If you’d been wagering 30 years ago on who’d be the biggest star to emerge from the Shelter Records stable, Dwight Twilley might have seemed a smarter bet than Tom Petty. With his dynamic fusion of Memphis rockabilly and Merseybeat jangle, the Tulsa native made an impressive breakthrough with 1975’s irresistible anthem “I’m On Fire”, then saw his career stagger through a series of record company problems, professional frustrations and personal demons. After his split from creative collaborator Phil Seymour, practically an equal partner in the Dwight Twilley Band, he had some sporadic minor hits (1979’s “Somebody To Love”, 1984’s “Girls”), but he wasn’t able to sustain commercial momentum. While Petty became an arena headliner, Twilley became a footnote.
Yet anybody who loved “I’m On Fire” (and it’s hard to imagine anyone who heard it not loving it) will find echoes of what might have been in 47 Moons. The reverb still shivers and shimmers throughout these tracks, but the lyrical perspective is older and wiser, with a maturity beyond rock flash. The album-opening “Better Watch Out”, while ostensibly addressed to a girl, might serve as a cautionary tale to a younger Twilley (“You better watch out what you’re looking for/Baby you just might find it…The sun is going down on all of your American dreams”). Similarly, in “King Of The Mountain”, he warns, “It comes at a price.” From “Walkin’ On Water” to “To Wait Is To Waste”, Twilley sounds like a guy who’s done some living, suffered some setbacks and come out stronger.
The reunion with lead guitarist Bill Pitcock IV provides a connecting thread; the propulsive “Runaway With You” and “Chance Of A Lifetime” and the retro shuffle “Flippin'” could have fit just fine on those mid-’70s Twilley Band albums. Though too many of the songs last a little too long and could lose the cheesy ’80s keyboards, the best of this music not only hits as hard as ever, it goes deeper.