Continental Drifters – Nineteen Ninety-Three
Nineteen Ninety-Three should have been the Continental Drifters’ first album. However, by the time they finished it, the Drifters had relocated from Los Angeles to New Orleans and, more significantly, had lost two of their three original singer-songwriters. So they shelved these sessions, and their 1994 self-titled disc wound up as their official debut.
These early recordings are an illuminating look back. Although the Drifters’ latter-day front threesome of Vicki Peterson, Susan Cowsill and Peter Holsapple are present, they fill secondary roles (the newly full-time Drifter Holsapple figures most prominently, contributing his playing and production but no lead vocals). Drummer Carlo Nuccio and guitarists Ray Ganucheau and Gary Eaton constituted the Drifters’ first singer-songwriter triumvirate; however, only Nuccio remained for their 1994 effort, and he was gone by the next record.
These Drifters have a grittier, more soulful edge to their rootsy pop. Nuccio’s rough-hewn tunes such as “New York” and the mischievous “Side Steppin’ The Fire” suggest John Hiatt fronting The Band, while Ganucheau’s numbers project a more laid-back soul feel. Sounding a bit like Steve Winwood, he gives a stirring performance on “No One Cares” and imbues “I Didn’t Want To Lie” with a heartfelt intimacy. Ganucheau and Nuccio’s marvelous collaboration, “The Mississippi”, marries Dixie funk to swampy rock ‘n’ roll.
Eaton, who contributes the most originals (five), brings out the band’s country side on the Flying Burrito Brothers-like ditty “Mr. Everything”, the twisty twang-poppy “Match Made In Heaven” and the rocking “Dallas”. His “Let It Ride”, a vivid portrait of people struggling to make sense out of their lives, closes the disc on a powerful note.
Only three of the thirteen tunes here have been released before in any fashion. Holsapple’s sole composition, “Invisible Boyfriend”, appeared on the band’s debut (with Holsapple singing it instead of Eaton) as did a redone “New York”; an early version of “The Mississippi” was on an obscure 1992 single.
A strong album from start to finish, Nineteen Ninety-Three transcends archival curio status and serves as a terrific showcase for the three men who first led the Continental Drifters.