Trip Records: Onesheet: Green & Checkers

Trip Records Onesheet

Green & Checkers
Green & Checkers
Producers: Boffo Santana-Jones & Richard Oliver
Release 8/26/97
Available 7/1/97
* UPC # 797623-4278-2
CD w/ 12p full-colour cover
b/w interior booklet; lyrics; photos;
programme: 48.07 mins Cat. #
4278-2

Music like this is rare these days: it's an honest and unpretentious collection of songs originally recorded without the intent of even making records available to the public, but to many was just too uniquely brilliant to let it go unnoticed by the world. Far from being genre-centric, Green & Checkers presents to us a twisted, let's-not-take-this-too-seriously melding of 30 years of rock influences, from pure honest rhythms to R&B to alternative, which sum up to make a terrifying and believable recording. This material spells out the mathematics of damaged souls who have lived and died by the fast-moving maggot-infested rock-music business through the years, and the shattering effect it has on the personal lives of those sucked into that swirling vortex.

In truth, this self-titled debut album boasts no more than quiet story-telling, with songs and poetry taken from years of journal writing and napkin-jotting. But, as it turns out, a powerful and totally unique musical painting has emerged. Songwriter/ Lead Vocalist Richard Oliver's palette functions like a Seurat - leaving powerful and identifiable impressions on the listener, yet without insulting us with a spelling-out of the familiar tragedy which he paints.

Oliver holds musical roots dating back to days spent working in the studio engineering and producing an eclectic array of projects ranging from the platinum Rolling Stones' "Black & Blue" and "Emotional Rescue" albums, all the way to the B-52's "Mesopotamia", the YES movie soundtrack, Donna Summers' "Native New Yorker" and just about every genre in between. An exhaustive list of his technical and production credits reads like a Who's Who of rock music through the 70's, 80's and 90's.

An impressive roster of veteran music-makers spill their magic on these tracks of home-made luster: Songwriter/ guitarist Peter Yaro (Stray Cats) brings his vintage instruments to life, drummer Jim Doherty (Ashford & Simpson, Doctor Hook, Yogi Horton) traces a heartbeat of classic rock and roll, producer/ songwriter Richard Mettler seasons with the kling-klang of found sound, and producers Boffo Santana-Jones (The Velvet Mafia, Christian Johnson) and Oliver provide keen focus for this diverse musical troupe.

What happens when you rescue a boy genius from abuse and neglect, give him a cherry Harley, two ex-wives, two kids and stick him in the studio for twenty years to make Rock n' Roll?

Quite simply: Green & Checkers.

Like the Inventors of Polaroid - quick snapshots of honest life.

TRACKS
title - writer

* Pack of Winstons (Oliver, Yaro)
* All that Remains (Oliver, Yaro)
* 125th & Amsterdam (Oliver, Yaro)
* Cockney (Oliver, Mettler)
* Sometimes (Oliver, Yaro)
* A Song for Someone (Oliver, Yaro)
* Kryou Bushinka (Oliver, Yaro)
* Junkie turned Star (Oliver, Yaro)
* Damaged Dreams (Oliver, Yaro)
* B (Oliver, Yaro)
* Slipstream Life (Oliver, Yaro)
* Crashing Waves (Oliver, Yaro)

RADIO
* CD service to triple-A radio, and college stations.

PRINT
* CD service to national music trade, college radio.
* CD service to selected dailies and 'zines.

WORLD WIDE WEB
* Full-time Internet site with downloadable soundbytes and video clips, photos, and other fun stuff.

VIDEO
* Music Video of lead track "Pack of Winstons" available.

Related Sites:
Green & Checkers

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