Only the name same for Jason, Scorchers

By Robert J. Hawkins
The San Diego Union-Tribune
August 2, 1989, Wednesday

Copyright 1989 The San Diego Union-Tribune

THE NAME is the same but there have been lots of changes since the last time Nashville rockers Jason and the Scorchers played San Diego. For starters there's the new record, Thunder and Fire. It's on a new label, A&M Records. And there are new band members, Ken Fox on bass and Andy York on guitar. All these changes have worked wonders with the sound of Jason and the Scorchers. They've taken a great piece of rock and made it better.

A review in Billboard this week thinks so, too: "Nashville hellions may have their best record here, a powerhouse surge of rock-inflected country that finally captures what this great band can do live." The review is music to leader and vocalist Jason Ringenberger's ears. "Excellent!" he exclaimed as it was read to him over the phone. (Ringenberger has been dropped -- all references on the album refer to him only as Jason.)

According to Jason, the departure of original bassist Jeff Johnson was "coming for a long time" and finally occurred at the end of a tour in July 1987. As long as one change was being made, the band reasoned, make some more. So the second guitarist was added. "The new guys respect the past," says Jason.

The past began in 1981 when Jason left his Illinois home and headed for Nashville. With Warner Hodges (guitarist), Perry Baggz (drums) and Johnson their diverse talents merged on a highly acclaimed, self-produced EP, Fervor. The EMI label picked up the album and added some tracks, including a remake of Dylan's "Absolutely Sweet Marie," which became the band's first hit. The band's first full album, Lost and Found in 1985 yielded "White Lies" and "Shop It Around." A year later Still Standing was the launching pad for Golden Ball and Chain.

As good as the recorded music was, Jason says, it didn't capture the band's live performance. When the option with EMI expired and Johnson departed, the band looked upon it as a chance to make some changes. Andy York had previously performed with the band and was well-known. Finding a bassist proved more difficult until Ken Fox answered their ad in a trade paper.

With the new label and the prospect of a whole new audience the band was anxious to create "the definitive Jason and the Scorchers album," says Jason. The answer to their prayers came in the guise of producer Barry Beckett, a former member of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and producer for Dylan, Bob Seger, Dire Straits, the Band and Hank Williams Jr.

And the result is, indeed, the best yet from Jason and the Scorchers -- a few barn-burner rockers, a couple of mid-tempos, some roots rockers and a Phil Ochs cover.

Jason and the Scorchers turn up the heat at the Bacchanal tonight in a KGB-radio sponsored show. The first 500 through the door get in free.

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