George Usher Group - Days Of Plenty

Artist: George Usher Group Title: Days Of Plenty Catalog#:Parasol-CD-056 Price: $7.50	Tracks on this CD:
	Smoke That Kiss
	I'm Not Gonna Be Around
	Channel 104
	Days Of Plenty
	Crowded Mind
	The End And the Beginning
	Our World
	Counterfeit Delay
	Baby, Where'd You Go?
	Unfinished Prayer
	I Feel A Struggle Comin' On
	Long Long Never

On his second album for Parasol, this New Yorker exhibits why Tower Pulse once described Usher as "one of America's foremost and unsung pop auteurs." While avoiding the "concept album" tag, Usher's latest work Days of Plenty does use the mellotron-driven, psychedelic title track as its spiritual center, around which the other songs revolve. The lost soul of the 21st Century Man who has "everything."In "Channel 104" the Orwellian image of crowds in front of a giant screen has been replaced in actuality with the television viewer whose realities are continually challenged by the gulf between what's outside his window and what's on his television.

The only man I trust says to turn it off/He says it's hazardous to my health
There's gonna be a show about a man in trouble/And I'm afraid I'm gonna see myself

Further along the arc, love has left town in "Unfinished Prayer" and it's time to take stock amidst the ruins. The recurring chorus lines ("Once there was a man...") come word for word from advice Usher's late mother would often give him during bad times. Usher confides, "This is what they'll probably call my 'folk-rock' track. I do know I was hoping certain human sensibilities would come across."

For those of you reaching for the "just give me some rock" button, the opening song "Smoke That Kiss" is the perfect place to begin. A collision of images from political dialogues on vice (smoking and sex), Usher offsets the serious theme by observing, "We used a lot of Gretsch guitar on this track, like the early Beatles records. People always think Rickenbacker or Epiphone, but Harrison played Gretsch lead guitar on every record through 'Help' excepting 'A Hard Day's Night.'"

The respect that Usher elicits in the New York music community runs deep. WFMU DJ and recording artist Laura Cantrell used an Usher-penned song, "Not the Tremblin' Kind," as the title song to her new, critically acclaimed album, and Bar None recording artist Kate Jacobs wrote a "tribute" song to Mr. Usher, titled "George Says," that opened her What About Regret record. The chorus tag line, "George says 'Love is never wasted'" suggests that for all of Usher's interest in philosophies and politics, a central theme of Usher's writing, including the songs on Days of Plenty, is love…with an Usher twist.

The new artist name, now George Usher Group, suggests up-front that Usher has scaled back the Phil-Spector-big-band-sound he's been using, in favor of a pop quartet; Usher, guitarist Doug Larcey, bassist Dennis Ambrose, and dummer John Bellon. Mixed by Mitch Easter, Days of Plenty is the follow up to Usher's 1998 album Dutch April.

Press raves for Days Of Plenty:

"For pop unbelievers, the whole term "pop art" is nothing but an oxymoron. After all, the uninitiated say, what's pop but just another euphemism for shallow, self-centered drivel? George Usher is just the very person to help dissipate those myths. Though the George Usher Group plays the sort of pop that's descended directly from the mop-top-era Beatles, it isn't hassled with the loads of overwrought clichés that frequently dog pop musicians. The thin, brittle love songs and the "I wanna rock" idiocy don't come anywhere near Days of Plenty. Instead, Usher tears into the sparkling pop with the wit and sharpened eye of the singer/songwriter. While Usher's sound isn't as ambitious as the wall-of-sound albums he previously released, the stripped-down pop quartet he gathers on this album is more than astute enough to make the simplified sound work on this outing.
Although Usher's pop muscles are flexed throughout this album, the sweet-tooth melodies aren't his main strength. Rather, he tempers his understated love themes with observations of the world around him, with the ease of a polished poet. Though Usher can tilt at the pervasive real-life television phenomenon ("Channel 104") just as easily as he provides some folk-pop musings on the wreckage of a love life ("Unfinished Prayer"), he handles both with a soft touch that's equally adept at hauntingly personal revelations as well as sharp observations. While Usher still never opens up to the degree of a self-revealing singer/songwriter, nor attacks with the passion of a committed social commentator, this album delicately splits the difference between the two extremes.
Days of Plenty isn't just an exercise in lyrical wizardry, however. Usher and company crank out the pure pop with as much enthusiasm as if the style were still brand new. From the galloping melodies that throw a bit of a swing into "Smoke that Kiss" or the sunshine-bright distorted guitar that gives "Crowded Mind" a bit of a rougher edge despite Usher's hushed delivery, if Usher's tunes don't connect with anyone, there's little hope that anything pop will be able to grow in their hearts. This album shows exactly why Usher's slowly earned himself the loyal indie following since his days heading up the House of Usher. There's enough emotionally charged lyrics, intellectually tickling themes and spellbinding pop songwriting to make Usher's latest worthy of all the attention the pop tastemakers heap on it." -Aversion.com February 18, 2001

