Liverpool’s been responsible for more magnificent near-misses in rock than most of us have had the proverbial hot dinners over the past 40-odd years, but if there’s one man who seems to have continually pulled up on the quayside just as the ship’s slipped its’ moorings it’s surely Edgar ‘Summertyme’ Jones: surely the epitome of someone who has promised so much, continually delivered artistically and been left helplessly waving his ticket as the waves of success again abate before his very eyes.
Like most folk, this hack first caught sight of Mr. Jones when he was playing bass for the post-Bunnymen Ian McCulloch circa the ‘Candleland’ tour. He was a handy musician who reminded this writer of a young Leonard Nimoy in looks at the time, but little did I know he was already formulating a plan for fame and fortune under the aegis of THE STAIRS: the cult trio he was about to form, sign to Go! Discs and – if they’d had a sniff or three of justice – sell shedloads of records and become a household name.
Naturally, hindsight would make a mockery of this plan as Edgar and his bandmates Ged Lynn (guitar/ vocals) , drummer Paul Maguire and occasional fourth member Jason Otty (harmonica) would indeed sign to Go! Discs, record the legendary EP “Weed Bus” (which did get loads of airplay) and the under-rated album “Mexican R’n’B” which flew straight into the face of Grunge and was cruelly mentioned only in dispaches by most save for the faithful at the time. Undaunted, Edgar has gone his own sweet way since, forming the hotly-tipped but equally overlooked quartet The Big Kids (with soon-to-be members of The Stands and Zutons) and more recently releasing the incredible, genre-defying “Soothing Music For Stray Cats” album as simply Edgar ‘Jones’ Jones. Noel Gallagher’s favourite album of 2005, no less.
Oh well, one day the world will surely catch up with Edgar, and until then, let’s remind ourselves why The Stairs have since become a huge influence on the ‘new’ Liverpool by immersing ourselves in this excellent collection “Right In The Back Of Your Mind” on the impeccable Viper label. Not actually the rumoured ‘lost’ second Stairs album (though it does feature three songs recorded with Liam Watson which I assume might have been included should that mythical event have come to pass) but a tremendous collection of demos, previously unreleased tracks and alternative versions which hangs together surprisingly cohesively as an entity in its’ own right.
The album kicks off with a previously unreleased demo of their ‘greatest hit’ “Weed Bus”. It’s an excellent, gritty version and instantly recognisable thanks to Ged Lynn’s “Last Time”-style riff and Edgar’s growling delivery. Looking back, it’s amazing they got such a transparently obvious ode to the joys of mari-ju-wanna on the radio, but the song’s mid-60s Stones/ Chocolate Watch Band feel remains as infectious as ever, as do tracks like “Laughter In Their Eyes” (a Scouse Turtles, anyone?) and the Americana-tinged, La’s-style canter of “Out In The Country”.
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Elsewhere, you’re soon reminded just how aggressive The Stairs could be on their night. Though primitive in sound quality, “Mr. Window Pane” , from the band’s first demo, benefits from a beefy, Who/ Creation-style riff powering it along; a live version of Bo Diddley’s “You Don’t Love Me (You Don’t Care)” is gutsy and wired and “Right In The Back Of Your Mind” is very much The Stairs’ ‘Detroit’ moment from the crunching, “Kick Out The Jams”-esque riff through to the expansive, “Looking At You”-style middle section meltdown.
Naturally, The Stairs’ raw’n’descriptive pop pill often came coated in psychedelia too. To this end, witness tracks like “Happyland” with its’ “Sergeant Pepper” brass/ keyboards and backwards masking, not to mention “Fall Down Like The Rain” with its’ searing, wigged-out final section and “Sometimes The World Escapes Me” which features some especially inspired, mind-altering guitar from Lynn and one of Edgar’s more arresting vocals.
If all this wasn’t exciting enough, the album concludes with three tracks recorded with the Mk.2 line-up of Summertyme/Jones, Maguire and guitarist Daniel Kierney with producer Liam Watson. Watson’s Toe Rag Studios in Wapping would become famous a decade later by dint of their white-coated curator recording albums by the likes of The White Stripes and Kills in situ but here, his analogous surroundings also suit The Stairs well. “Stop Messin’” finds them taking a heavier, Hendrix/ Cream blues-rock route (nearer to the sound Edgar would imbue with soul to form the starting point for The Big Kids), while “It Was Alright” cops a motif akin to Spencer Davis’s “Keep On Running” and could easily have been a single, and the closing “Cabbage Man” features a grandstanding, Who-ish intro and is a fine, celebratory way to wind this collection up.
Of course, while it’s true The Stairs were tangible contenders there for an 18-month spell or so, hindsight proves that really Edgar ‘Summertyme’ Jones’s vision was and remains a truly singular one and that – inevitably - the world at large would miss out while the dream remained alive. Nonetheless, thanks to Viper’s usual care and attention, a sizeable chunk of his legacy is again in our midst and settling down “Right In The Back Of Your Mind” once again proves itself to be the sensibly groovy option.
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