Henry Lee Summer - Henry Lee Summer

Henry Lee Summer hit it big in '88 with "I Wish I had a Girl" from his third album and first major label release. Of course I knew none of this back in the day. I just knew the song, and for whatever reason I associate this with summertime and rolled down windows with the radio blaring. This was an album I almost bought more than once, but never did.  Over the years the song and Mister Summer faded from memory but when I saw the album in the four dollar bin I couldn't resist.

This is a bit of a conundrum as my initial reaction was pretty negative. All I could hear were the inevitable comparisons to other artists, the lack of solid bottom end to the recording and some questionable drum sounds that seemed to belong on a different album. The most irritating moment coming on side two when "Wing Tip Shoes" tries to infuse some energy into the album as Henry repeatedly yells, "Git it goin'" as the band borrows from John Lee Hooker and ZZ Top and somehow the guitar player sucks the life out of the opening riff (buzzy, thin tone with no teeth). There was no denying that Mister Henry Lee Summer had a great set of chops, even if they were decidedly generic. It made me glad that I hadn't shelled out my money all those years ago.

I'm not usually one to piss on my own cornflakes and I usually find a fair amount of positive things to write about the album's I'm listening to. Even now the little angel that sometimes takes up residence on my right shoulder is really trying to get me to be a little more charitable. It's not helping matters at all that the other little devil has dropped the trousers on his school boy outfit (he fancies Angus Young) and his spreading his cheeks to give my poor angel an unobstructed view of his cow eye. 

So I'm going to try and not make fun of his Billy Veera and the Beaters clone "I'll Hurt For You" that is currently playing, if it had been a few minutes earlier I'd still be bitching about "Wing Tip Shoes" and the anemic riff.

Are there any redeeming qualities here at all?

Absolutely. 

The first side starts off with a one, two, three run of pretty decent rock songs starting with "I Wish I Had a Girl" that still sounds really great. It would be too easy to just call it a reworked version of Mellencamp's "Hurts So Good" as it has more going for it. There's a reason this was a hit. Besides, this was '88 and it was a real treat to not have yet another glam hair metal band shoved down my throat - and I liked a lot of the "melodic" rock stuff. Heck despite not having a lot that stood out on the second side despite a strong start with "Still Bein' Seventeen" there is redemption with "I Ain't Comin' Home" where Henry dials back the big voice and delivers an almost tender love song. The guitar work which I assume was by Jimmy Rip was really tasty, and the clean tones shimmer and his use of vibrato is spot on and predates James Calvin Wilsey stunning work on Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" that came out a year later. Sort of makes up for the drubbing he gave my ears on "Wing Tip Shoes."

While there were more than a few moments here that were pretty good the album mostly feels like something crafted by committee and while I'm sure that's not true at all, the album just never seems to know what it wants to be and in the end was nothing special.