Holy Modal Rounders - Good Taste Is Timeless

  by Andrew Carver

published: 29 / 5 / 2003

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It’s a fine time to be a Holy Modal Rounders fan, with more of their catalogue available than at almost any time in their history. 'Good Taste Is Timeless' could be thought of as the Holy Modal Rounders’ “musical” album. Recorded in Nashville with Elvis Presley’s old guitar-slinger Scotty Moore engineering, it’s notably less wacked-out than the HMR’s 'The Moray Eel Eats ...',but still contains a fair dose of absurdity. There’s a “good time music” feel throughout the album, reminiscent of very early Flamin’ Groovies  and the Lovin Spoonful. The bouncy music and wizened vocals of 'Happy Scrapple Daddy Polka' and 'Black Bottom' typify this part of the album; the other side of the coin is the gentle 'Generalonely' and the album highlight is probably the pensive 'Love Is The Closest Thing', which  floats along on a ghostly harmony with strummed guitar and spectral pedal steel, courtesy of Peter Drake (Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson, Muscle Shoals, Paul Simon, et al.). Of course, this is the Rounders’ we’re talking 'bout here, so we do get oddball ditties like the timeless 'Boobs A Lot' . Peter Stampfel’s liner notes are entertaining and informative. 'Livin’ Off The Land' a song which unfashionably teased proponents of the back-to-the-land movement, turns out to be inspired by troubador and sometime Rounders cohort Michael Hurley’s attempt to escape the hustle-bustle of the city. Fellow escapees kept turning up to join him in every unspoiled place he could find, so he kept on fleeing deeper and deeper into the wilderness. As one expects from a Sundazed release, the sound is excellent — Bob Irwin has remastered so many 1960s albums that by now he can probably do it in his sleep. 'Good Taste Is Timeless' isn’t the Rounders’ best album, but it’s a very good piece of oddball country rock that deserves a wider audience than it received back in 1971.

Track Listing:-

1 Once a Year
2 Black Bottom
3 Happy Scrapple Daddy Polka
4 Spring of '65
5 Livin' Off the Land
6 Love Is the Closest Thing
7 Boobs a Lot
8 Melinda
9 Generalonely
10 Alligator Man
11 City Blues
12 The Whole World Oughta Go On a Vacation

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