The Remains
The Remains
(Epic/Legacy)
First Appeared in The Music Box, August 2007, Volume 14, #8
Written by John Metzger
Sat August 18, 2007, 06:00 AM CDT
Once the British Invasion hit American shores, every boy in the country formed a band, set up shop in his parents’ garage, and began writing songs. A few of these outfits obtained regional fame. Some even flirted, to varying degrees, with national recognition. Chicago had Shadows of Knight, New Orleans had The Palace Guards, San Francisco had The Beau Brummels, Los Angeles had The Seeds, and Boston had The Remains. Led by guitarist Barry Tashian, the latter group quickly became a local favorite, and it subsequently scored enough attention to land a slot supporting The Beatles on its tour of the U.S. in 1966. This tidbit alone was enough to build a cult-like following around The Remains, and Tashian’s contributions to Gram Parson’s GP as well as his lengthy stint with Emmylou Harris in the ’80s further solidified his base of fans.
The Remains lasted a mere two years. Signed to Epic Records, the group culled together only one album from a handful of sessions that were held in New York and Nashville. Oddly enough, its self-titled affair was issued after The Remains had disbanded. The set was remastered and remixed for its CD debut in 1991 under the moniker Barry & The Remains, but although it doubled in size, its contents were jumbled. The latest incarnation of The Remains’ lone endeavor restores its historical accuracy. Not only is the outing presented in its proper running order, but also the extra material — which, with the exception of an alternate version of Say You’re Sorry, includes everything from Barry & The Remains — is given more consideration in how it is sequenced.
The lingering problem with The Remains’ eponymous endeavor, however, is that 40-odd years later it doesn’t sound terribly special. Although the ensemble’s original compositions fit neatly alongside its well-chosen cover tunes, the album boasts nothing that wasn’t done better by the British Invasion acts that The Remains was emulating. Not surprisingly, the Rolling Stones serves as the band’s most obvious influence, which dominates everything from Tashian’s Thank You to its covers of Don Covay’s Mercy, Mercy and Chuck Berry’s I’m Talking about You. Although the group recasts Charlie Rich’s Lonely Week-End as a soul tune in the spirit of Wilson Pickett, it still exudes a Stones-ian flair.
When The Remains does deviate from this framework, it steers its material in other very familiar directions. It turns The Beatles’ Do You Want to Know a Secret? into When I Want to Know; it gives Billy Vera’s Don’t Look Back a snarl that is worthy of Eric Burdon & The Animals; it connects Do Wah Diddy Diddy back to the source of Manfred Mann’s inspiration (the Bo Diddley/Willie Dixon tune Diddy Wah Diddy); and it draws from The Kinks and The Yardbirds on You Got a Hard Time Coming and Once Before, respectively. Although The Beach Boys-style introduction that is affixed to Petula Clark’s Heart is interesting, it also doesn’t sit quite right with the song’s garage-rock ambience. In addition, the cut doesn’t fare very well as the album’s opening track.
For what it’s worth, everything on The Remains’ eponymous affair is
well-executed, but as Jon Landau famously pointed out in Crawdaddy, it
barely scratches the surface of the band’s capabilities. In a sense, The Remains
played it too straight and too safe for its own good. Beneath the surface,
however, there are hints of why the ensemble was regarded so highly. Even within
the tightly scripted constraints of the outing, it’s apparent that the group was
exceptional in concert, where it could turn its exuberance into an inescapable
and irresistible rush of adrenaline-soaked fun. Unfortunately, as it stands, The
Remains’ self-titled endeavor is nothing more than an interesting artifact from
another place and time, albeit one that is thoroughly enjoyable. 
The Remains is available from Barnes & Noble.
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2007 The Music Box