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- Danny and
Dusty
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- Dan Stuart (vocals)
- Steve Wynn (vocals, guitar)
- Sid Griffin (guitar, dobro, vocals)
- Stephen McCarthy (guitar, lap steel,
vocals)
- Tom Stevens (bass)
- Chris Cacavas (piano)
- Dennis Duck (drums, vocals)
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| "Now that
time has passed, the dust has settled and aficionados of
Danny and Dusty's "The Lost Weekend" have had
time to turn reality into tall tales, anecdote and
campfire legend, it is time to set the story straight.
"The Lost Weekend" was not actually recorded in
a weekend. No, after the approximately 32 hours from
sundown Friday to last call Saturday night, we decided to
take all of Sunday off to nurse our hangovers and calmly
bask in the glory of our frantic, wild session. A
weekend? We didn't need no stinkin' weekend." Steve
Wynn, November 1995
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Personnel
- Dan Stuart (vocals) - Green On Red
- Steve Wynn (vocals, guitar) - The Dream
Syndicate
- Sid Griffin (guitar, dobro, vocals) - The
Long Ryders
- Stephen McCarthy (guitar, lap steel,
vocals) - The Long Ryders
- Tom Stevens (bass) - The Long Ryders
- Chris Cacavas (piano) - Green On Red
- Dennis Duck (drums, vocals) - The Dream
Syndicate
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- Danny
& Dusty : Supergroup
- In response to a specific request following the
first issue, we here take a look at that great
rock'n'roll duo Danny & Dusty. Who were they?
Where did they come from? Where did they go? And
why do The Coal Porters play some of their songs?
- To the uninitiated the answer to the first of
these questions may come as a bit of a surprise,
as Danny & Dusty were not a duo, but a 7
piece band(!) featuring Dan Stuart and Chris
Cacavas from Green On Red; Steve Wynn and Dennis
Duck of the Dream Syndicate and none other than
Sid Griffin, Stephen McCarthy and Tom Stevens
from our old friends The Long Ryders. This
'paisley underground' motley crew got together in
February 1985 to record a bunch of songs and put
out an LP The Lost Weekend under the pseudonym
Danny & Dusty. The LP consisted of 7
Stuart/Wynn compositions plus a cover of Bob
Dylan's Knockin' On Heaven's Door. Two of these,
Baby, We All Gotta Go Down and Song For The
Dreamers are now regulars in The Coal Porters'
set. This spur of the moment recording is
reflected in the looseness of the songs which
vary around the themes of what I once saw
described as "winners, losers, drinkers and
boozers". This bar-room rock sometimes
leaves a bit to be desired and personally I don't
go for Stuart's whining vocals but as The Coal
Porters have shown, live, the songs can become
highly entertaining! Perhaps the only other thing
which is surprising about the content is the lack
of song-writing involvement from Messrs Griffin,
McCarthy and Stevens, bearing in mind that
between them they wrote 95% of The Long Ryders'
material.
- The 'duo' also had a track (Bend In The Road) on
a Zippo compilation LP which also includes a solo
contribution from Stephen McCarthy called I'll
Get Out Somehow, and both Danny & Dusty AND
The Long Ryders feature on yet another
compilation LP and whilst I can't remember the
details I think both tracks had appeared before
elsewhere. Danny & Dusty also played various
live shows around the same time, mainly in the LA
area, and rarely with the same line-up before
disappearing into the mists/myths of time.
- We hopefully all know what happened to The Long
Ryders. Green On Red are still around although
Chris Cacavas is now playing solo (& appears
on the Tom Stevens solo album trainspotters!).
The Dream Syndicate split up, though Steve Wynn
has had a couple of albums out, co-wrote Watching
Bluegrass Burn (as if you didn't know!) and is
currently featured with Stephen McCarthy et al on
the Gutterball album, a sort of Danny & Dusty
for the '90s. Meanwhile with Sid hot on the trail
it may not be too long before we can listen to
these tracks on wonderful digital high quality
CD, whilst knocking back the Jack Daniels and
trying to drown our sorrows in true Danny &
Dusty tradition!
(The above review first appeared in Issue 2 of Rebels Without Applause).
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Discography
| Title |
Format |
Country |
Label |
Cat. No. |
Comments |
| The Lost Weekend |
Album |
UK |
Zippo |
ZONG 007 |
9 track debut album |
| Don't Shoot |
Album |
UK |
Zippo |
ZONG 009 |
Compilation including Bend In The Road |
| Don't Shoot |
CD |
UK |
Mau Mau/
Demon
|
MAU CD 606
|
CD release of above |
| Acres For Cents |
Album |
UK |
Zippo |
ZNIP 501 |
Compilation including Bend In The Road |
| Americanism |
CD |
UK |
Nectar Masters |
NTMCD509 |
Compilation including Bend In The Road |
| The Lost Weekend |
CD |
UK |
Prima |
SID006 |
10 track release adding Bend In The Road |
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- DANNY &
DUSTY:THE LOST WEEKEND
- (Prima Records
SID006)
- Issued for the first time on CD, this album has
an almost legendary status amongst officiandoes
of the Paisley Underground. In fact it seems to
be more critically acclaimed than some of the
albums produced by those people who appear on it!
To remind you Danny & Dusty was Dan Stuart
(Green On Red) and Steve Wynn (The Dream
Syndicate) who co-wrote all but one of the nine
tracks here, along with various mem bers of their
own bands plus messrs Griffin, McCarthy and
Stevens from The Long Ryders. Principally
recorded in February 1985 the album is a
collection of songs about "friendship, fear,
drunkenness, death and elusive salvation" if
the sleevenotes are to be believed.
- The album has a loose feel to it no doubt
occasioned by the short time in which it was
recorded. Having said that, it by no means sounds
unrehearsed or unprofessional. The guys have
obviously hit it off very well and the fashion of
playing with each others bands at every
opportunity at the time has helped them get it
together in the studio.Stuart and Wynn share the
vocals with the contribution from The Long
Ryders' guys limited to instrumental and vocal
backing along with more than their fair share of
the beer I guess.
- The majority of the tracks tend to err on the
long side with lengthy stretches of guitar and
piano driven instrumental pieces to bulk out the
songs. This is especially so on the more
lyrically downbeat and sombre tracks, such as The
King Of The Losers and Down To The Bone. Where
Danny & Dusty come into their own however is
when they stop being bitter and depressed and
either lighten and liven things up by playing
songs such as Song For The Dreamers and Baby, We
All Gotta Go Down whe re the lyrics add to the
fun; or when they put down a good old fashioned
country-pop tune in the form of Send Me A
Postcard or the bonus track of Bend In The Road.
Add to these a dip into Bob Dylan's back
catalogue with Knockin' On Heaven's Door (typical
and almost obligatory for the Los Angeles bands
of 1985) and you have a collection of songs
worthy of being re-issued. It is a tribute to the
people involved that the album does not sound
dated even after eleven years.With notes from
Steve Wynn and an LA paper from the time as well
as extra photos it all adds up to yet another
admirable release from Prima Records.
(The above review first appeared in Issue 7 of Rebels Without
Applause).
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