LP - Cletus Black - In The Shadow (Original 1981 Pressing)
Still sealed. Mint, unplayed 1981 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)
“In The Shadow”
This LP is Cletus’ third (released in 1981) in just four years. I’m 100% on board with an artist that starts an album with a track called “It’s Hard To Rock” especially with the follow-up lyric is “So baby let’s roll”. This lead off track is a bold artistic statement that grabs any Private Press connoisseur’s ear immediately. It’s impossible to ignore, whether you like it or not. The vibe gets a lot more laid back on the second track “50 Songs”. It’s a song about having written a shitload of songs about the proverbial you. Does it count as one of the 50? Only Cletus knows. “Patches Of Costume” is next and it’s undeniably Springsteen-esque. In a more perfect world, The Boss would have covered one of Cletus’ songs and Mr. Black could have retired on an island in the Caribbean and played as often as he cared to in local beach bars without a care in the world. Maybe Mr. Black is living his own version of that life, but as far as I know, Bruce hasn’t covered any of these tunes…yet. “Black Hats & Tails” kicks it up a notch with a full-band arrangement that’s undeniably energetic, tight, yet a little unhinged. The last track on Side A is a stoney number called “Smokey Blue”.
Shit gets immediately weird on the flip. “You As You” features synthesized beats and out-of-this-world effects that one can’t quite put their phone-home finger on. Side A was toasted, but Side B is truly burnt. “Hobo’s Song” takes the DIY-elements of my favorite Springsteen album “Nebraska” to another level. The synthesizer and drum machine are back and the chorus melody reeks of “I’m On Fire” which wasn’t released until 3 years later. At this point, one starts to wonder who’s zooming who. To be fair, The Boss was releasing albums going back to ’73, but “Nebraska” didn’t drop until ’82. Things that make you go hmmm. The vibe straightens out a bit on “Pumping Iron”, I guess. Thankfully there’s no E-Street Band yackety sax
(which is one thing that always put me off of Bruce). This off-kilter joint is juked slightly in the best possible way. If the Raven “Back To Ohio Blues” infamy had done anything after 1975, this track makes me think that he and Cletus would have been birds of a feather. The album closer brings it all home. “Figures In The Shadow” eludes to the indescribable nature of this entire album and somehow sounds like what I imagine a collaboration between The Cramps and Lou Reed might’ve sounded like in the early-80s. Stranger things have happened. (Lance Barresi - Permanent Records)
All songs ℗ 1981 Night Wax Music Co., BMI. All rights reserved.
George Sipl appears courtesy of Planet Records.
All selections written by Cletus Black © 1978, 1979, 1980 C. Black except 50 Songs © 1980 C. Black and S. Monday
(NR12597)
Night Wax Music Co. 23758 Lake Road Cleveland, Ohio 44140
Song title for B4 differs on label (Figures In The Shadows) and album jacket (Figures In The Shadow).
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
