Genre: rock
Rating: 3 stars ***
Title: Tears
Company: Backstreet
Catalog: MCA-3172
Year: 1979
Country/State: Oakton, Virginia
Grade (cover/record): VG / VG
Comments: minor ring wear front and back covers; promo stamp front cover
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 5
Price: $8.00
This one came to my attention due to the fact guitarist Alan Adkins and singer Charles Woods Pearson had been members of Charlie and the Pep Boys who managed to release one mildly entertaining album before falling apart. With the addition of former Bux guitarist Erik Cartwright the late 1970s found the pair continuing their musical collaboration in the band Tears.
Signed by MCA's Backstreet subsidiary, the cover of 1979's cleverly titled "Tears" would have you think 'faceless 1970s AOR' and to an extent that was an apt description. Co-produced by John Stronach and J. Stevens Soles the album (and their personal looks - purple jacket, skinny ties) were clearly crafted to appeal to late-1970s AOR-oriented radio. With all three members contributing to the writing chores originality certainly wasn't a prime ingredient or concern. Instead imagine a mixture featuring a big helping of Kevin Cronin and REO Speedwagon-styled rock moves ('My My She Lies'), a touch of Eric Carmen and the Raspberries-styled pop, and a touch of new wave jitter ('Urban Girl') and you'd have a feel for the set. That description wasn't meant as a slam since the mixture was actually far better than what anyone would have expected and several of the songs were actually quite good. Woods Pearson had a nice and commercial voice and the trio exhibited a knack for crafting catchy hooks (check out 'Cool Your Jets'). 'Laziest Boy', 'My Temptation' and the surprisingly funky 'Horizontal Boogie' were nice if mindless rockers that would have sounded good on top-40 radio. Too bad the whole album wasn't as enjoyable.
"Tears" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) More Than a Miracle (Alan Adkins) - 3:07
2.) My My She Lies (Alan Adkins - Charles Woods Pearson) - 4:09
3.) Laziest Boy (Erik Cartwright - Charles Woods Pearson) - 3:38
4.) Urban Girl (Alan Adkins - Charles Woods Pearson) - 3:13
5.) My Temptation (Alan Adkins - Charles Woods Pearson) - 4:17
(side 2)
1.) I Cover the Waterfront (Alan Adkins) - 3:19
2.) Sittin' Pretty (Alan Adkins - Charles Woods Pearson) - 2:42
3.) Cool Your Jets (Erik Cartwright - Charles Woods Pearson) -4:14
4.) Horizontal Boogie (Alan Adkins - Charles Woods Pearson) - 5:01
The album did nothing commercially and the trio apparently called it quits shortly thereafter.
In 1981 Cartwright replaced Rod Price in a late-inning incarnation of Foghat. He recorded three albums with the band and when Foghat called it quits in 1983, joined former Foghat colleagues Roger Earl and Craig MacGregor in The Knee Tremblers (great name for a rock band). A couple of years later the group reverted to the Foghat nameplate, which under legal threat became Roger Earl's Foghat. It all came to an end when the original Foghat reformed in 1993 leaving Cartwright out of a job. He then briefly hooked up as a member of guitarist Pat Travers band. Last update I found had him living in Idaho where he was working at a local music store.
Pearson seems to have a FaceBook presence though I've never felt like bothering him:
http://www.facebook.com/people/Charles-Woods-Pearson/1434759664