J Howard Duff

Musician / Teacher / Nice Jacket Recording Artist

Time Pieces

Time Pieces Front Cover.jpg
 

Review from the Aquarian weekly

Mike Greenblatt: Rant 'N' Roll

J. Howard Duff… Rock Star

In 1973, 18-year-olds could legally drink in New Jersey. Bars all across the state catered to those 18 and over by employing live rock ‘n’ roll bands. It was a glorious time to be a Jersey Boy… so much great music, freedom, and girls. As a healthy red-blooded 22-year-old, I fully indulged in the moment, singing in cover bands, reviewing other bands in these very pages, and having the time of my life. One of the bands I wrote about, befriended, jammed with, and got high with was called The Institution. Its lead guitarist was a hairy-headed hippie by the name of J. Howard Duff, who had been at it since 1967. I can still see him in my mind’s eye at a Staten Island joint called The Hofbrau House playing a rock-hard guitar and covering the Aretha Franklin hit “Chain Of Fools” which he sang like nobody’s business.
Fast-forward 46 years, and J. Howard Duff is still making music, still singing and playing that rock-hard guitar. He’s no different, in that sense, from Keith Richards who once said, “about myself I have no illusions. I know what I am. I know what I’m good at. I know what I ain’t. I’m always hoping to surprise myself. But I do have a love of music and I do love to communicate it, and that’s the best I can do, really. And I can raise a good family, too.” When I asked Duff to comment for this article, he gave me that Keith quote.
Duff moved decades ago to South Carolina with his vocalist girlfriend Dawn Gaye, his wife for the last 40 years. They’re still together. She’s a story unto herself. She was 16 at Woodstock. I interviewed her for my book but the tale she told was edited out for being too salacious. I do intend to tell that story one day with her permission. For now, though, my ears are burning with J. Howard Duff’s new self-released album, Time Pieces, that resurrects and revitalizes 14 rockin’ gems from ’62 to ‘70. Like Steve Van Zandt’s “Underground Garage” radio show, Duff has amassed these oh-so-discreet picks, performing them—some with Gaye singing lead—in different ways that accentuate their unerring feel for this era of music. His honesty comes across loud and clear. Some songs you might know—“Factory Girl,” Stones; “I Ain’t Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore,” Young Rascals; “Lonely Avenue,” Ray Charles; and “The Stealer,” Free—but most you won’t (deep cuts by The Kinks, The Yardbirds, The Beau Brummels, The Syndicate Of Sound, The Shadows Of Knight, Richard & The Young Lions, Paul Revere & The Raiders, The Hollies, and The Institution). It’s a time trip back to when we were all young and the sky was the limit.


You can digitally download Time Pieces at Amazon, Apple Music, iTunes, and CD Baby. You can buy a CD on his website.

Notes about the tracks

1: OPEN UP YOUR DOOR. 1966 by Richard & the Young Lions. They were the 1st local band (two towns over from me) that "made it big". Howie Tepp was the lead singer (R.I.P.) and Mr. Cool. The bassist, Richard Rackin came over to our band after they lost their record contract. Nationally it reached #70 on the Cash Box chart, but was a #1 record in Cleveland & Detroit.Vocal on this done by Dawn Gaye (renowned Partners In Crime Punk Rock vocalist).

2: I NEED YOU. 1965 by The Kinks. Flip side of "Set Me Free". It was an incredible mix of rock, and what was to become punk & metal, using a semi blues progression! God Save The Kinks!

3: RAIN. 1966 by The Beatles. Flip side of "Paperback Writer", but like many other Beatles songs, it charted, reaching #23 on the Billboard chart. This one is for Lee Frog.

4: FACTORY GIRL. 1968 by The Rolling Stones. From their comeback LP "Beggars Banquet". I have always loved the word picture that the lyrics paint.

5: HEART FULL OF SOUL. 1965 by The Yardbirds. The 1st single that featured Jeff Beck as lead guitarist of the group (Eric Clapton had left three months prior to this). Reached #9 in the U.S. charts on Billboard. One of the most incredible bands of the 60's.

