Henry Lee Summer ~ I've Got Everything (album review) ... I wish I had a girl like HLS sings!

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Style: Americana, country-rock, folk-rock
Label: CBS
Year: 1989
Home: Indiana

Members: Henry Lee Summer ~ vocals/keyboards/guitar
Mike Organ ~ drums
Rick Benick, Jimmy Rip, Mike Wanchic ~ guitar
Leigh Foxx, Graham Maby, Toby Myers ~ bass
Mimi Mapes, Chrystal Taliefero, Georgia Jones, Kim Fleming, Vicki Hampton, Ross Fleming III ~ b. vocals

Additional: John Cascella ~ keyboards/saxophone
Flip Miller ~ trombone
Paul Yinger ~ trumpet
Lisa Germano ~ violin
Michael Read ~ keyboards
Sheila Lawrence ~ b. vocals

I consider HLS the under-dog of the Americana heartland musical genre spearheaded by John Cougar Mellencamp & later Melissa Ethridge with Bruce Springsteen doing the city version. Culling also from Indiana like Mellencamp HLS released two indie albums before hitting MTV with the infectious folksy pop hit "I Wish I Had A Girl" from his self-titled major label debut. I'll confess that this is a favorite song of mine to suddenly break out into song with & its nearly impossible to get out of my head once in there. I've even been caught dancing around the living room singing along. Though his debut had some modest success for many people it was too imitative of early Mellencamp, while in the long-term photos of HLS's mullet, now gone, has probably had more talk about it then his music. It's a shame, as the debut is a great album not to be casually overlooked by anyone who likes heartland rock. I find it hard not enjoy HLS. His music not just gets me dancing but inspires me to dig up more Americana wondering why I don't listen to it more often. He has a lighter touch lyrically than Mellencamp, focusing on love songs instead of social commentary, & isn't pushing the genre in any new directions, but HLS creates completely unpretentious music that is aiming for lots of fun & easily makes a bullseye. Sadly, his career would take a turn to awkward & overly polished hard rock with a twist of Michael Bolton in an attempt to get more chart hits & appeal to a wider audience. The result has its moments & luckily only lasted a single album. By the time HLS realized the mistake & tried to reverse gears, or at least straddle both worlds, it was too late as his fanbase was just not big enough nationally to get him over the hurdle. Today he gigs numerous nights a week around Indiana doing cover songs & originals & I can only hope enjoying a second chance at trying to pay the rent through music & being creative after a career of ups & downs. If you enjoy his debut the follow-up I've Got Everything is its twin even down to sharing five musicians. Other than adding a gusty R&B choir that gives a bit of a gospel shout it's not that much different from the previous release, staying safe musically & even spurring the minor hit "Hey Baby". Much like the debut it's low on surprises & just straight ahead heartland rock at its best with a few electric guitars & keyboards thrown in for good measure. Though, HLS does push his singing much farther here instilling an energy into the affair not present earlier albums. He even has less of the sandpaper feeling that some have criticized his voice as having. While the debut has the bigger singles this album just might be the better recommendation to hear HLS's voice at its finest. Further, there's really no weak tracks on the album. The MTV single "Hey Baby" could have easily been followed-up with a numerous other similar sounding songs if the promotional machine had been in top gear & his popularly more, including the must hear vocal rocker "My Turn Train". The thing with HLS albums is that while there tends to only be a few singles per album they aren't that much different from what bumpers them & one could easily be exchanged for another. HLS albums are not about standout singles but just one rolling great rock'n'roll affair that just grows & grows in energy. The only real weak track might be the synthesizer & funk bass heavy 80's soft rocker "Don't Leave" that predicts where HLS was slowly moving musically. It's not bad, but HLS can do better. At least he pours his heart out through his voice pulling the song up from its blandness. To his credit, even during the later hard rock days, HLS has always penned most of his own songs & his skills as a songwriter are top notch. He very well could have written music for other artists ... or maybe, he's not just great but he sings his heart out & thus makes a simple lyric sound exciting. Opener "Treat Her Like A Lady" is the only non HLS track on the album & though it great is only a tease of what follows. HLS also is responsible for his own arrangements & this album finds him getting more comfortable in the studio. Unlike the debut where he only sang here he plays guitar & keyboards. He also turns in two piano heavy songs (i.e. "Something Is Missing, "What's A Poor Boy To Do") that provide a nice break because otherwise the energy just builds up & up over the album where its very possible one's head might explode when before the album is finished. HLS sings like he's having the time of his life & the feeling is undoubtedly infectious. Let it infect you.

Henry Lee Summer ~ Slamdunk (album review) ... Slamdunk might be a bit of an exaggeration!

