Swinging Steaks - Southside Of The Sky (1993)

When the Swinging Steaks were signed to Capricorn Records, the label produced seven tracks and lifted five more from their 1992 debut Suicide at the Wishing Well. "Do Me a Favor" and "Circlin'" were taken as is, while the songs "Beg, Steal or Borrow," "Right Through You," and the title track "Suicide at the Wishing Well" were remixed by producer Gary Katz and engineer Wayne Yergellun. For their major label debut, the failure to include Jimmy Miller's superior production of the Mick Jagger/Keith Richards composition "Live With Me" was a definite oversight, but maybe Phil Walden's label was interested more in the country-pop side of this group. "Do Me a Favor" still sounds like a distant cousin to Jackson Browne's "Redneck Friend," while "Circlin'" is the best overall track -- a masterpiece by Tim Giovanniello. Jamie Walker's new title track, "Southside of the Sky," opens the album for 45 seconds, and then is reprised with the nearly three-minute full version at the album's close. It's a good song one expects from these highly consistent journeymen. Their debut contained 17 songs, and this now out of print album featured seven new tracks; compiling both as a single unit of their music from 1992-1993 would be advisable.