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Jason and the Scorchers

*** (Out of 5) Thunder and Fire (A&M, 1989)

By David McGee, From “The Rolling Stone Album Guide”, Third Edition,
Random House/New York, 1992.

Jason and the Scorchers came out of the South - Nashville, specifically - in the early ‘80s pushing searing, razor-sharp guitar-based rock informed by traditional country, urban blues, Southern soul, and the first generation of Southern rock as exemplified by Lynyrd Skynyrd. In Jason Ringenberg the band had a forceful, personable lead singer and frontman, and in Warner Hodges it had a lead guitarist as conversant with Keith Richards as he was with the Duane Allman-Dickie Betts-Rossington-Collins axis (with frequent nods to Eddie Van Halen as well).
Good press and strong live shows didn’t translate to record sales, and despite a promising start with the EMI releases Fervor and Lost and Found (both now out of print) the band never quite clicked. In 1989 they resurfaced on A&M with Thunder and Fire, a strong effort that shows some of Steve Earle’s influence in its hard-edged approach. In fact, Earle’s involvement (he co-wrote the album’s richest song, “Bible and a Gun”) points up a problem with Jason and the Scorchers. Where Earle’s music has grown by quantum leaps since his Guitar Town debut, Jason and the Scorchers were still singing about girls and driving in pretty much the same basic terms. Ringenberg released a solo album, One Foot In the Honky Tonk (Liberty), in 1992.


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		Jason and the Scorchers *** (Out of 5) Thunder and Fire (A&M, 1989) By David McGee, From “The Rolling Stone Album Guide”, Third Edition, Random House/New York, 1992. Copyright 1992 - 2005 - Rolling Stone Magazine Jason and the Scorchers came out of the South - Nashville, specifically - in the early ‘80s pushing searing, razor-sharp guitar-based rock informed by traditional country, urban blues, Southern soul, and the first generation of Southern rock as exemplified by Lynyrd Skynyrd. In Jason Ringenberg the band had a forceful, personable lead singer and frontman, and in Warner Hodges it had a lead guitarist as conversant with Keith Richards as he was with the Duane Allman-Dickie Betts-Rossington-Collins axis (with frequent nods to Eddie Van Halen as well). Good press and strong live shows didn’t translate to record sales, and despite a promising start with the EMI releases Fervor and Lost and Found (both now out of print) the band never quite clicked. In 1989 they resurfaced on A&M with Thunder and Fire, a strong effort that shows some of Steve Earle’s influence in its hard-edged approach. In fact, Earle’s involvement (he co-wrote the album’s richest song, “Bible and a Gun”) points up a problem with Jason and the Scorchers. Where Earle’s music has grown by quantum leaps since his Guitar Town debut, Jason and the Scorchers were still singing about girls and driving in pretty much the same basic terms. Ringenberg released a solo album, One Foot In the Honky Tonk (Liberty), in 1992. © 1992 -2005 — Rolling Stone Magazine— All Rights Reserved
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