6: DON'T TALK TO STRANGERS. 1965 by The Beau Brummels. The 4th single by this great West Coast group, it peaked at #52 on Billboard. "Folk-Rock" at it's best.

7: LITTLE GIRL (MAN). While I changed up this 1966 song from the original recording by The Syndicate of Sound, it (hopefully) maintains the same "get lost & I don't care" attitude of the original Peaked at #5 on Cash Box. Dawn Gaye sneers her way through the lead vocals.

8: DARK SIDE. 1966 by The Shadows of Knight. The flip side of the hit single "Gloria" One of the original "garage rock" bands, these guys from the Chicago suburbs were, to me, the American Rolling Stones. Just check out their 1st LP "Gloria". You won't be disappointed!

9: TIME WILL TELL. 1967 song written by Marvin Coopersmith & Phil Rubin from Union NJ. It was originally done by The Institution but, unfortunately was never released. An awesome song. (c2019; BMI)

10: UPS & DOWNS. 1967 by Paul Revere & the Raiders. One of the many hits by a band that deserves to be in the R n'R Hall of Fame. Made it to #22 on Billboard and just one of their 15 top 40 singles from 1961 thru 1971. If the clowns who run the Hall can put Abba in (yeah, now THAT'S Rock & Roll), these guys should have been there ten years ago.

11: I CAN'T LET GO. 1966 by The Hollies .Reached #42 on Billboard charts. The Hollies are probably my 2nd or 3rd favorite band of all time. If this collection makes you do nothing else, PLEASE check out the music of these guys. The guitar playing of Tony Hicks, the vocals of Allan Clarke & Graham Nash, the INCREDIBLE drumming of the great Bobby Elliot, & the rest of the band is just amazing. And, they are still, like The Stones, at it today.

12: I AIN"T GONNA EAT OUT MY HEART ANYMORE. 1965 by The Young Rascals. Long Island blue eyed soul. Played before them at The Cheetah Club in NYC. This was their 1st single, reaching #52 on the Billboard charts. For JHD devotees (all three of you), you may recognize the riff at the fade from a little known 1977 EP called "I Told You So".

13: LONELY AVENUE. This was originally done by Ray Charles in 1956, but I first heard it as a mere child of 12 in 1962 on an LP by Joey Dee & the Starliters. Loved it then & love it now. This is a live version from The Roasting Room in 2018, with my band, Red, White & Blues.

14: THE STEALER: For me, this song marked the end of the decade & the start of a new musical sound that would change what was the music of the 60's. The brashness was a bit more brash, but the innocence was gone. I guess this is reflective of our lives as we get older.
This was the follow up single to the massive hit by Free, "All Right Now". It is the one song on this project that I tried my best to mimic the style of the original. Rodgers, Kossoff (RIP), Frasier (RIP), & Kirke are hard to duplicate. I hope I have done them a modicum of justice. Peaked at #49 on the Billboard chart.

CREDITS:

DAWN GAYE: Lead vocal on tracks 1, 7; backing vocal on track 12.

CHRIS GLICK: African drum: track 1, Percussion on tracks 4,5,7,12

LONELY AVENUE BAND (track 13):

Ed Switella: drums
Fred Warren: rhythm guitar
Jeff Rigg: keys
Dave Skinner: sax
Allyn Perdue: bass
J.Howard Duff: vocal & lead guitar


J. HOWARD DUFF: All lead vocals (except 1 & 7), all backing vocals (except 12), all electric, acoustic, 12 string & bass guitars, keyboards, accordion & percussion

RECORDED at JD STUDIOS, Ridgeland SC 6/19 thru 8/19 in ANALOG MONO on tape.

PRODUCED by J. Howard Duff

MASTERED by Bill Gwynne at Person to Person Media, Bluffton, SC

Copyright©2019 NICE JACKET RECORDS #009; All songs used by permission