Terry Jacks - Seasons in the Sun

Finding this was a great surprise and for a dollar I wasn't going to pass this one up. This is the Goldfish Records version (not sure if there is a difference is between the Bell Records pressing) and is dated 1973 and produced by Terry Jacks for Poppy Family Productions Ltd.

"Seasons in the Sun" was huge, and preteen me was a huge fan. Funny how time can turn turn on some songs. Mention this song now and you're more likely to get a roll eyes and a groan. I guess there are songs that just have an expiration. Kind of like trying to listen to Bobby Goldsboro sing "Honey" or around Christmas trying not to throw up in your mouth when "Christmas Shoes" comes on the radio.

Still, "Seasons in the Sun" deserves a better fate. But, more on that later I was more excited to hear the rest of the album. Was it full of cheese?

The first thing that stood out was the production and how crisp and intimate the recording is. The songs are forward, and while Terry isn't a powerful singer he had a very appealing delivery and the arrangements are really solid.

The first song is "Concrete Sea" and I have to admit I really like the song and it sets the tone for the album. There's a light and breezy quality -  a little bit like Paul Simon but with a dreamy quality. There are some quirky moments, the lushly orchestrated "Pumpkin Eater" seems like a throw away song but is delivered so earnestly I'm not sure I'm in or the joke or not. The first side closes with "Fire on the Skyline" that is really catchy and is a pretty decent 70s tinged rocker - it even takes the ending from The Beatles "A Day in the Life" and goes on for nearly as long.

Side two opens with "The Love Game" and is a pretty interesting song. One thing Mister Jacks never got a lot of credit for were his song arrangements (or maybe he did, but I was too young at the time to notice, or understand). I don't have a lot of knowledge about The Poppy Family, but I do remember two of their hits, the lesser being "Where Evil Grows" and "The Love Game" seems similar to me, but I may be reaching a little there.

"It's Been There From the Start" is a great song, but also seems to have borrowed some bits from The Zombie's "I Love You" but it's just a lick or two but it stood out. "Sail Away" is an interesting (in a good way) song and features a duet with an uncredited singer - I'm going to guess it was his wife (or ex depending on the timing of the release, they were divorced in 1973) Susan Jacks.

The album closes with "Seasons in the Sun" and I'm not sure if at the time Terry felt this would be a hit. I do know he really liked the song from what I've read and his attempts to produce a version with The Beach Boys is the stuff of legend. Regardless, his sequencing the tracks to have this last was brilliant. I do believe there's something to be said for a good song order, and I have so many albums where the killer song is first and sets the bar so high the rest of the album seems to collapse under the weight of expectations that are never met.

One thing about the album that really surprised me considering how big the single was, and the place Terry Jacks holds in Canadian music, is how little information I could find on Seasons in the Sun. No musician credits, or notes on the process all that good stuff - I've mostly come up empty. There was a passing reference to a young David Foster doing something on "Seasons in the Sun" but it was hardly even a sentence. The album us a mystery wrapped in bacon. 

Now I did find the version by The Kingston Trio that remained faithful to the English translation - and I know there are people who think Terry's rewritten version, a version he didn't take credit for as it is still attributed to Jacques Brel and Rod McKuen, is a monstrosity and ruined the song and its meaning.

I listened to The Kingston Trio version - I'll pass. Heck, I'll take the Nirvana version, and that's um - better left unheard.

It's interesting to me to discover these songs now and listening with the benefit of hindsight it's bittersweet to think that at his creative peak this would be his triumph and in many respects the last most people ever heard of Terry Jacks. Who knows why this happens.