"Details: Pop rock. Quote: The George Usher Group has that distinctive vibe that somewhere in their record collection resides a stash of Beatles or Kinks albums. Catchy. Not quirky, but fun. A casual romp through guitar and harmony land." -Songwriter's Monthly

Pop mastermind explores new ways to present his simple yet rich '60s influences on Days of Plenty.
To those who follow his work, George Usher is a minor legend of contemporary pop. Usher's work with the Bongos, Health and Happiness Show, and Beat Rodeo has secured his place in pop's pantheon, and his solo work is equally impressive, if slightly less well known. Every band claiming his membership has benefited greatly from his contributions. Every solo album he has created has been marked by gorgeous melodies, smart hooks, and a deep, abiding respect for the history of pop since the '60s-a trend that continues on his latest Parasol release, Days of Plenty. Originally from Cleveland, OH, Usher moved to New York in the early '80s and started the Decoys, a power pop group ahead of its time considering the prevailing punk/new wave ethic. Usher's move signaled the beginning of his performing persona, previously unexplored in Cleveland despite the fact that he had recorded thirty-five albums worth of material (which now only exist in acetates).
A stint with Tim ("Swear") Scott led Usher to the band Wild Mojave… that went nowhere. He wound up joining the Bongos and Beat Rodeo simultaneously. "They both needed a keyboard-playing/rhythm guitarist/background singing guy," says Usher from his New York home. "It was easy in those days to do both because I wasn't the writer or the front guy. I just had to know my moves and hit my mark. In a way, I was still the guy in the basement, because I was the non-band member. I played and rehearsed and cut stuff with the guys, but I always tried to stay out of band photos. You know how Poco never had the same band twice? I didn't want to be the guy whose face is on the cover and suddenly is not." Throughout the '80s, Usher worked with variations of the two bands, including Richard Barone's and James Mastro's post-Bongos solo work, as well as fronting his own local unit and recording a wealth of home demos. House of Usher was his first band of some renown, but he was finding a different kind of success. "I was writing songs with Richard Barone, who was cutting them on his solo albums, and I was writing with Kate Jacobs and Health and Happiness Show," says Usher. "It was as a writer that I first got noticed."
By the mid-'90s, Usher began operating under his own name, and playing intermittently with the Schramms ("For a lot of the same reasons-I could go to Europe with the Schramms… what the hell. I'm the organ guy."). In 1995, he assembled a performing orchestral pop group and recorded the aptly titled Miracle School. "That was the blueprint for what was supposed to be Neil Young fronts the Beatles produced by Phil Spector, arranged by Brian Wilson, under good conditions," says Usher. "Live, I wanted it to be like the record. If you bring in a tambourine at the chorus, that's when it appears. Otherwise, sit there and shut up."
1998's Dutch April was recorded with the Miracle School band, producing equally stunning results, but Usher was ready to head in a new direction. "With the big band, I always felt like Buddy Holly just before he got on the plane," says Usher with a laugh. "I wanted to get something a little more intimate." Pulling NY drummer John Bellon, bassist Dennis Ambrose (Crossfire Choir, Let's Active), and guitarist Doug Larcey (who helped form House of Usher and has played with Usher since the '70s) from the big band, Usher created the George Usher Group and recorded the astonishing pop document Days of Plenty, produced by Usher and mixed by Mitch Easter. Although still retaining aspects of the previous band's depth and richness, Days of Plenty hews closer to the classic four-piece pop of '60s avatars like the Hollies, the Kinks, and, of course, the Beatles. Astute listeners might pick out a theme on Days of Plenty, but Usher will tell you that's not unusual. "Generally, everything I do is a concept," says Usher. "I've written horrible novels. I just can't help but inject a measure of form into the content. And it's hard, because the concept of a concept has taken a beating over the years. But there is some sort of thematic thing going through all my records." -Brian Baker Amplifier May/June 2001

