ROADHOUSE (by John Cafferty and The Beaver Brown Band)

SUMMARY:              RUNNING TIME: Approx. 57:00 Min.

Released by Scotti Brothers through CBS Records in 1988, Roadhouse is John Cafferty and The Beaver Brown Band’s self-produced follow-up to their 1985 Tough All Over debut album.  Including 1983’s Eddie and The Cruisers film soundtrack (their big break after eleven years together), Roadhouse is the band’s third studio project. 

Consisting of twelve tracks, this album’s songs are:

SIDE A:

1. Bound for Glory                      (4:41)
2. Victory Dance                        (3:51)
3. Song & Dance                       (4:35)
4. Killin’ Time                          (4:30)
5. Wheel Of Fortune                   (5:12)
6. Burn The Roadhouse Down     (3:35)

SIDE B:

1. Penetration                           (4:46)
2. Wishing Well                       (4:55)
3. Customary Thing                  (4:24)
4. Hard Way To Go                 (3:59)
5. Higher Ground                     (5:37)
6. Road I’m Running                (6:44)

In terms of Roadhouse’s radio play for the time, Track # 3: only “Song & Dance” (possibly, the album’s sole single) charted the Top 50.   

Notes: This title’s formats also include: CD, cassette tape, and digitally.  Following Roadhouse’s release, the band’s next album would be 1989’s Eddie and The Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! movie soundtrack released through the same label.   

REVIEW:

Unlike the modestly successful Tough All Over, which included “Voice of America’s Sons” (prominently featured in the 1986 Sylvester Stallone action film, Cobra) and “C-I-T-Y,” Roadhouse doesn’t sport any familiar radio hits.  Still, the album’s high-energy opener (“Bound for Glory”) sounds like a precursor to the group’s subsequent Eddie and The Cruisers II project.     

Taken as a whole, Roadhouse is a playful sidestep away from 1983’s “On The Dark Side,” despite the song’s legacy as the band’s signature radio tune. One can readily surmise that this album represented something of an artistic escape from Hollywood’s shadow – and, by extension, the fictitious ‘Eddie Wilson’ and his ‘Cruisers.’  Hence, John Cafferty and The Beaver Brown Band had good reason seeking to expand their mainstream audience beyond one cult film.       

Note: Beaver Brown’s saxophone player, Michael “Tunes” Antunes, portrayed the Cruisers’ ‘Wendell Newton’ onscreen in both Eddie films.  Noticeably, in neither film, does Antunes have any dialogue.   

Through Roadhouse, John Cafferty’s Rhode Island-based group resumes its rollicking, All-American brand of rock and, with it, a sporadic country-western tinge. Still, given their basic musical similarities (and the exact overlap between the bands’ now half-century careers), it’s too easy to presume that Cafferty and Beaver Brown are essentially Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band copycats.

That’s a misnomer, as Cafferty’s gravelly musical vibe doesn’t ruminate on American heartland issues or present social commentaries like Springsteen (and, to a degree, John Mellencamp) regularly does. Cafferty and The Beaver Brown Band instead delivers straight-up entertainment without pitching deep thoughts. Roadhouse epitomizes this low-key yet hard-work attitude.

Case in point: tracks such as “Killin’ Time,” “Wheel of Fortune,” and “Road I’m Running,” might superficially resemble Springsteen-style tunes, but that’s as far as they go — these deliberately vague tunes concoct easy-to-grasp rock as is. For that matter, take the good-natured “Victory Dance,“ as the best example. Its most sentimental analogy is baseball, in terms of seeking a fun reason to celebrate/patting yourself on the back.

Fans, in that sense, can appreciate Cafferty’s group delivering their authentic bar band tunes.  The flip side is that the energetic Roadhouse falls short on mixing up its variety, as, tone-wise, the tracks blend together.  It’s surely the prime reason (aside from insufficient publicity) that this album isn’t all that memorable and has remained stuck in Late 80’s obscurity.    

Still, John Cafferty and The Beaver Brown Band’s everyman appeal readily surpasses Roadhouse’s lackluster sales.  Hence, these guys neither coast nor do they skimp on their all-original material.  For nearly an hour, it’s a blue-collar, rock ‘n’ roll time machine that listeners ought to enjoy revisiting.  Give one of Roadhouse’s formats sufficient time (i.e. on a road trip), and the album will likely grow on you. 

PACKAGING:

It’s standard issue, including individual photos identifying the six band members.  All twelve tracks are listed, but their running times aren’t provided.  The record’s sleeve features Roadhouse’s credits on one side; the other side consists of a collage of small black-and-white photos of the band. 

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                        7 Stars