Mike Saunders on Blue Ash, PRM 1974

Blue Ash by Mike Saunders - Phonograph Record Magazine, Jan. 1974

You remember Blue Ash. They put out an album last year that all the critics loved. It was sort of Beatle-Byrdsish, yet quite original in its way, and full of what those who are supposed to know would swear were extraordinarily commercial songs. Yet like other such albums by groups such as Big Star, the Wackers, Stories and the Raspberries, it was totally ignored by radio and the majority of the record-buying public. Stories was lucky enough to score a left-field hit single, but even that didn't draw attention to their other songs, and the rest of the groups have not done so well. In fact with the exception of Blue Ash, they've all broken up or regrouped. How long can Blue Ash survive?

So great bands, bands that might've become the Beatles, Stones, Beach Boys of this decade, are forced to grovel in local bar circuits. Maybe that will turn out to be a good thing, in the long run. At least it makes us all the more thankful when a group like the New York Dolls manages a brief breakthrough. For Blue Ash, the breakthrough may never come, but if it doesn't it won't be for lack of talent. Their story could be taken as one of the classic object lessons of our time.

The big question here: Can Blue Ash sell records? That was the topic of discussion during part of Mercury's recent semi-annual sales meeting, according to A&R man Paul Nelson. "Bearing in mind how few copies Blue Ash's album sold, I was a bit apprehensive that the group might be dropped from the label without further discussion," explained Nelson, the man who discovered Blue Ash in a pile of unsolicited demo tapes. "So I was quite frankly surprised, to say the least, when a full two hours were spent discussing the group's music, their future, their strengths and weaknesses"

The decision reached was that Blue Ash will get one more single... If the 45 shows some action, the group then gets to put out a second album (already recorded). If the single flops, Blue Ash will be dropped - and their recording career quite possibly finished before it's even off the ground. Not even a second LP in the tradition of ex-Phonogram stars Bull Angus and Sir Lord Baltimore. Nothing. Nada.

Actually, seeing as how the first album didn't put Blue Ash over, it's unlikely that the second one would either, unless given a N. Y. Dolls-type push. After hearing the rough tapes a few times, it strikes one as less flashy, less immediately familiar than No More No Less - but still good enough to indicate that this is a good, potentially great, group. Curiously, there's only one loud, flashy Mod-ish rocker, "Start All Over Again." The other stand out songs are much less visceral than the bulk of No More, No Less, rocking moderately while stressing melody rather than raw energy.

After being praised as having the guts their fellow Ohioians the Raspberries lacked; it's really kind of surprising to see Blue Ash switching to a lightweight pop emphasis; while the Raspberries have gotten a new bass guitarist and drummer and claim that their next LP will be "very Who-influenced" (they ought to know - Eric Carmen's late 60's group Cyrus Erie used to regularly perform a 14-song Who medley!). But Blue Ash's new stuff is nice anyway. "Halloween Girl" and "With You On My Mind" would sound super on a jukebox at 45 RPM - remember the naivete of "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You"? Three cuts are pretty weak (especially the Berry-influenced "Rock On, Rock And Roller"), indicating that Blue Ash need someone to whip their ensemble sound into shape, a sound engineer who knows what he's doing, and more variation in shading and arrangement from song to song.

What they don't need is the scenario of being dropped from Mercury, turned down by the remaining majors, and finding that they'll have to remain dependent upon their Midwest bar circuit for a livelihood. On the other hand, maybe the only answer these days is to retrench back to some sort of local scene while waiting for something to change in the record biz and American popular music. It's no easy business, playing rock & roll in 1973. A couple examples come to mind: the Flamin Groovies' disastrous past two years in England, after having been turned down by every record label in the U.S. They're now considering moving to Detroit, just so they can play bars and eat regularly again. And a Bay Area group called Earthquake, dropped by A&M after two albums, who have now taken to releasing 45s on their own label, Beserkely Records. The key issue seems to be one summed up a while back by the true Dean of American Rock Critics, Mark Farner, in one word: survival.

You could blame it on lots of things. A rampant breakdown in the field of A&R for one -if you accused the majority of A&R departments of hating hard rock, you wouldn't be wrong. Paul Nelson, renowned for bringing the N.Y. Dolls and Blue Ash to Mercury, knows a lot about the frustrations of battling the inertia everywhere. He had to put his job on the line to get the Dolls, was vetoed by his higher-ups on Elliott Murphy, and ditto with Christopher Bell (the spark behind Big Star's LP and an excellent songwriter). So I asked Nelson, do you ever get frustrated, feel like you're banging your head against a wall, don't you ever just want to grab one of those balding rock-hating company executives by the collar? No answer. So you can imagine what Blue Ash feel like when they can't even find their album on the racks in their home town.