It is the mission of this 30th Century Man to bring to the readers of Indie Schmarm albums from the past with a story behind them. The tragic commercial flop of a next-big-thing band, the unsung masterpiece of 1968, the daring departure from an artist’s catalog on which he plumbed the depths of a dark side he’d never been before or since…these are the types of albums I will bring to you, dear reader, and together we will celebrate them.
Album: “Twin Engine” by Twin Engine
Recorded/Released: 1971/2004
Obscurity Factor: VII
In 1971, two talented songwriter friends paired up and recorded an album’s worth of glistening, free and easy country rock, featuring appearances by Byrd Chris Hillman and Burrito Brother slide legend Sneaky Pete Kleinow. Suddenly their major label folds and the money to bring the album to light vanishes, the only proof of their work being two acetates. Then one gets lost. How did this album ever see the light of day?
Randy Naylor, one half of Twin Engine, recalls the acetate’s rediscovery: “…I actually found it, it was at my ex-wife’s house for the longest time, and my older brother brought it over one day with some 78s and stuff. Amazingly, it was still intact…and nobody seems to have any copy of it at all.”
Naylor’s partner Constantine Gusias also owned an acetate of the album but lost it when he entrusted a box of his records to a friend with a house in Silver Lake, CA. “…My neighbor sold his house and I lost…all my tapes from the sixties and my Twin Engine acetate.”
After thirty plus years of oblivion “Twin Engine” found its way to Rev-ola records, who in 2004 released it on CD. The album displays the talents of the two songwriters equally, both taking turns at the helm of gentle, lush country tunes. Naylor’s “Mistress of the Morning” has ethereal, playful qualities akin to McCartney’s “Here, There and Everywhere” with a slightly bigger sound. Twin Engine would’ve been right at home opening for The Flying Burrito Brothers with Gusias’ “No Time is Better Than Now,” but he really shines with the album’s triumphant opener “Give My Love a Chance.”
I’ll update you if the legendary lost acetate ever gets discovered in an LA attic. In the meantime do yourself a favor and tackle the comparatively simple task of finding a copy of “Twin Engine.”
-30the Century Man
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