Terry Manning Home Sweet Home CD

Recorded in Memphis during the late 1960s, HOME SWEET HOME is a wonderfully off-the-cuff example of the seemingly endless stream of musical creativity and strange brilliance that Memphis has to offer. Originally released in 1970 on Stax, though having few similarities with the sound and style that made that label famous, HOME SWEET HOME is studio whiz/hepcat Terry Manning's unique musical gumbo of blues, '60s psychedelia, R&B, and frat rock. Manning did nearly all the recording and playing himself (although he does get some help from a few friends, including Big Star's Chris Bell in what is believed to be Bell's first appearance on tape) over a two-year period at the famed Ardent studios. A strange album if there ever was one (check out the 10-minute-plus opening cover of George Harrison's "Savoy Truffle"), HOME SWEET HOME is by record folks for record folks: instead of listening to them at 3:00 a.m. with a bunch of friends, imagine making one.

Terry Manning's 1970 solo album, Home Sweet Home, started off as something of a joke when he recorded a deliberately over the top psychedelic version of the Box Tops' "Choo Choo Train." When Stax Records asked for a whole album of such material, Home Sweet Home was the result. Like "Choo Choo Train" (included on the final LP), the album as a whole was over the top psychedelia, and indeed over the top mimicking of several manners of late-'60s trendy excess in hard rock, blues-rock, and soul music. There's a tongue firmly planted in its cheek, however, which keeps it from being as tough an exercise to sit through as the records it was poking fun at -- though only just. Whether it's a ten-minute version of the Beatles' "Savoy Truffle" (with early Moog effects), loving Manning-penned homages/satires of Jerry Lee Lewis ("Wild Wild Rocker") and late-'60s dance-soul ("Trashy Dog"), or knowingly slightly hysterical covers of old blues tunes ("I Ain't Got You") and, again, the Beatles ("I Wanna Be Your Man"), he plows his way through the tracks with the fervid energy of a man who can't decide whether he's pulling off an inside joke or onto a work of genius. As is so often the case with these kind of projects, however, it's much more an inside joke than it is a work of genius. That's not to say it isn't amusing, and it does hold some interest for serious Big Star fans for marking the first proper studio appearances by guitarist Chris Bell. Like many somewhat silly, somewhat inspired jokes, though, many will find the humorous novelty wearing off after one or two listens. [The 2006 U.K. CD reissue on Sunbeam adds historical liner notes (including Manning's own track-by-track commentary) and three bonus tracks, two of them covers (of the Music Machine's "Talk Talk" and the Beatles' "One After 909") that Manning worked on around the time of the original sessions, the other a live cover of Ann Peebles' "I Can't Stand the Rain" from 1991.] ~ Richie Unterberger

Featuring the recording debut of Big Star's Chris Bell, this outrageously enjoyable blend of psychedelic rock, Memphis soul and dirty R&B kicks off with one of the most audacious and successful Beatles covers ever. Terry Manning was a key figure in '60s Memphis music-making -- from his experience at Stax (learning from the likes of Isaac Hayes, Ike & Tina Turner, Willie Mitchell, Booker T. Jones, Eddie Floyd, Al Green, Otis Redding, The Boxtops, Percy Sledge, The Staple Singers, Mississippi John Hurt, etc.) he became the Ardent Studios engineer/producer, and co-owner of the Ardent Records label that released the Big Star albums. Originally released on Stax's Enterprise label, this record is Manning's only solo work (he engineered, produced, and played almost all of the instruments) and features a feast of fuzz guitar, sweet vocals and funky rhythms that makes its long overdue CD debut here (complete with full liner notes and three bonus tracks), Home Sweet Home is a tongue-in-cheek blast from start to finish, and guaranteed to thrill fans.

AudNo Depression (p.80) - "HOME SWEET HOME is a record of magnificently conceived and beautifully recorded parodies, and it's not without overtones of something approaching real feeling."