Style: Americana
Label: Sony
Year: 1993
Home: Indiana

Members: Henry Lee Summer ~ vocals/keyboards/guitars
Anthony Krizan, Dale Oliver, Peter Denenberg ~ guitars
Jack Daley, Kirk Eberhard ~ bass
Frankie La Rocka, Mike Organ ~ drums
Kim Fleming, Vicki Hampton, Robert Bailey ~ b. vocals
Kevin Bents ~ keyboards

Additional: Rory Young ~ keyboards
Vaneese Thomas ~ b. vocals
Stan Lynch ~ drums

Guest: Earl Slick ~ lead guitar

Slamdunk is a far better album than critics claim or maybe want to claim. The problem is that the albums that came before went from addictively great to overnight really bad going off in the wrong direction, so the shadow of the later misstep is still on the radar when listening to HLS's fourth major label release & thus its similarities with the bad are exaggerated while the good is downplayed. If HLS's self-titled debut & its follow-up I've Got Everything were 80's down home Indiana Mellencamp-esque rockers that shouldn't be ignored by anyone who likes Americana rock while his third release Way Past Midnight was a commercially slick affair overstuffed with the wrong material for his voice that was obviously aiming for a bigger audience ... the oddly titled Slamdunk is somewhere in between. It's so much in between that it feels like it was recorded before Way Past Midnight & is a natural musical progression that would end up going too far to the commercial side ... not the jump back from the mistake that it really is. It's not the folksy acoustic Americana rock of the early albums but it doesn't ditch Mellencamp for Michael Bolton like Way Past Midnight attempted. Working as both producer & lyricist HLS obviously knows what went wrong & is trying hard to fix what went wrong. He sort of does. His song-writing is as strong as ever & the songs will seep into your skin with ease while the two outside written songs (i.e. "Wherever Would I Be" & "The Boys & Girls Are Doin' It") are great inclusions. "Why Me", "Wherever Would I be", "Forever Just Ain't What It Used To Be" or "Cry Little Sister" to name a few should be right up there on the request list with his break-through debut "Wish I Had A Girl". HLS may be a rocker but he's actually a crooner in disguise and when he slows things down it's like a watching a sad scene in a movie. But, as much as he has great songs that could fall alongside his first albums he's also kept the slick polish of "Way Past Midnight" that at some times works but other times overpowers. He's pulled in the slick guitars a lot ... another step would have made this is a perfect release. The problem is that the electric guitars often provide a cold & sterile counterpoint against HLS's warm voice. Dropping them in the mix might actually be the best solution as HLS did bring in former David Bowie guitarist Earl Slick for many solos & there's nothing bad in his playing. That being said it's actually hard to pinpoint bad songs on the album & what is bad is usually due to the arrangements ... which means essentially given a second life these may not be bad songs after all. Those who read these reviews know I'm a fan of HLS. He's a crooner. He's an AM rocker. He's got a soulful voice that's the everyman's voice. When you listen to HLS you imagine yourself singing these songs at Live Aid or a country festival & having the time of your life. This is a guy that should have acoustic guitars which he can just cry out over to his heart's content with that scratchy voice of his. HLS is best when singing about the long-haried girl next door in her tight jeans that's nothing like a big city girl. He needs soulful songs of the heart not later-day Bon Jovi. When he hits the mark it's addictive, when he doesn't its a what if scenario. The music on Slamdunk does indeed get a slam dunk ... and giving it this title he obviously felt the same ... but audiences are fickle & careers go up & down like the weather so I end up asking what if after all even though he's scored. Sadly, no matter how good Slamdunk is the damage was done to HLS career & he wouldn't get another chance to try again until it was nearly too late. He wouldn't make another studio album until 1999's Smoke & Mirrors & than fall into a well publicized drug addiction before finding his footing again in local Indiana clubs.

Henry Lee Summer ~ Way Past Midnight (album review) ... Way past commercially slick for its own good!

Style: country rock, hard rock
Label: Epic Records
Year: 1991
Home: Indiana

Members: Henry Lee Summer ~ vocals/rhy guitar/keyboards/bass
Tim Pierce, Tony Bowles ~ guitar
Kenny Aronoff ~ drums
John Pierce ~ bass
John Cascella ~ sax/keyboards
Doug Sizemore ~ keyboards

Additional: Danny Miranda, Gene Boccia, Toby Myers ~ bass
Rich Tancredi ~ keyboards
Michael Organ ~ drums
Kenny Greenberg, Danny Torrell, Michael Landau ~ guitar
Kim Fleming, Vicki Hampton, Micky Thomas, John Batdorf, Myrna Matthews, Maxine Waters, Julia Water-Tillman, Joe Turano, Chris Rodriguez, Shaun Murphy, Terry Wood, Jean McClain ~ b. vocals

Guests: Joe Walsh, Al Pitrelli ~ guitar
Robbie Buchanan ~ keyboards
Joe Franco ~ drums
Michael Bolton, Stan Bush ~ b. vocals

