Stories from the Compound
Marshall Crenshaw. Photo © Michael G. Stewart.
I had the opportunity to meet Marshall Crenshaw, probably the most underrated songwriter of our time, on two occasions.
The first time was in 1993 in a small auditorium at the New School in Manhattan. Vin Scelsa, who at the time had his long-running radio show, Idiot’s Delight, on New York’s 92.3 K-Rock, was taping a two-hour segment of his program before a live audience. Marshall, along with a drummer playing a single snare drum, was designated as the night’s “Greek Chorus.” Whenever a guest needed to be introduced, Marshall would run through a few bars of any song he could think of. He was also asked to play a few songs at random during the show, which could be dragged out of his repertoire at a moment’s notice. The song I remember most was a rendition of the Bobby Troop classic, “Route 66.”
Afterward, Marshall stayed on to sign autographs. Having asked for my name, he enthusiastically stated it was also his middle name and the name of his father.
Marshall is a walking songbook. He has the ear to spot a good tune from a century’s worth of popular music. He regularly plays the song “Julie” by the Bobby Fuller Five, in his shows, introducing it occasionally as ‘having been recorded by the only rock star even to have been murdered by the mafia.’ (To hear an audio sample visit http://www.marshallcrenshaw.com/audio/julie.mp3.)
After spending about a year and a half playing John Lennon in a touring production of the Broadway play “Beatlemania,” Marshall put out what many consider a quintessential debut album. The record featured such classics as “Someday, Someway,” “Cynical Girl” and “There She Goes Again.” To this day, the album is so well crafted and uplifting, it makes me smile every time I listen to it.
Marshall’s initial success had him on a “fast track for stardom.” But he remained so dedicated to the craft of songwriting and playing guitar that over time, radio programmers couldn’t pigeonhole him into a category. Still, he remains a stable of public radio stations, many of which are affiliated with NPR.
I have seen Marshall play several venues with a solid backing band. At one point his band included his brother, Robert on drums, and Chris Donato on bass. Later editions of his band included Tom Teeley on guitar and Graham Maby on bass. Maby is most associated with playing in the Joe Jackson Band.
Of late, Marshall has taken to playing smaller venues, often with only a guitar. I last saw him play a show at the Universal Unitarian Church of Titusville, NJ as part of a series called “Concerts at the Crossing,” a reference to the fact that Washington’s Crossing – where George and his merry men actually crossed the Delaware – is about two miles down the road. Marshall played (as best as I could tell from where I was sitting) a vintage Gibson for much of the night, which had a very “twangy” sound. To compliment the lack of drums, he asked the crowd to shake their keys or containers of “Tic Tac” mints as percussion, during a few songs.
As much as I found Marshall’s solo guitar show interesting, I definitely enjoy when he plays with a full band. After the show, I asked him to sign vinyl copies of his debut album as well as an import 12-inch EP that I’d picked up at Pellet Records in Morristown, NJ at least 25 years before. I thought the import-EP was a unique piece of material, since it had a few songs from his second LP, “Field Day,” as well as a live version of the Elvis Presley tune “Little Sister” recorded at one of his shows in England. When Marshall saw the EP, he said, “I kinda hate that thing. I never authorized it being put out, but the record company put it out there anyway.” Still, he signed it.
Marshall had last put out a record in 2003 and seemed to be doing many solo guitar shows in the interim. He mentioned how he was taking “lessons” to learn how to play in certain ways; this after like 40 years of continuous guitar playing. I asked him when he would be getting back to playing with a band, and he said he anticipated it sometime in the near future.
The result of his recording with a band came in 2009 when he put out the CD “Jaggedland.” The record features an older, wiser Marshall, contemplating things adults do just about every day.
To see a clip of Marshall’s Oct. 13, 2007 show in Titusville, NJ, visit: http://blip.tv/file/432419. For sound clips of his latest CD, “Jaggedland” visit his Web site http://www.marshallcrenshaw.com/albums.html.
- Howard S.
March 26, 2010 at 12:19 am
[...] for those of you who may have read my earlier essay on Marshall for “Just a Minute Guitar Break,” that night marked the first of my two meetings with [...]