"Unsung hero' would be an ironic title for Crenshaw, because
anyone who knows (his) songs sings them all the time."
-The Spin Alternative Record Guide
Over the past decade and a half, Marshall Crenshaw has built an impressive and influential body of work that has consistently embodied such timeless qualities as craft, melody and emotional commitment. In the process, he's earned the devotion of a broad range of admirers, including a generation of musicians who've found inspiration in the singer/songwriter/guitarist's implicit rejection of transience and trendiness in favor of a more enduring set of musical values (see his songwriting contribution to the Gin Blossoms recent smash, "Till I Heard It From You"). Those values are in abundant supply on his new Razor & Tie release Miracle of Science, Crenshaw's first album of new material in five years, as well as his first completely self-produced studio effort.
Miracle of Science's title is both ironic and accurate. On the one hand, the album features some of his loosest, most direct music to date. Yet the disc's organically intimate feel wouldn't be possible without the recording technology that allowed the artist to record much of it in the comfortable environs of his home studio. Indeed, eight of the album's eleven songs were cut at home, with Crenshaw overdubbing most of the instruments himself, along with scattered guest spots by renowned multi-instrumentalists Andy York and Greg Leisz and members of New York's famed Uptown Horns. The three remaining songs were recorded live-in-the-studio at Alex the Great, the Nashville studio run by onetime Crenshaw tour band bassist Brad Jones, who plays on those tracks along with Bill Lloyd (of Foster and Lloyd fame) and Webb Wilder/Los Straightjackets drummer Les James Lester.
For Crenshaw, who's previously recorded in a variety of state-of-the-art studios with numerous big-name producers, Miracle of Science's more intimate, hands-on recording approach proved distinctly rewarding. "It was a really satisfying experience for me," he says. "I just tried to unlearn most of what I'd learned about record-making during the 1980s. All the studio albums I've done in the past were kind of done by that '80s method, where you build things from the bottom up and fuss over every little step in the procedure. I like a lot of those records, but I've always hated recording that way and now I don't do it anymore if I can avoid it. Even when I'm working alone, I always do complete takes. Seventy per cent of the record is just me doing my narcissist/control-freak thing, but in a loose, unselfconscious way, I hope."
Beyond the novelty of its largely solitary recording approach, Miracle of Science boasts a typically accomplished set of songs, showcasing Crenshaw's trademark balance of consummate craftsmanship and unfussed emotional insight. "There are a few songs on this album that are real close to home and real personal to me," notes Crenshaw, "and then there are others that are pure escapism." In the former category Crenshaw counts "What Do You Dream Of," which poignantly addresses issues of intimacy and individuality, and "Laughter," which confronts mortality and loss in uncommonly moving terms. Other highlights include the shimmering "Starless Summer Sky" (which is actually one of the first songs that he ever wrote, dating back to 1979), the slyly humorous "Seven Miles An Hour" and the hypnotic "Theme from Flaregun." The latter song is Crenshaw's first instrumental, showcasing his skillful guitar work.
Crenshaw's heartfelt readings of other artist's compositions have traditionally offered a crucial insight into his own musical spirit, and for Miracle of Science he's come up with a typically eclectic quartet of covers - country legend Ray Price's rollicking "Who Stole That Train," '50s British rocker Billy Fury's romantic banned-by-the-BBC "Wonderous Place," Dobie Gray's swaggering '60s soul classic "The 'In' Crowd" and the bittersweetly catchy "2541," written and originally recording by former Husker Du member Grant Hart.
Miracle of Science is the latest installment in an impressive body of work that's won Crenshaw both widespread critical acclaim and a fiercely loyal fan base. His first six albums - Marshall Crenshaw (1982), Field Day (1983), Downtown (1985), Mary Jean and 9 Others (1987), Good Evening (1989) and Life's Too Short (1991) - firmly established him as both a consummate pop craftsman and a songwriter of uncommon depth. Crenshaw made his Razor & Tie debut with 1994's Live... My Truck Is My Home, a collection of live tracks spanning the course of his entire career, spotlighting the performing talents that have made him a reliably popular live act.
In between his record-making and live-performing efforts, Crenshaw has also found time to engage in a variety of extracurricular pursuits. He made his movie debut portraying Buddy Holly in La Bamba, appeared leading a high-school prom band in the Kathleen Turner film Peggy Sue Got Married, and made a comic guest appearance as a guitar-playing meter-reader in an episode of the Nickelodeon cult series The Adventures of Pete and Pete. Crenshaw is also the author of the book Hollywood Rock, a fan's survey of rock 'n' roll movies from the '50s to the present, and compiled and annotated the country compilation album Hillbilly Music-Thank God, Vol. 1, as well as Louvin Brothers and Scott Walker collections for Razor & Tie.
Additionally, Crenshaw has contributed tracks to tribute albums honoring Merle Haggard (Tulare Dust) and Harry Nilsson (For The Love of Harry), and had his own compositions successfully covered by artists as diverse as Bette Midler, Freedy Johnston, Kelly Willis, Marti Jones and the Gin Blossoms.
But the effortlessly energetic music contained on Miracle of Science suggests that Crenshaw is just hitting his stride as a recording artist. "I think you can probably hear R&B influences in these songs more than on other records I've done," he observes. "I was definately going for good grooves. Years ago, Steve Lillywhite pointed out to me that I play behind the beat, and since I play the bass and drums om most of these tunes, there's kind of a laid-back thing to the rhythms on the record."
"At the moment I'm getting into this midlife crisis thing where I want to be a drummer," reveals Crenshaw, who does drumming duties on eight Miracle of Science numbers. "I brought a drum set about three years ago and stuck it in a storage space, and I got it out recently, and lately I've been playing drums every day. I wanted to be a drummer when I was a little kid, but then I got into playing guitar instead. I don't know, I just saw this ad in the paper for this drum set and I was just seized by this urge."
"You're supposed to get smarter as you get older," Crenshaw says. "I think I have, and I think that that's reflected in this record. I think that Miracle of Science represents the best music I can possibly make at this point in my life. This is a pure a statement as I can make; it's totally unfiltered. I don't have anyone else to blame for this one."
Beginning in September, Crenshaw will support Miracle of Science with an extensive band tour.
For more information about Marshall and Miracle of Science please call Marc Fenton, Director of Publicity, at (212) 473-9173.
Press release issued by Razor & Tie Music, June 1996.