As Classic Clips has proven over the years, the Old Grey Whistle Test was far from just being a haven for prog-rock and then punk and New Wave. It was the beating heart of Americana in UK before we even called it Americana. You’d see The Long Ryders, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, stalwarts like Roger McGuinn or Paul Simon and upstart troubadour singer-songwriters like Steve Forbert. Eclectic shows of course.
Taken from his debut album “Alive On Arrival” this song is far too full of world-weariness – Little Stevie Orbit was only 24 when the album was released, ironically three years older than Bob Dylan had been on the release of his first album. In popular culture Steve Forbert has two albatrosses to hang, millstone-like, around his neck – the one-hit wonder tag for ‘Romeo’s Tune‘ and the curse of being a “New Dylan.” Why more songs didn’t chart is a mystery – surely ‘Going Down to Laurel‘ or ‘If You’ve Gotta Ask You’ll Never Know‘ were hits? Nope. Curse of the New Dylan? Well, that never really hurt Bruce Springsteen, so not really buying that either.
He was four albums in when the career hiatus occurred – with the solitary hit single under his belt. “Young Guitar Days” would eventually prove he had more great material in hand when the dispute with Nemperor occurred, And he came back strong, we’ve already acknowledged the quality of “Streets of this Town”, and “The American In Me” was similarly worthy of attention and certainly is itself an Americana classic. The transition years from “young” to “not-young but not yet old” may have been slightly patchier, but by then the loyal following had been established. It’s a quirk of music, some people who should have got a hold on a larger slice of the audience just don’t – we all have our lists of “how come?”. But anyway, here’s Steve Forbert telling us how life doesn’t go the way you think it will.
Steve has made some fine albums, start with The American In Me and work your way back and forwards.