The story of jumpsuit-wearing teen dreamers Donnie & Joe Emerson is just 100% pure magic. It’s so magical it doesn’t even need wizards or beautiful princesses or dragons to spice it up. It’s about dreams, and if the June 17 release of Still Dreamin’ Wild: The Lost Recordings 1979-1981 proves anything, it’s that dreams really can come true.
For you see, as teenaged brothers growing up on the family farm in Fruitland, WA in the 1970s, the Emersons dreamed of making music. Their parents were just completely fucking awesome people, obviously, because they believed in their kids’ dreams so much that they took out a second mortgage on their farm in order to invest $100,000 in the production of their records. Using synths and 8-track recorders, the brothers recorded their 1979 private press debut Dreamin’ Wild… which immediately tanked. Soon after, the family lost most of their 1,600-acre farm. Joe decided to focus more on farming, but Donnie kept going with a solo project.
Fast forward to the new millennium, when record collector Jack Fleischer found Dreamin’ Wild at a Spokane thrift shop, thought it looked cool, and blogged about it. Soon the album got reissued by Light in the Attic, Ariel Pink and Hype Williams were covering the lead track “Baby,” and Jimmy Fallon was tweeting about his love for the LP. The brothers have even started touring, with shows at Seattle’s Showbox and New York’s Mercury Lounge. Go ahead, grab a tissue! Hug your cat! It’s a beautiful thing!
But the best part is this: there are like 60 or so songs the Emersons recorded that didn’t make it onto that original album, and that’s why Light in the Attic has decided to release a dozen more of them as Still Dreamin’ Wild: The Lost Recordings 1979-1981. With liner notes by Jack Fleischer and an interview with Donnie and Joe, the album will be available on LP/CD/digital. And there’s so much colored vinyl! You can get “snow white” vinyl! Baby blue vinyl! Red/black shag! I don’t even know what that last one means! And these color editions come with a Jingle Demo Reel 7-inch of four unreleased jingles Donnie wrote for local businesses in Washington. Fans, take note: a lot of this colored vinyl is only available through Light in the Attic pre-orders, or through store or subscriber exclusives.
Still Dreamin’ Wild: The Lost Recordings 1979-1981 tracklist:
01. Overture
02. Don’t Fight
03. Ride the Tide
04. One True Love
05. Somethin’s Comin’ Down
06. Everybody Knows It
07. Big Money
08. Ooh Baby Yeah
09. Stand By Love
10. Girl with the Rainbow Seeds
11. Since You Been with Me
12. Don’t Disguise the Way You Feel
• Donnie & Joe Emerson: http://lightintheattic.net/artists/413-donnie-joe-emerson
• Light in the Attic: http://lightintheattic.net
[Photo: WNYC]
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