadows to finally cast a
giant shadow across music history.