(Folk Rock, Contemporary Folk) [LP][24/96] Tom Jans - The Eyes Of An Only Child - 1975 (Original US Promo Pressing), FLAC (tracks)

#777The Eyes of a Child is an album by folk singer/songwriter Tom Jans released in 1975. It has never been re-issued on CD, though deserving because of sheer quality. Just like his girlfriend Valerie Carter, Tom Jans was a representative of the typical LA-sound of the seventies. Little Feat's Lowell George was the executive producer of the album and also played guitars on it. Anyone who likes the songs of Jackson Browne, Gram Parsons, Warren Zevon or the Eagles should also listen to this forgotten gem.

The ending of the review in the Dutch music magazine Oor in 1975 explains it all: "each song deserves a more extended description than I can give here. He is observing himself and his environment and is doing that in such a compelling way that he deserves more than just a rave review. A musical candy for long winter nights."

"Lowell George had a good effect on [this] album. The guy is a genius." - Tom Jans 1977

Folk singer/songwriter Tom Jans was born February 9, 1948, in Yakima, WA. The son of a farmer (whose own mother played in a jazz group dubbed the Rocky Mountain Five), he was raised outside of San Jose, CA, weaned in equal measure on the Hank Williams records beloved by his father and the flamenco of his mother's native Spain. Ultimately, the Beatles proved Jans' most profound influence and as a teen he learned guitar and piano, writing poems he later set to music. After playing in a high-school rock & roll band dubbed the Breakers, Jans studied English literature at the University of California, turning down a graduate scholarship to Columbia University to pursue a career as a performer and songwriter.

Shortly after graduation he was playing in a San Francisco coffee shop when, in 1970, he met Jeffrey Shurtleff, a singer who previously collaborated with Joan Baez. Shurtleff soon introduced Jans to Baez, who in turn introduced him to her younger sister Mimi, who with her late husband Richard Fariña recorded a series of cult-classic folk LPs for Vanguard. After a failed second marriage and a stalled career as a dancer, Mimi Fariña was seeking to return to music. Jans, reminiscent of Fariña in so many respects, seemed the ideal collaborator, and together they began performing in Bay Area clubs, earning widespread notice for their breakout performance at the Big Sur Folk Festival. From there, the duo toured in support of Cat Stevens and later James Taylor before signing to A&M to record an LP, 1971's Take Heart. The album generated little interest outside of folk circles, and Jans and Fariña soon dissolved their partnership, with the former relocating to Nashville to resume his career as a songwriter. There he joined the publishing house Irving/Almo as a staff writer, scoring his first hit with "Loving Arms," initially recorded by Dobie Gray and later covered by Elvis Presley and Kris Kristofferson.

In 1974 Jans issued his self-titled solo debut, recorded with the assistance of guitarist Lonnie Mack and producer Mentor Williams. Despite critical acclaim, the record earned little commercial attention and he returned to California, settling in Los Angeles and entering an 18-month period of seclusion that yielded the songs comprising his Lowell George-produced sophomore effort, 1975's The Eyes of an Only Child. Featuring the country-rock gem "Out of Hand" (later a Nashville chart-topper for singer Gary Stewart) as well as the minor FM radio hit "Struggle in Darkness," this record also reached only a small cult audience, and when the following year's Dark Blonde -- considered by many to be Jans' masterpiece -- met the same fate, he fled to Europe, telling interviewers of plans to record a new album over the summer months.

The years to follow remain something of a mystery: no new material appeared and instead Jans dropped from sight until 1982, when a new LP Champion appeared solely in a limited-edition release on the Japanese label Canyon International, its existence virtually unknown in the U.S. Sometime in late 1983, Jans was injured in a serious motorcycle accident. While his long-term prognosis appeared positive, he died March 25, 1984, of a suspected drug overdose. Tom Waits later paid homage to Jans with the Bone Machine cut "Whistle Down the Wind." ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

Here's what Tom Waits said about "Whistle Down the Wind" (for Tom Jans): "He's an old friend of ours who died in '83. A songwriter and friend of Kathleen's and mine. From the central coast of California, kind of a Steinbeck upbringing in a small town. We dedicated it to him. He wrote 'Lovin' Arms.' Dobie Gray recorded it, and also Elvis did it. He used to play with Mimi Farina. It was written about another friend, but it was the kind of song that Tom Jans would have written. He was there in spirit."

The album’s theme, “eyes of a child”, is also reflected in the design of the jacket. The suggestive monochrome photos for this album and the next one, “Dark Blonde”, were taken by Ethan Russell. Russell was famous for his photographs for rock album covers, such as the Beatles’ “Let It Be”, or The Who’s “Quadrophenia”, but for me personally, his name will always be linked with the cover photos for McGuiness Flint’s “When I’m Dead and Gone” and Lambert & Nuttycombe’s album at A&M Records, “At Home”.

(1) Gotta Move (4:15)
Co-written by Tom and Lowell George, and produced by Lowell. A song of departure to drive California's coastline. In a song mentioning Salinas, a place on the West Coast, and expressing memories of wandering around, the rhythm of two acoustic guitars harmoniously mix with Bill Payne’s piano, Mike Utley’s organ, and Jim Keltner's drums, while David Lindley plays lead guitar, like a softly dancing wind. This is an excellent reprise of the West Coast 70’s “style”. This is probably how Lowell George would have wanted all Tom’s songs on the album to sound.