"George still sounds as much like Roger McGuinn as Julian Lennon sounds like his pop. On the up is that George writes new originals the way you wish McGuinn still could. Nice jangly and orch-minded pop. Mixed by '80s indie pop guru Mitch Easter. A nice album for specific pop fans." -Yeah Yeah Yeah Issue #19

Songwriter/guitarist/keyboardist George Usher has knocked around the NYC/Hoboken rock/pop scene for nearly 20 years, logging in time with bands like Beat Rodeo and the Schramms and penning songs for the likes of Laura Cantrell. He's carried on a simultaneous solo career, but only the Europeans noticed, at least until 1998, when Parasol released his first stateside album Dutch April. The follow-up Days of Plenty strips down the comparatively lush sonics of that album to a basic quartet sound, with jangling guitars and Usher's whiskey velvet vocals front and center. While Usher loves pop hooks as much as the next guy, he's also a believer in subtlety; few of his melodies leap out and bitchslap anyone into paying attention. Usher prefers tunes that reveal themselves over time, letting listeners come to the songs in their own time, picking up on the melodic insinuations and discovering the above-average lyrics themselves. Days of Plenty requires some patience, but, like most encounters that don't resonate immediately, it offers great rewards. -Michael Toland Highbias.com

Art-pop singer/songwriter George Usher was born in Cleveland where his early demo recordings gained local airplay while he was still in his teens. He had already cut enough demo material to fill out a good 30 albums before he relocated to New York in 1977, soon forming the power-pop band the Decoys.

By the middle of the following decade, Usher was a member of the cowpunk outfit Beat Rodeo, appearing on their 1986 LP Home In The Heart Of The Beat (IRS). A satellite member of the Bongos during the late 1980's, he fronted his own band House of Usher, issuing the LP Neptune (Lonesome Whippoorwill). He also teamed with fellow Beat Rodeo alum Steve Almaas in the Gornack Bros. for the acoustic Refund (Strikeback/UK).

Described by the Village Voice as "one of New York's best pop craftsman," Usher collaborated on songs over the next few years with a variety of New York area performers, including ex-Bongo Richard Barone (River To River, Clouds Over Eden), Kate Jacobs and Health & Happiness Show's James Mastro. During this time, he released Ludlow (Lonesome Whippoorwill), a psychedelic-folk recording with his House Of Usher musicians billed as George Usher's Lazy Gentlemen.

Subsequently joining the Schramms for two albums, Little Apocalypse (East Side Digital) and Dizzy Spell (Blue Rose), Usher made his long awaited solo debut in 1996. Miracle School (Blue Rose) was hailed by Tower/Pulse Magazine as "exquisitely crafted art-pop, which boasts a lyrical sensitivity and melodic sophistication - 4 stars." Alternative Press called it "marvelous folk-pop with a view of Penny Lane." The follow-up, Dutch April (Parasol) was declared by England's Bucketful of Brains to be "Byrdsian jangle pop with wonderful arrangements and thoughtful lyrics." Tower/Pulse also applauded its "evocatively poetic lyrics," as well as its "heart-tuggingly haunting melodies."

Combining influences ranging from the Beatles and Neil Young to the Zombies and Brian Wilson, Usher and his band, the George Usher Group continue to dazzle. Their just released CD, Days of Plenty (Parasol), mixed by Mitch Easter, is already being described by Amplifier Magazine as an "astonishing pop document."

An active force in the New York music community, Usher was co-founder of the highly successful "New York Pop Circus" series of shows and composed the title track for Laura Cantrell's acclaimed alt-country record, Not the Tremblin' Kind (Spit & Polish) 4 stars Rolling Stone.

A message from George Usher:

Well, it's a new year and I've got a new cd out on Parasol called "Days Of Plenty." I cut it in New York City with my band, the George Usher Group and mixed it in North Carolina with that rockin' southern gentleman, Mitch Easter.

I've gotta confess I'm really pleased with how it turned out. We used a musical vocabulary (Gretsch and Epiphone guitars, mellotrons and cellos) that should resonate quickly with anyone into a powerpop/rootsrock sound. And the interweaving vocals of the three singers (myself, guitarist Doug Larcey and bassman Dennis Ambrose) gives the twelve songs an exciting personality and presence...says I!

Everyone involved worked hard to help me make my definitive pop statement for these unsettling times. Buy it and carry it in your back pocket like an old paperback! Strangers will buy you drinks and dinner!

George Usher