Pete McCabe: “Head Tones” (2019) CD Review

Singer and songwriter Pete McCabe has a new CD coming out this week, Many Storyed. But it is also worth giving a listen to his previous release, last year’s Head Tones. As with his new disc, this album is largely a solo effort, with Pete McCabe providing all the vocals and playing the majority of the instruments. He is joined by a few guests on certain tracks. Pete McCabe also wrote all of the material on this album.

I can’t help but relate to the album’s opening track, “The Shredder,” which is about someone whose place is crowded with bits of paper and other things he’s saved. And now this guy is apparently trying to tidy up his place, at his love’s suggestion, something else I can relate to. The song’s first lines are “She wants to tell me what I should do, and I let her/I want to do whatever will make her feel better.” I don’t consider myself a hoarder, but if someone were to enter my apartment, well, he or she might disagree. “After a while, I must admit, it begins to feel right/Though I tend to hold onto the past/Shredding these memories, I see the future looking bright/Even as the days go by so fast.” Yes, there is something positive about getting rid of things, like lifting a weight from ourselves. I’ve been doing that myself quite a bit lately. This track features some nice guitar work. Richard Baron plays drums on this one. It’s followed by “I Love You Today.” There is a delightful humor to this one. It opens like any love song might, “I’d like to tell you I’ll be with you/‘Til the stars fall from the sky.” But then it takes a sudden turn, as the stars do start falling: “Oh, look out/That last one hit so close I almost fell into the crater/Could be the universe is greater/Than a promise of love until we die.” Yet it has the sound and style of a love song. And after all, it is a love song, isn’t it? “Should tomorrow turn to sorrow/And the world crumble away/Remember, I love you today.” Hey, maybe all we have is today. Who knows?

In 1973, Pete McCabe released his first solo album, The Man Who Ate The Plant. On this album he revisits the title track of that album. It’s a strange song, to be sure. It seems this version has some added lyrics at the beginning, though I don’t have the original album in my collection, so I can’t be sure. But this new version is a minute longer than the original version, and the math works out. The lyrics at the beginning function as a sort of introduction: “Somewhere in time/In a world only somewhat like our own/There lived a most eccentric man/Seldom noticed in a vast suburban zone/As our tale begins/He steers his shopping cart through bitter winter winds/This is the day he’s chosen/To set his plan in motion.” By the way, that earlier album features Jim Keltner on drums. “The Man Who Ate The Plant” is followed by “If It Were A Snake.” The opening lines grabbed me: “Why go on repeating your stories/I know them by heart.” I have a habit of repeating stories, as my girlfriend will willingly confirm. This track has a kind of sweet vibe, and has a bit of a 1970s thing happening. “If you think you might find the night too cold/Love’s right here if you need someone warm to hold.”

“Dino And The GHBC” tells the story of a particular merchant in Denver in the 1970s, and includes a short spoken word introduction. “GHBC” in this instance stands for Great Home Brew Conflagration. Leon Rubenhold plays electric guitar on this track, Alfred Johnson is on electric piano, and Bob Wilson is on drums. “Even Though You’re Gone” is a mellow and sad song about missing a friend, communication between them now being a one-way street since he’s not able to hear from the person. “Just one more line from where you are/Would brighten up this night like the northern star/But that can never be/So I’ll write you this song/Even though you’re gone.” The line “And I’m afraid the game of life cannot be won” reminds me of lines from “Suicide Is Painless” from M.A.S.H.: “The game of life is hard to play/I’m going to lose it anyway.” Then “I’m Not Feelin’ It” has a pleasant groove. In the first verse, he mentions some other songwriters, such as Paul Simon, John Sebastian and Irving Berlin. And he sings, “I’d spread happiness if I could/But I’m not feeling it,” lines that describe perfectly how so many of us are feeling these days. Later in the song he refers to The Beatles, saying “‘All You Need Is Love’ doesn’t seem to work anymore.” Yup, that’s just about right. Let’s hope this feeling passes soon, say, in November. Alfred Johnson is on keys on this track.

Pete McCabe gets a bit silly with “Cartoon Man,” sympathizing with an animated character that is constantly getting hurt and ridiculed. That’s followed by “Hollywood (Remix).” “Hollywood” is a song that Pete McCabe included on his 2014 album Multiple Choice. On this album he revisits it, under the slightly different title. This song has a nostalgic quality. Check out these lyrics: “In Hollywood, our act would never do/You’d never see the starlet head so quickly for the door/Never leave so many kisses on the cutting room floor.” The Sixth Sense was an immensely popular and successful film, and after it, references abounded to its famous line, “I see dead people.” When seeing footage of Trump rallies, who doesn’t utter “I see dumb people”? Pete McCabe’s “I Hear Dead People” takes that line and applies it to the music of folks who are no longer with us, turning to their music for help in these days when the present is less than ideal, even singing that their music is “blocking out my daily news feed.” He plays the music of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, and George Harrison. This song does refer directly to the film in the line, “I’ve got more than five senses telling me I ain’t Bruce Willis yet.” Leon Rubenhold plays electric guitar on this track, and Richard Barron is on drums. As with his new release, Many Storyed, Pete McCabe concludes this album with an instrumental track. This time it is “Good Morning, Signore Morricone,” a pleasant and rather uplifting piece.

CD Track List

1. The Shredder
2. I Love You Today
3. The Man Who Ate The Plant
4. If It Were A Snake
5. Dino And The GHBC
6. Even Though You’re Gone
7. I’m Not Feelin’ It
8. Cartoon Man
9. Hollywood (Remix)
10. I Hear Dead People
11. Good Morning, Signore Morricone

Head Tones was released on May 27, 2019.