There's a growing trend amongst musicians who either charge out the door with a modest hit or are seeking one ... & happen to be unlucky enough to know an L.A. producer ... they become incredibly more commercial & over-produced which kills their individuality along with their career in the eyes of many fans. This is particularly the case of acoustic focused rockers, such as Cheryl Crow, Jewel & Keb Mo' who all started as rough coffee house-esque folk rockers like nobody had seen only to be glossed up & lacking future hits. The third album with Epic Records found Mellencamp-esque heartland rocker Henry Lee Summer, famous for his mullet & his 1987 hit "Wish I Had A Girl" following the commercial route to find a bigger audience & in the process becoming less heartland, less HLS & more bland FM friendly rock. Way Past Midnight was essentially the beginning of the end for HLS who'd fall into heavy drug addiction & a complete collapse of his career for many years. Once described as having a "sandpaper voice" & the "homeless man's John Mellencamp" HLS always had a particular at ease passion in his music that made up for his lack of originality. He was always best with homespun ballads with the commercial gloss usually being his weakest moments ... given the poor response to Way Past Midnight the logic behind this observation becomes quickly obvious. It's one thing to sound like John Mellencamp but it's another to sound like Michael Bolton but without the soft croon. But, that's the transition that's occurred here ... considering the album opens up with a song HLS co-wrote with Michael Bolton. The clichéd outcome isn't so bad but it's a false high followed by a series of songs demonstrating that Bolton-esque keyboards don't always gel with sandpaper. Many of the songs (i.e. "I Don't Want To Live This Lie", "So Desperately", "Little By Little") end up becoming unrecognizable as part of the HLS catalog. They might be lyrically perfect for HLS but are transformed into sappy overproduced commercial songs. But, for those who can stick through half the album the 'side B' reverts back to the traditional HLS sound with "Anytime For You," "Medicine Man" & "Turn It Up", though none have the memorable flare of "I Wish I Had A Girl". Elvin Bishop's "Fooled Around & Fell In Love" & the Rolling Stones Exile-esque "I've Got The Fire" are the two best tracks on the album, though few will have the patience to listen that far. On the album are guest guitarists Joe Walsh of the Eagles & Al Pitrelli of Alice Coooper/Megadeth, drummer Joe Franco of Twisted Sister, bassist Danny Miranda of Paul Rodgers & a reunited Queen, plus members of John Mellencamp's band & Los Lobos.

Henry Lee Summer ~ Henry Lee Summer (aka debut) (album review) ... I also which I had a girl!

Style: Americana, country-rock, folk-rock
Label: Epic
Year: 1987
Home: Indiana

Members: Henry Lee Summer ~ vocals
Jimmy Rip ~ guitar
Graham Maby ~ bass
Ed Roynesdal ~ keyboards/violin
Anton Fig, Mike Organ ~ drums
Tony Aiello ~ sax
Mimi Mapes, Lisa Fisher, Sandra St. Victor, Norma Jean Wright ~ b. vocals

Some people may remember the videos of 80's heartland/Americana rocker HLS because of his now uncool mullet while others may recall his biggest hit "I Wish I Had A Girl" from his self-titled third album. HLS has often been compared to fellow Indiana rocker John Cougar Mellencamp as they both come from the same country-rock mold that was pushed to the national stage by Bruce Springsteen. The comparison is not without its merits but Mellencamp & HLS are quite different artists. One is a tough talkin' & heavy smokin' rootsy socially-minded rocker, while the other is the boy next door who just wants to fall in love, generally mind his own business & play his music & at the end of the day be able to say 'hey, I did something good'. Further, one has had a long career of many country-tinge hits charting a career of musical style changes, while the other is known for a handful of songs & a well-publicized drug addiction & slow recovery of his life, sanity & career. HLS's music may stay firmly in the Mellencamp shadow without straying too far but he has one secret weapon that even Mellencamp can be jealous of - his albums are incredibly memorable as you soon find yourself singing long after the album has stopped playing. Since first putting the CD on a couple days I've found myself repeatedly singing the chorus of "I Wish I Had A Girl", along with putting on a few of HLS's later albums. Addictive is an understatement, which given HLS's history might be the wrong word choice but whether it's drugs or music the high & the desire to listen again is generally the same. HLS is not fancy or intricate, he's no Dylan & the music isn't full of too many surprises. It's just straight ahead heartland rock that's fun & unpretentious with a few twists of commercial friendly guitars & keyboards dotted here & there. Following the opening hit is ten other songs in the same mold of girls next door, listening to the radio, loving & hurting ... if you like the way the album starts you enjoy the rest of the ride. "Hands On The Radio" & "Still Bein' Seventeen" are other standout sing-alongs, while "Darlin' Danielle Don't" & "I'll Hurt For You" are slow ballad highlights, with the former sounding like something out of the rockabilly 50's at times. In an interesting side line, HLS is also known as an painter, but unlike fellow musician/artists who work on traditional canvas he's famous for his intricate & colorful painting on guitars.