As can be expected with a collection that spans the years 1966 to 1971, a time when the stylistic curve changed by the month,
Grapes of Wrath
is wildly inconsistent. The music is certainly derivative, but the songs are fairly accomplished derivations, so much so that listening to the collection becomes an exercise in "pick the influence."
"If Anyone Should Ask"
pounds like a
Dave Clark Five
garage outtake (and, thus, not on a level with actual
DC5
);
"Not a Man"
is subpar
"Mr. Tambourine Man
folk-rock (and as the "in sound" of 1967, received considerable local airplay);
"Irene"
is an answer to
the New Vaudeville Band
's
"Winchester Cathedral"
with a bit of
Beatles
and
the Lovin' Spoonful
thrown in;
"Life's Not for Me (Only for You)"
is a post-
Revolver
, sitar-singed raga dirge, completely of its time, but still enjoyable; and
"If She Leaves Me"
betrays debts, as does much of the recorded output here, to
John Lennon
.
The Grapes of Wrath
really began coming into their own as writers and musicians in 1968, reaching its undeniable early peak with
"Have a Good Time on Me."
Despite the wall of guitars that opens the song,
"Have a Good Time on Me"
is a fine piece of soulful pop/rock, like
the Buckinghams
without horns, but it is even more complex, adding a nice section in the middle as well as a coda coated in
/
Beach Boys
harmonies. There was more decent music to follow, namely
"Makin' It Through 71,"
a personal narrative on main songwriter
Steve Whitehurst
's difficult year (but also a walk through a
Paul McCartney
-styled, late-
rocker) and
"Shades of Lillian White,"
which marries the pretty acoustic work of
George Harrison
McCartney
circa
White Album
Let It Be
. But even those were disjointed in parts, as the band began fracturing.
won't change anyone's world, but it is a visible window into the changing face of pop music during the Vietnam era. ~ Stanton Swihart