Without knowing it, I've been a Dan Baird fan since the early '80s, not knowing that much about the guy that sang "Keep Your Hands To Yourself", but I knew that it was a catchy tune, and that I liked it. Around the time of Baird's first solo album release, Love Songs For The Hearing Impaired, I was curious about the record being billed to the "ex-Georgia Satellites frontman", and finally was properly hooked onto the Baird bandwagon.
From that point, I have kept up with Baird's output, and one of the most satisfying projects to hit my ears, has been his "supergroup" collaboration called The Yayhoos, which grew out of being the backing band for Baird on his tour supporting Buffalo Nickel. The band finally released Fear Not The Obvious, an album that had long been on the shelf, in 2001 on Bloodshot Records.
The band features Baird on vocals and guitar, former Del-Lord Eric Ambel on guitar, who has also been logging lots of road miles playing guitar for Steve Earle, songwriter Terry Anderson on the drums (co-writer of Sats hit "Battleship Chains"), and Keith Christopher (Kenny Wayne Shepherd) on the bass guitar. The band is a bunch of guys with a deep discography that bring you the world's greatest bar band this side of The Smithereens. What is unique about the band is that they trade off vocals from track to track, so that while Baird might have been the most notable player initially in the band, each member definitely brought a unique voice and songwriting style to the band that made Fear Not The Obvious a great mixed bag of tunes with truly something for everyone.
The band logged several years and many dates on the road behind Fear Not The Obvious, and the result is a new album Put The Hammer Down, which feels more like a proper band album from a unit that really had a chance to develop these songs on the road, and in the studio. The album opens with "Where's Your Boyfriend At", a track that has the signature Baird sound and that familiar driving guitar riff that I have heard in many a Baird tune. "Right As Rain" is another Baird track on Put The Hammer Down that is unmistakably Dan, but is a tune that really features the best of what makes The Yayhoos great, and all of the guys really step it up on this song, and the results are an instant classic. "Right As Rain" puts you in the studio with the guys playing around you on a late night with several beverages already having been put away.
Article comments
1 - Matt T.
Great review. I just picked up my copy of Put The Hammer Down, and I agree completely. I fell in love with the Satellites when I was 12 and heard "Keep Your Hands To Yourself". Thanks to them, I went on to discover NRBQ and discover the glory that is The Faces/Ronnie Wood's solo work/Rod Stewart's early stuff. I've had the opprotunity to interview Dan Baird a couple times, and he's a really cool guy. Matter of fact, all the Yayhoos are the type of guys who make you feel good about rock & roll, either by playing the hell out of it or obviously enjoying it so much.
I'm also a bass player, and Kieth Christopher is an inspiration. I saw the band do "Roam" live in Atlanta (at Smith's Olde Bar, where Kieth recorded a killer album with Billy Joe Shaver). The crowd went nuts, and I've been jonesing to hear it again ever since.
Again, good work, and more kudos for the excellent review of Knucklehead (which may've been the last CD I reviewed before I gave up that gig, but that's another story). The Yayhoos play Atlanta May 5th (the closest show in my area, and we can't get 'em to come Athens, sadly), and I cannot wait.
Take it easy.
2 - Vern Halen
In the Land of Salvation and Sin by the Satellites is the great lost album of the late 20th century. I've never been able totrack down any Yayhoos material, but if they're even 1/10 as good as DAn BAird's former band, then they might be one of the best bands in AMerica today.
3 - Matt Wardlaw
Matt - glad you dug the review. You are right about the Yayhoos - they do indeed make you feel good about music in general...glad that someone else feels that way!
Vern - check out Yayhoos.com - you can order both CDs from there - it's easy!
4 - Vern Halen
Thanx - I always forget this is the digital age & I don't hahve to go down to my local CD/LP dealer. Not a good thing for the retailer, I suppose, but good for the consumer (did I just say that? Have I gone over to the other side?).