(2) Once Before I Die (3:15)
It has a casual introduction, but the two acoustic guitars intertwine and create an exquisite rhythm. Tom had used several acoustic guitars in one song on his debut A&M album as well, but in Tom’s sound, the tone of the rhythm cutting of the acoustic guitars plays a special role. Furthermore, Herb Pedersen doing harmony in a deep voice on phrases like “I'm just like that eagle / I keep searching for the sky / I know I’m gonna love you / Once before I die”, gives a deeper meaning to the lyrics.

(3) Where Did All My Good Friends Go? (4:50)
Would this funky sound, accentuating the rhythm, be the next step Tom wanted to achieve? The rhythm cutting of electric guitars, David Lindley’s electronic slide, then for the rhythm sessions, Harvey Mason’s drums and Chuck Rainey’s bass, the electric piano, the Little Feat session’s conga come and join as well. If the previous song was a continuance of Tom’s solo album, “Tom Jans”, this song predicts the sound of Tom’s next album, “Dark Blonde”.

(4) Inside of You - (3:05)
The child who grew up surrounded by nature, in California, and who knew love as a teenager, has become an adult, but he always feels he has lost something too… the only thing that’s left is the feeling of having loved… A chilly sound that is similar to the shade in the monochrome photo on the album jacket. There are only a few measures like those that Graham Nash plays, but the peculiar piano reverberations are another sign of Tom’s originality.

(5) Struggle in Darkness - 5:40)
Just like Tom, Bill Payne, who participated to the sessions, had low blood sugar problems, especially at night. Payne liked the theme and the song and accepted to arrange it for Tom. The piano phrases in the introduction part are especially memorable. Here too the rhythm of the acoustic guitar is casual, but very effectively used. The ending part contains Bill Payne’s synthesizer solo and Jeff Porcaro's drum fill, a sound like Little Feat meets the future TOTO. Tom’s vocals have an old age flavour, a little bit, but are delightful and soulful.

(6) Out of Hand - (3:15)
This may have been a song written by a song-writing team, to make it easy to sell. It’s a typical country pop song, co-written by Tom and Jeff Barry. The song was covered by country singer Gary Stewart and become a No.1 hit on the country chart. Tom’s first solo album producer Mentor Williams also covered it on his solo album “Feelings” (1974).

(7) The Lonesome Way Back When - (4:20)
Bill Payne’s electric piano intertwines with two acoustic guitars, and then a third acoustic guitar carves the rhythm. This song has a tone that reminds of Tom’s solo creations from the A&M period. A simple melody with simple chords, lyrics conveying a feeling of loss, but in the end it shows the same pastoral country sound as Tom’s previous works, with a nuance of relaxed exoticism of Californian Hispanic descent.

(8) Lonely Brother - (5:45)
Like the previous song, the melody of this song symbolizes the “Tom Jans sound”. The song starts with a piano arpeggio phrase that shows Tom’s habitual, concise, but peculiar melancholy. Here again, in addition to the rhythmic electric guitar and the casual acoustic guitar, Jim Keltner's snare drum admirably brings a soft introduction. How much hardship must one endure to be able to find his heart’s eyes, and steadily look at his own sun? Tom’s vocals are dark shouts. The lyric’s theme is isolation, so specific for Tom, but Jim Keltner's drums captures and charms the listener.

(9) Directions And Connections - (4:35)
Life, and hope too, are obscure, like hidden behind a frosted window. We only have one life, and we cannot go back. We must take the right direction, otherwise we cannot express ourselves. This is a song that reminds us of the solo “Just A Stone’s Throw Away”, of 1977, almost the same year Tom had a connection, musical as well as private, with Valerie Carter, and Ned Doheny’s “Hard Candy” (1976). In this period, Tom and Valerie contributed to each other’s albums, and it seems that their relationship lasted for several years.

(10) The Eyes Of An Only Child - (3:35)
It is said that Tom’s mother, after listening to this song, felt very sad and phoned him. She thought that the content – looking at the future with a child’s eyes – referred to his hard childhood times, Tom remembers.

Tom Jans - The Eyes Of An Only Child
Columbia PC 33699
Original White Label Promo
24-bit / 96kHz Vinyl Rip by Dr. Robert
June 2011

Vinyl condition: Near Mint

Deadwax info
Side 1: PAL 33699-1A
Side 2: PBL 33699-1A

Nitty Gritty RCM 1.5
Technics SL-1210 MK2 DD Turntable
Origin Live OL1 fully modified tone arm (Rega RB250)
Audio-Technica AT33EV MC Cartridge
Pro-ject Tube Box SE II Preamp
Tascam US-144 external USB 2.0 Audiointerface
AudioQuest G-Snake LGC interconnects
Mac Pro Dual Zeon 2.66 GHz
Bias Peak Pro 6.2 recording software
Click Repair 3.4.1 for de-click (manual mode only)
iZotope RX Advanced 2.0 for Redbook conversion
xACT 1.71 for Redbook SBE correction
XLD Version 20110228 (129.0) for FLAC conversion

RCM > TT > AT33EV > TubeBox preamp > ADC > Mac Pro > Peak Pro @ 24/96 >
analyze (no clipping, DC Bias offset correction, each side gain adjusted to -0.5 dB) > split into individual tracks >
Click Repair 3.4.1 used in manual mode, 20~30 Rev, Pitch Protection, X2 >
FLAC encoded Level 8 with XLD

No DeNoise was used on this rip.
All de-clicking software used in full manual mode to preserve musical transients.
No music was harmed in the making of this vinyl rip.
No silence been removed, please burn gapless to match original track layout.