Come 1993, and small British label Now And Then signed Jeff Paris to their fledgling roster for the release of ‘Lucky This Time’.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Jeff Paris
ALBUM: Lucky This Time
LABEL: Now And Then
SERIAL: NTHEN6
YEAR: 1993
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Jeff Paris – all vocals, all instruments * Michael Thompson, Brett Walker, Mike Gray, Jan Kuehnemund – additional guitars
TRACK LISTING: 01 Lucky This Time * 02 Wrong Side Of Love * 03 House On Fire * 04 Touched By Fire * 05 Never Stop Falling * 06 Jump The Gun * 07 Stop Playin’ With My Heart * 08 After The Tears Are Gone * 09 Baby Break Mine * 10 Rest In Pieces * 11 State Of The Heart * 12 Lifeline * 13 Matter Of Time * 14 Gypsy Heart
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
During the mid-late 80’s, Jeff Paris ran with a record deal with Polygram/Mercury. Even though that relationship produced just two albums, Paris was nevertheless, dropped by the label after the 1987 effort ‘Wired Up’. Undeterred, Paris continued on, wearing his preferred songwriter hat.
He created successful material for the likes of Vixen, Michael Thompson Band, Mr Big and to a lesser extent, had collaborations with fellow songwriters Gregg Tripp and Brett Walker. Jeff also formed a duo with MTB‘s Mooh Calhoun as Moon Over Paris. Several demos were recorded during 1990, but no deal was ever finalised with any label.
The Songs
Come 1993, and small British label Now And Then signed Jeff Paris to their fledgling roster, for the release of ‘Lucky This Time’. The album was a collection of songs (like a greatest hts package) that were part of Jeff’s songwriting efforts after ‘Wired Up’. There are many highlights here,.
Some are familiar, including a stripped back acoustic version of ‘Matter Of Time’, so too the version of ‘Never Stop Falling’ from the 1989 ‘MTB’ album. A couple of Mr Big efforts ‘Wrong Side Of Love’ and ‘Touched By Love’ are included here, while ‘State Of The Heart’ was a co-write written with Vixen‘s Jan Kuehnemund. With fourteen tracks up for grabs, there is something for everyone.
In Summary
There are a wealth of songs here, but to me they come across as decent tunes with a middling self-made production, more than anything else. Jeff is credited as playing all instruments with additional guitars provided by Michael Thompson, Brett Walker, Mike Gray and Jan Kuehnemund.
If I recall correctly, Jeff also turned up at the 1993 Gods Of AOR Festival, a rarity for him at that point of his career. There are some soundboard recordings of his October ’93 performance out there on the Net somewhere. I haven’t bothered to track them down. Jeff would go on to release two more albums further into the 90’s: ‘Smack’ and ‘Freak Flag’.
Jeff Paris on Video
Lucky This Time
Lifeline
