LP - Cletus Black - Basic Black (Original 1980 Pressing)
Still sealed. Mint, unplayed 1980 pressing.
Note: Sealed vintage records can sometimes have slight storage warps. We can not guarantee perfect flatness, but we do guarantee playability. Returns will only be accepted on records that do not play through slight lifts and/or warps.
Ohio-native Cletus Black has been writing, recording, and releasing albums and singles for nearly 50 years. His first Privately Pressed album “Suite 7 - Holly’s Drive” came out on his own imprint, Night Wax Records, back in 1978 and it is also the rarest release on the “label”. The other three LPs on Night Wax are surely scarce, even if they’re not “grails”. You’ll never find a copy of any of his records “in the wild”. If it weren’t for Discogs, you might not even know they exist…which is a damn shame. Cletus was also tragically overlooked by the Acid Archives contributors. His albums were all privately pressed (mostly before 1982) and his version of outsider, singer-songwriter Outlaw Country bridges the gap between Circuit Rider and Bruce Springsteen, which is why we’re here to shine a light on this especially talented and prolific underrated artist. His records sell themselves off the turntable (true story) and there should be a whole sub-genre of record collecting named after his record label, Night Wax Records. HIs original material was definitely meant to be listened to after dark and the label design should’ve been embroidered on a silk jacket, back patch, and/or baseball tee to now be sold in vintage clothing stores for hundreds of dollars. This is bizarro world music made for an alternate universe attempting to resemble the one we come from. Cletus Black should’ve, could’ve, and would’ve been a household name under different circumstances. Who knows, maybe it’s not too late. (Lance Barresi - Permanent Records)
“Basic Black”
Two years after Cletus’ first album entitled “Holly’s Drive” under the Suite 7 moniker, Cletus takes off the mask with his first proper CLETUS BLACK album, “Basic Black” in 1980. One can’t help but wonder if Cletus was being cheeky when he titled the first track “Sweet Revenge”. One also wonders if he originally titled it “Suite Revenge” as a call back to his 1978 debut album. This track is straight forward enough, but the pew-pew-pew synth stabs also make one wonder. One would not be wrong to call Cletus Black’s music WONDERFUL. “Taken By Time” is a classic Cletus track. It’s got a solid twangy groove. Hypnotic with some very tasty lead guitar licks over the top. By this time, one becomes very thankful to have the lyric insert included with this album to help decipher the verbiage Cletus is laying down. “Midnight Pieces” is a bizarro world Jimmy Buffett-meets-JJ Cale joint that features a lovely lady on backing vocals. If the rhythm section was a drum machine, it would be next level. “Baby Deluxe” is an off-kilter, up-tempo blues rocker. This is the first point on the record where one starts to wonder if Cletus’ is playing all of the instruments on the album. According to the liner notes on the back of the album, there are “studio musicians” and an “album band” backing him. That said, they’re obviously barely able to keep up with Cletus. This is his show and they’re all just supporting actors. “Cats & One-Eyed Jacks” reminds one of “Wild Horses” at times. It’s a wistful number about empty one night stands and brings back backing vocalist Terri Scherzer to great effect. I’d buy an album of songs by Terri without as much as a needle drop. She’s got something special and it pairs well with Cletus’ shaky, but fully confident delivery. This side ends with “My Old Lady” another fast bluesy rocker, this time about his wild and crazy other half. “Rapid Fire Love” kicks off the flip (spoiler alert: this joint will be reprised on the third album of the same name 4 years later, and for good reason, it’s one of the best tracks on the album. It also has some more inexplicable synth stabs which some might find distracting, but others (myself included) see them as endearing. Oh to be a fly on the wall during this recording session! “Woman Woman” is an acoustic ballad that coulda, shoulda, woulda been a hit if a big name artist had chosen to popularize it. Cletus did fine for himself, but one can’t help but wonder what how things might’ve been different if Cletus had been doing his thing in a different place at a different time. Cletus had talent, but talent isn’t everything. For every John Prine, Willis Alan Ramsey, or J.J. Cale, there are a million Cletus’ out there writing cool songs like “Two Penny Shoes”. The fact that Cletus isn’t at least a cult hero is further proof that we live in an unjust world where the amount of widely recognized talent is only a very small fraction of the amount of recognizable talent that exists. Thank goodness for the vinyl format for preserving these tracks to be discovered and shared so many decades later. As Cletus sings on the last two tracks on this album, “That’s The Story” (best track on the album?) so you gotta “Push On”. (Lance Barresi - Permanent Records)
REVIEWS
“As a songwriter, Black stands on the shoulders of giants…Every song has a distinctive hook and lyrics are sufficiently mature and esoteric.”
Steve Byrne, SCENE MAGAZINE
“His sandpapery voice and emotional depth charges remind me of an alt-country Leonard Cohen, with toasty-oaked, wiskey-soaked shades of J.J. Cale at his edges. Black’s songs come from a heart that’s surely on its way to said color, lined with Springsteen flourishes and melancholy violets…Black’s one hell of a poet…And much larger than local.”
Peter Chakerian, COOL CLEVELAND
“Cletus Black is one of the most distinctive singer-songwriters in the area and-given his knack for lyrics-one whose reach is beyond the region is way overdue…Bloodlines to the Heart builds on the strengths of Black’s solid 2001 offering Black Ice, a disc abundant with hooks that establish a variety of engaging moods and pictures. Black gets a lot of storytelling mileage out of the short, simple phrases from which he typically fashions his tunes.”
Duane Verth, SCENE MAGAZINE
“Cletus Black’s music harks back to a generation of blues and country-informed folk rockers who sprang from the loins of Bob Dylan. His roosty eclecticism, storytelling lyrics, strong song writing craft and tough-hewn voice have much in common with the seemingly bottomless pool of talented Texas singer-songwriters such as Guy Clark, Townes Van Zant and Tom Russell. His music would sound more at home in Austin than in his native Cleveland…”
Anastasia Pantsios, FREE TIMES MAGAZINE
“Cleveland’s lyrical poet, cletus Black is back with his latest batch of rockin’ blues ballads and stories of life. Stuck in Ohio with a Greenwich attitude and a backcountry outlook, Black is kickin’ up some of the best talent around him to deliver his latest edicts…An Ohio original, Cletus Back is an elite wordsmith with a unique musical vision…scope this out…it’s rockin’ blues noir!”
Mark A Cole, BIG CITY BLUES MAGAZINE
“Black is one of the city’s true hidden treasures.”
Jeff Niesel, Music Editor SCENE/FREE TIMES MAGAZINE
