Rainey Day Music by The Jayhawks

reviewed by Jimmy “Hambone” Hamilton

Wherever I have hung my hat over the years there has always been a music default. A switch you automatically hit when you come in the door that provides the soundtrack for your personal bio-pic.
        
In high school it was my first stereo, with the dial permanently tuned to KY-102.
        
In my college apartment it was an 8-track deck, and the rotating selections were Frampton Comes Alive and Alan Parson’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination.
        
Over the years the stations and formats have evolved with the technology, but the need to have music in the background has continued unchecked. These days, the default has turned out to be a channel provided by my local cable tv box.
        
I’m not sure how I ever found the music channels in the first place. They don’t really promote them much. I was probably channel-surfing and fell asleep with my finger on the channel up button. Or maybe young Julien, my favorite visiting toddler, re-programmed the remote yet again. Either way, once I found it, I was hooked.
        
There are a number of selections to choose from all commercial free, with no DJ chatter. I occasionally switch to 70’s Hits for a little Steely Dan fix, or sometimes Motown Classics for some Old School R&B, but most times you’ll stop by and find me tuned to Adult Contemporary on channel 713. They program a really unusual mix of old and new that is almost always right in my wheelhouse.
        
Quite a few songs on the playlist are selections from my personal collection. And not just the hits either. A bunch of times I’ve run in the other room because I couldn’t believe they were playing Frank Zappa’s “Dirty Love,” or maybe the Talking Heads “Up All Nite.”  They also show the artist, year, song title and album title, which come in handy when I holler in at the Queen to find out what the name of some band is.
        
My favorite channel has also introduced me to some great music I might have missed otherwise. A perfect example is “Rainy Day Music” by the Jayhawks.
        
One day a couple years ago, I found myself singing the chorus of a song, as I drove down the highway. I didn’t know many words, something about “save it for a rainy day”, and realized I didn’t know the song or the artist, or for that matter even where I had heard it. I scanned my admittedly damaged short term memory, but couldn’t come up with it.
        
A week or so later I was half snoozing on the couch with the sound turned low and caught myself humming along with the tune again. I excitedly sat up to see who it was. Hmm, the Jayhawks, I’d heard of them, alt-country guys. Been around a while, but never hit it too big. I filed it away on my mental hard drive, such as it is. Over the next few weeks, I heard the song several more times, liking it more each time, until I had to make a run to my favorite music retailer.
        
I probably have a thousand CD’s with one song I had stuck in my head on it, but when I get it home I find the rest of it sucks. You would think I would learn, but no, I continue to make the same mistake over and over. This time however, luck was with me.  Found a clean, pre-owned copy for 6 bucks. Score! I popped it in the CD player before I made it out of the parking lot. What a pleasant surprise.
        
The first tune, “Stumbling through the Dark” hit me immediately. The beautiful acoustic guitar work. The incredible harmonies. It was my new favorite song.  At least until “Tailspin” came in as the second track, a little more up-tempo, with a great pop hook.
        
But then, “All the Right Reasons” took over my top spot once I heard it as the third cut. This sentimental ballad would make a great wedding song. (It always makes the Queen a little misty.)
        
Finally, “Save it For A Rainy Day,” the reason I bought the CD in the first place. I had temporarily forgotten about it, with the discovery of the first 3 songs, but hearing it again, in its proper place, immediately moved it back to the top of my favorite list.
        
And this is how it went, right through the end of the CD. I couldn’t believe what a beautifully put together collection this was, every song perfectly situated to carry the listener along on a musical journey. And I had never heard of it.
        
I have since done some research, and learned a few things. For instance:  The Jayhawks started in Minneapolis back in 1985. They aren’t from Lawrence, Ks., and have nothing to do with the college mascot of the same name. Various members have come and gone through the years as they put out seven different CD’s under the Jayhawks’ name.
        
The three contributors to the “Rainy Day Music” CD are Gary Louris, Marc Perlman and Tim O’Reagan. All three wrote songs for the disk, and they take turns on lead vocals. I have since checked out other Jayhawks releases, and while all were satisfying and well made records, I keep coming back to this one. It has been in my car for a couple of years now, and even after the initial fifty playings in the first month, as I so often do, it still gets a listen every other month or so. This is a sign of a truly great CD in my book.
        
Now let me be clear. There is no big radio hit here. Rascal Flats probably won’t be covering any of these songs anytime soon. (At least I hope not). But if you like your music on the mellow side or if alt-country is your bag, find a copy of this disk and give it a listen. I bet it becomes one of your favorites like it has mine.