Chris Laterzo – West Coast Sound

West Coast Sound? Yeah, I guess so. Of course, I always lumped it into country rock, a genre embedded in my soul from birth, I do believe. I was in L.A. during the big SoCal golden era of the mid-seventies when artists like Jackson Browne and Linda Ronstadt and The Eagles made their push. There was definitely a sound, a feel, and I might have jumped in with both ears if it hadn’t been played to death by every corporate radio station there. I swear to God, if I ever hear “Peaceful Easy Feeling” again…..

Radio was pretty much it when it came to music back then and in L.A., L.A. artists dominated.  What I considered the better of the rest were consigned to the cutout bins. Artists such as Gene Clark and Doug Dillard (Dillard & Clark), Flying Burrito Brothers, Michael Dinner, Cowboy, Heartsfield, Pure Prairie League— not all from SoCal but having that SoCal essence. Before the big push, even Bobby Vee (Robert Thomas Velline) and Johnny Rivers had their country leanings, Bobby with an exceptionally smooth and classic album Nothin’ Like a Sunny Day and Johnny with the ill-fated but superb Homegrown. (Homegrown, in fact, “premiered” Browne’s “Rock Me On the Water” which would later show up on Browne’s Saturate Before Using LP) Ever hear of J.D. Souther and Andrew Gold? They were there too. I hear a lot of these artists in Laterzo. They were my influences, not his, but I hear them in Laterzo. A bit of early Neil Young too.

Musicians, want to kill noise in a bar? Sound like this.

God knows what in music makes us respond but Laterzo has me looking out windows of trains and sitting around mountain campfires and even isolating myself in whatever landscape is available. He makes me wonder because this world is full of wonder and he brings a tear to my eye while I am driving the backroads, trying to figure out how I got here. He makes me love AM radio once again (listen to “Subaru” and if you lived during that golden era, you will understand) and he rocks with just enough energy to make me want to head to the beach, head back, in the convertible I never had.

I know it’s my mood but I’ve been in it for the last few days after hearing this album. I hear Gene Clark and I know it’s unfair to compare, especially in a review, but Laterzo has something within that captures my ear. Oh, it’s not copying, what Laterzo does. It is very much his own. But I hear the soul of Johnny Rivers (yes, he has soul) and the smooth delivery of J.D. Souther. And it is all Chris Laterzo, plain and simple.

Laterzo released four albums before this one. I don’t know how, but I missed every damn one of them. I don’t know how that happens, as hard as I search, but it will make for an adventure, backtracking.

I almost hate wrapping up this review. Stacks of CDs and files are begging to be heard but all I want to do right now is lay back and listen to Chris Laterzo. I think it might have the same effect on you. We can all use a little break. Start with this.

Chris Laterzo’s earlier albums are available through cdBaby.  Click here.