The Jayhawks
Tomorrow The Green Grass: Legacy Edition (American Recordings)The Jayhawks
Hollywood Town Hall (American Recordings)2011 is shaping up as a great year to be a Jayhawks fan. A new LP, featuring the iconic lineup of Gary Louris, Mark Olson, Marc Perlman, Tim O’Reagan, and Karen Grotberg, is almost complete, and the two discs many consider the band’s finest have just been reissued with some exciting extras. 1992’s Hollywood Town Hall brought the Minneapolis-based country-rock outfit to national attention with radio fodder like “Waiting for the Sun” and “Two Angels.” Augmented with a new essay by producer George Drakoulias on the backstory of the album’s recording as well as five choice rarities, it still sounds as gorgeous as the day it was released. The bonus tracks are more immediate and twang-filled than the originals, with “Warm River” a spry reminder of the band’s early sound. The new Legacy Edition of 1995’s Tomorrow the Green Grass is the real treasure, though. Besides the album, with fan faves like “Blue” and “Nothing Left To Borrow,” plus five more bonus tracks, another disc, The Mystery Demos, is included. Eighteen helpings from 1992 of Louris and Olson’s lofty harmonies, acoustic guitar, and the occasional fiddle on songs that have appeared in different fashions on a variety of related projects, some familiar, others obscure, are mouthwatering. Copies of these “demos” have circulated for years, and to see them officially released is great news. The songwriting and stark rendering of tunes like “Cotton Dress” and “Precious Time” make them the Basement Tapes of another generation.
(Green Grass) 
(Town Hall)
This article appears in January 21 • 2011.