Nantucket – No Direction Home

By 1983 and still signed to RCA, it would be Nantucket’s last album for the iconic record label, though the band continuesd on.

Written by: gdmonline

ARTIST: Nantucket
ALBUM: No Direction Home
LABEL: RCA
SERIAL: ALF1-4651
YEAR: 1983
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

LINEUP: Larry Uzzell – lead & backing vocals * Tommy Redd – guitar, backing vocals * Mark Downing – guitar * Eddie Blair – keyboards, saxophone, backing vocals * David ‘Thumbs’ Johnson – bass, backing vocals * Richard Gates – drums

TRACK LISTING: 01 No Direction Home * 02 I Don’t Want To Lose You * 03 Hiding From Love * 04 Ain’t That Peculiar * 05 Morning Noon And Night * 06 Ready For Your Love * 07 Come Home Darling * 08 Never Felt This Way Before * 09 Girl I’ve Got Your Number * 10 Tennessee Whiskey

WEBLINKS: Site Link

Background

Over the years we’ve written about this North Carolina band, but we don’t seem to have covered this LP. Now we do. By 1983 and still signed to RCA, it would be Nantucket’s last album for the iconic record label, but it didn’t stop the band from rolling on into the 80’s with another LP in 1985 and a live CD in 1992.

Prior to 1982/1983, bassist Pee Wee Watson and drummer Kenny Soule had left the band (they actually left in 1981), their replacements being Johnson and Gates . With a new album recorded in 1982 by Mike Flicker (Heart, Silver Condor), Nantucket were gearing up for another run.

The Songs

I gave this an initial run through, but it was a hard ask listening to this LP in a single sitting. The tile-track opener ‘No Direction Home’ could be Roadmaster without the pomp element. Tommy Redd has nicked the guitar tone straight from Rick Benick’s bag of tricks.

‘I Don’t Want To Lose You’ is next, a ponderous opening with some slide guitar for effect. Next up is the cover of Bryan Adams ‘Hiding From Love’. The sound here is very AOR, with those cheesy synths providing a bit of a laugh all these years later.

‘Ain’t That Peculiar’ is another cover, this time from Marvin Gaye who first released it in 1965. Other notable artists have also covered it over the decades, including John Waite. Nantucket’s version is basic and slinky.

‘Morning Noon And Night’ is a cranky rocker, with a stinging guitar solo, some rabid sax work and funky bass. This was quite good. Nantucket ham it up for the fun-time rock of ‘Ready For Your Love’, which does have a slight boogie tone to it.

I think we can move on from the ballad ‘Come Home Darling’, even the song-title is a turn-off. ‘Never Felt This Way Before’ could be another track pitched in the Roadmaster, and as a result, this comes out quite well, though the sax work lightens the sound.

Nantucket really come into their own on ‘Girl I’ve Got Your Number’, which struts along nicely, the chorus is particularly good, possibly a comparison to the Michael Stanley Band is in order.

The last track ‘Tennessee Whiskey’ was one of the singles from the LP. It’s has a harder edge to it, the solo and choruses especially.

In Summary

Musically, I’ve always thought this band weren’t quite on the same level as other/similar bands playing in this style. Admittedly, a few of the songs here are quite good, and I enjoyed them.

Standout include ‘Hiding From Love’, ‘Morning Noon And Night’, ‘Never Felt This Way Before’ and the album highlight for me: ‘Girl I’ve Got Your Number’.

Nantucket did release ‘V’ in 1985 on an indie label, but after that, the band went off the grid, though they still exist and play every now and then. An acquired taste for many I would suggest.

Nantucket on Video

No Direction Home