Lindsey & Stevie helped a friend

[vivfox]

Walter Egan -- "Only The Lucky" (1977)

One of the 70's biggest one hit wonders deserved a far better fate. Walter Egan's prom song "Magnet and Steel" was positively tongue in cheek and far inferior to the rest of the material he recorded. So let me set the record straight for everybody right now.

A Queens boy who went to Georgetown University, and then headed west to join surf bands, Egan had it all -- good looks, a very distinct voice (sort of reminiscent of Gerry Rafferty), and a knack for writing great little rock songs. He ended up being Lindsey Buckingham's first outside production job after his initial Fleetwood Mac album went through the roof.

They had an awful lot in common: an obvious worship of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, as well as a passion for innocence and simplicity. For their Egan's debut Columbia album, Fundamental Roll, Buckingham enlisted a coterie of prime southern California band musicians, and had his amour, Stevie Nicks, sing with Egan on at least half the tracks.

Imagine a very Fleetwood Mac-sounding album, except truly from a single west coast guy's point of view. From the first few moments of "Only The Lucky," when the drums smash the downbeat, and the acoustic and electric guitars jangle big major chords in unison, you know you are in "Go Your Own Way" territory, but without the complex Mick Fleetwood drum patterns. It's wistful betrayal, with a taste of defiance, done simple and true, going down to the minor chord for the chorus. Nicks is all over the song, even with that "ya-ooooo" during the fade out. And yes, that can only be Buckingham's distinct high up the neck guitar solo, right out of "Second Hand News." Notice that last chorus change to "Only the lucky and I will survive."

I had a dream just the other day
I dreamed that you would never be leavin' me
I still recall what you had to say
You said that you would always believe in me

Then I woke, as I always do
My dream was gone like darkness from the sky
Felt the pain and I saw the truth
Only the lucky in love survive

Only the lucky in love survive
Without love, you're just half alive
Only the lucky in love survive
Without love, I'd just as soon die

I gave my love and I gave my best
God only knows how good it felt to try
In the end, I'm alone again
'Cause only the lucky in love survive

Only the lucky in love survive
Without love, you're just half alive
Only the lucky in love survive
Without love, I'd just as soon die

Only the lucky in love survive
Without love, you're just half alive
Only the lucky in love survive
Without love, I'd just as soon die

Only the lucky and I will survive
Only the lucky and I will survive
I will

Studying many classic 60's based songwriters, like Neil Diamond, Paul McCartney, and Carole King, their chords were basic and easy -- they were all about the melodies and hooks. Egan mastered this craft as well, for the whole Fundamental Roll is just classic rock hook after hook, and the instrumentation is just right for his tales of lust, partying, girls, and cars -- sometimes going up a half a key just at the right moment. A couple of tunes have that early 60's kick drum "bum...bumbum" of many girl group hits.

If you are a Fleetwood Mac fan (especially Fleetwood Mac and its Rumors sequel), Walter Egan's first two albums are mandatory purchases (Fundamental Roll and Not Shy). Because of "Magnet and Steel," Not Shy came back into print a while ago on the Razor & Tie label then disappeared, while Fundamental Roll stayed dormant until recently, when Egan began reissuing copies of his early records. Those first two albums are now a two-fer on one CD. They can be bought new or used through Amazon, or as sparkling downloads from the very same site.

Any discussion of Fundamental Roll can not leave out the album's front and back covers. Israeli-born photographer Moshe Brakha, whose distinct style evoking movement, artifice, and sexiness, first made a splash with his cover shot for Boz Scaggs' Silk Degrees album. For Egan's debut record, the clear theme was "teenage lust," something that I could not possibly imagine him getting away with in this current hyper-sensitive era. At dusk, there's the boy-ish Egan standing next to a black muscle car while two sexy cheerleaders are crouching up to him approaching crotch level. And if that's not enough, the back cover was the same setting with Egan squeezing both girls standing up, their skirts hiked up, with white panties clearly showing. Some innocence!

After his album sales crashed, Egan rejoined the surf band he belonged to when he first made his way to California, the Malibooz, which still record and play to this day. One last Walter Egan fact you can amaze your friends with: he wrote the song "Hearts On Fire" for Gram Parsons' classic pioneering country-rock album Grievous Angel.

Enjoy this video that was put together for "Only The Lucky," with audio the way it was meant to be heard! And below that, early MTV does a short news segment on the surf music revival, and interview Egan in his Malibooz guise




Listen: Walter Eagan speaks and sounds like Don Henley



http://www.totalmusicgeek.com/2010/0...ucky-1977.html

[vivfox]

Magnet and Steel 2007

[MikeVielhaber]

People always put down popular songs in favor of more obscure ones, but I don't know why. Magnet and Steel is a great song and I like both Fundamental Roll and Not Shy. I don't see a drop in song quality when that song comes out. It fits right in. It's his love song to Stevie.

[SuiteShangriLa]

Heres some more of Stevie and Lindsey with Walter Egan from Fundamental Roll
(edit - im not sure if Lindsey plays/sings on all of these but Stevie sings on these)
Wont You Say You Will


Yes I Guess I Am


When I Get My Wheels


Tunnel Of Love


Feel So Good

[sleepless child]

I always loved Stevie's vocals on Walter's records. The best!

[chiliD]

Just for the "record", his subsequent albums to Not Shy are just as hook-filled and of the same quality as his first two, although, with fewer appearances by Buckingham &/or Nicks:

Hi-FI
The Last Stroll
Wild Exhibitions
Walternative
Apocalypso Now
Mad Dog: The Lost Album (which would've/should've been released between The Last Stroll & Wild Exhibitions...and includes Walter's version of "Sisters Of The Moon" which pre-dates the Tusk album.)

[MikeVielhaber]

Originally Posted by chiliD

Just for the "record", his subsequent albums to Not Shy are just as hook-filled and of the same quality as his first two, although, with fewer appearances by Buckingham &/or Nicks:

Hi-FI
The Last Stroll
Wild Exhibitions
Walternative
Apocalypso Now
Mad Dog: The Lost Album (which would've/should've been released between The Last Stroll & Wild Exhibitions...and includes Walter's version of "Sisters Of The Moon" which pre-dates the Tusk album.)

So having only heard the first two....which would you recommend I go for next?