LOST TREASURES – JJ Light

Posted on 24 April 2015

LOST TREASURES

J.J. LIGHT

“Heja!

JJ Light

By Peter Marston

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One area of my record collection that is, shall I say, underdeveloped is Native American rock. I have a few Redbone albums and a couple by Blackfoot and not much more than that. But my favorite album by a Native American artist is J.J. Light’s Heya, originally released in 1969. Light is a pseudonym for Jim Stallings, a Navajo New Mexican who came to Los Angeles in the late ’50s to pursue fame and fortune as a pop musician. After playing in a few groups (including a Mariachi band) and releasing a couple singles that flopped, Stallings met up with Bob Markley, an associate of Kim Fowley and the self-appointed frontman for the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band. Now, Markley was a charismatic scenester and Stallings quickly fell under his influence. It was Markley who convinced Stallings to adopt the stage name J.J. Light and to develop material that reflected his Native American roots (no doubt inspired by the various world music incursions into rock ’n’ roll that were characteristic of the late sixties).

jjlight 2

Signed to Liberty Records, Light went into the studio straightaway to begin work on Heya. Markley was on board as producer and the backing band was impressive: Jim Gordon and Earl Palmer on drums, Joe Osborn on bass, Larry Knechtel on piano and organ and Gary Rowles (later of Love) on guitar. The sessions were completed quickly and the album delivered to Liberty, who, as we will see, were uncertain exactly what to do with it.

 

Heya is, on the whole, an amalgam of Tex-Mex, Native American and folk-rock influences. It is, from beginning to end, a thoroughly enjoyable listen, the band loose and in the groove and Light’s vocals at once casual and passionate. The opening track, “Na Ru Ka,” is a garage rock raga piece with wild lead guitar and vocals that alternate between chanting and shouting. “Silenting Sleeping” is a gentle folk number with a traditional melody and lover-left-me lyrics. “Follow Me Girl” returns to the garage—fuzz guitar with “c’mon” and “follow me girl” laid over and over and over. “It’s Wednesday” opens with a 6/8 piano motif and then switches to a more characteristic fuzz guitar riff and a straight boogie. “Until it Snows” is a sweet waltz ballad with a wordless vocal chorus of staccato “ba-da-ba-da-dahs.” “Hello Hello, Hello” is a mid-tempo pop number that approximates a simple Lobo feel with rollicking piano. “Heya” is the most clearly Native American-influenced song with almost militant lyrics—the most distinctive song on the album. “While the World Turns to Stone” open with a “Like a Rolling Stone” organ part and approximates a Dylanesque feel throughout. “Henry Glover” continues in the Dylan vein, though this time in a third-person ballad. “Hey Yo Hanna Wa” is another song that alternates between chanting and garage shouting; the intro is “Indian Giver” and the tag a freak-out guitar solo. “Indian Disneyland” laments the marginalized status of Native Americans, placed in contrast to the plastic pleasures of Disney’s theme park. “On the Road Now” closes the album with a shambling, lite-psych groove.

JJ Light CD back

Perhaps nervous about the ethnic vibe of the album, Liberty hesitated to release the album domestically. Instead, a single—the song “Heya” b/w “On the Road Now”—was released in Europe and South America and was a substantial international hit. Shortly thereafter, the album was released in many of those same markets and sold reasonably well. It is clear that Liberty was ambivalent about a U.S. release, as a U.S. promo 45 of “Heya” was pressed and distributed and a Liberty LP number was assigned to the album. Still, neither the album nor the single was ever given a U.S. release. Stallings, of course, went on to join the Sir Douglas Quintet as a bassist and appeared on several of their later LPs.

 

Heya was reissued on CD by Sunbeam in 2007 and is also available in the digital domain. The Sunbeam reissue is a good value as it includes 12 bonus tracks originally recorded in late 1969 for a never-released follow-up to Heya (and they are generally as good as the original LP). Fans of the Sir Douglas Quintet and Texas ’60s pop-rock should definitely have a listen!

 

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Pop Pioneer and “Lost Treasures” writer, Peter Marston is the leader of long-running power pop band, Shplang, whose most recent album, “My Big Three Wheeler” has been described as “the Beatles meet Zappa in pop-psych Sumo match.”  Peter has a new project in 2015 under the name MARSTON.   They will have a track on the upcoming “Power Pop Planet – Volume 5” compilation due in May, 2015.

You check it out at this link:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/shplang

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LINKS:

AMG Review:  http://www.allmusic.com/album/heya!-mw0000579988

Blog Post:  http://therisingstorm.net/jj-light-heya/   and http://badcatrecords.com/BadCat/LIGHTjj.htm

 

VIDEOS:

“HEYA”

“ON THE ROAD NOW”

“GALLUP NEW MEXICO”

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