A brand new blog by Dan Perreira has been posted in SMILER Retro …
As warned and previously advertised by me, here are some of my ideas and thoughts on a second-helping for a “single” albums worth of originally unused material (well, seven out of twelve tracks) from the WHEN WE WERE THE NEW BOYS period (I held over “Secret Heart” from the official album – as I have always felt that it was just too similar to “Shelly My Love”). Augmenting this set with three useful and memorable live cuts (taking the place of unknown NEW BOYS out-takes, for now…) and an independent single to fill out the album properly (like a dozen eggs in a carton, twelve tracks always seems to be the right number). Sure, all these tracks are available on the SESSIONS 1971-1998 anthology. But personally, I’ve never been a big fan of boxed sets, I mean, who has the time to listen to a four-disc collection in one sitting, anyway? I do feel that those recordings work so much better in the form of a single album. NEW BOYS was more than just a good solid disc, it was vintage Rod. I think that what I came up with works very well as a cohesive group of songs that gel nicely together and compliments the BACK TO THE ROOTS album concept, hopefully in a somewhat artful way (you don’t have to agree, of course).
To read the full blog and find out the Songs and Vision connection go to SMILER Retro and watch for more from Dan in our ‘special’ Issue 97 of SMILER magazine that will be out around the end of the year!