We recorded four albums on the Capitol label. In 1980, despite our successes, we found ourselves without a recording contract. We were at the height of our musical prowess but were unable to gain a national audience. Bewildered and exhausted, we called it quits. [www.johntroy.com]

Always go to the bass player for the straight poop on things. In any event, the Pousette-Dart Band, the group John Troy speaks of, petered out in 1981 after 4 strong albums (Pousette-Dart Band, Amnesia, 3, and Never Enough) that failed to break nationally, though the band remained popular in New England and the Northeast.

During their career, they were a college touring draw and opened and/or toured with acts as diverse as Yes, Peter Frampton, Bonnie Raitt, Billy Joel, Little Feat, Loggins & Messina, and others.

Jon Pousette-Dart summed up the experience in much the same way that Troy does, proving that a sense of humor is the key to surviving disappointments, whether personal, professional, or both.

“When things got scary—as the seventies petered out and the eighties skulked in,” Pousette-Dart muses, “while folks were trying to figure out how they ever got stuck in the position of having to choose between Donna Summer and Johnny Rotten, the original Pousette-Dart Band did what any halfway moral, responsible band would do—we took a break.” [www.pousette-dart.com]

For a long time after the band broke up I was bummed. I managed to see a Pousette-Dart solo show at one point in the early 1990s and that was somewhat disappointing as he was, of course, playing new songs rather than his older chestnuts. With the advent of the CD, I waited patiently for Capitol Records to remaster and release their old records. I waited, waited, and waited some more. For fans keeping score at home, my message is to keep waiting.

Pousette-Dart recently responded to a fan’s question about the availability of old records by posting:

”… I have been trying very hard to resolve issues in regards to the catalogue with Capitol for sometime. . . . My main concern has been trying to get the original Masters to re-issue them in their original form (in CD) however, Capitol has not been helpful thus far in allowing that to occur. . . .” [see Pousette-Dart Forum, “Out-of-Print recordings,” 12-22-06]

There is some measure of relief, however, with the availability of The Best of the Pousette-Dart Band (1998, ARM Records/EMI Special Markets), something that Pousette-Dart was able to get clearances to release, but the four albums that made the band are still in record company negotiation limbo.

So, in essence, The Best of the Pousette-Dart Band is an anomaly among “best ofs.” It’s a collection of availabilities, rather than possibilities. It’s a peek at what PDB can offer without being the full picture. It’s "the best of" that one can do at the moment.

But, there are some terrific moments here, though I can quibble about what could not be included. It’s a “Best of” that I will gladly share notice of because it’s a unique offering of a band that no longer exists; one whose memory has been washed away by record company intransigence. And, in this age of independent artists, it serves as a bit of a warning of what a band’s legacy can be if they do NOT have control over their masters and material.

Therefore, The Best of the Pousette-Dart Band collects tracks from their 4 albums to varying degrees due to the rights and permissions that Pousette-Dart was able to get from the record company. Nine tracks are from the first album; 9 from the second; 1 from the third; and 3 from the fourth. With 22 tracks total, this is a representative introduction to the band and at very least, gives listeners most of their first and second albums on CD. Their first album, in particular, was a strong debut and a satisfying collection of their country-folk-rock stewpot of sound and sentiment.

Highlights
The first album, Pousette-Dart band was very much a “relationship” album; the majority of the songs deal with feelings and attachments related to being in or out of a romantic entanglement. The best tracks remain What Can I Say, There’s Been a Mistake and two very impressionistic emotional sketches: Woman in My Dreams and All Your Lonely Hours.

The nine tracks from Amnesia include Fall On Me, which was used in an episode of Lost not too long ago. That track alone, might be worth the price of admission for some. Other highlights include County Line, Amnesia, I Don’t Know Why, and a fabulous lullaby-like song in Yaicha.

Pousette-Dart’s third album was a strong one about the various stages of belief (love, fate, people, places and the spiritual). It included a terrific version of the Ben E. King classic Stand By Me showcasing John Curtis’s abilities on mandolin, and a poetic vocal reading by Pousette-Dart.

The “Best Of” neglects to include the title track Never Enough from their final album but includes the solid relationship rocker Gotta Get Far Away penned by Curtis, Cheated, an album track about disappointment by Pousette-Dart, and an American traditional arranged by bassist John Troy.

Quibbles aside (The Loving One, Where are You Going, and Lord’s Song from the third album), The Best of the Pousette-Dart Band does what it set out to do: remind people of a terrific but under-appreciated band from the 1970s; one lost in the confusion of disco, punk, new wave, and corporate rock acts that were prevalent. The Pousette-Dart Band was a square peg in a round hole; but worthy of listener’s investigation (four stars).

[Their sound should appeal to fans of early Eagles, James Taylor, and other 1970s folk-rock acts.]

Tracks
1. What Can I Say (J. Pousette-Dart)
2. Dancer (J. Pousette-Dart)
3. Freezing Hot (J. Pousette-Dart)
4. There's Been A Mistake (J. Pousette-Dart)
5. Harder (J. Pousette-Dart)
6. Woman in My Dreams (J. Pousette-Dart)
7. All Your Lonely Hours (J. Pousette-Dart)
8. Halo (J. Curtis)
9. Smile on Me (J. Pousette-Dart)
10. County Line (J. Pousette-Dart/J. Curtis)
11. Fall on Me (J. Pousette-Dart)
12. Amnesia (J. Pousette-Dart)
13. I Think I Know (J. Pousette-Dart)
14. May You Dance (J. Pousette-Dart)
15. I Don't Know Why (J. Pousette-Dart)
16. Winterness (J. Pousette-Dart)
17. Listen to the Spirit (J. Pousette-Dart)
18. Yaicha (J. Pousette-Dart)
19. Stand by Me (King/Lieber/Stoller)
20. Gotta Get Far Away (J. Curtis)
21. Cheated (J. Pousette-Dart)
22. Hallelujah I'm a Bum (traditional, arr. by J. Curtis)
Total time: 70:05
All tracks produced by Norbert Putnam, except for “Stand By Me” by Hank Medress and Dave Appell.

The Pousette-Dart Band was:
Jon Pousette-Dart (electric and acoustic guitars, slide guitar, vocals), John Curtis (electric and acoustic guitars, vocals), John Troy (bass, vocals), with the following drummers (among others): Alison Cook (drums on first two records), the late Kenneth Buttrey (drums and percussion on first two records; he died in 2004) and Michael Dawe (drums, percussion, vocals) on third and fourth records. Eric Parker from the John Hall Band appeared on the reunion album in 1994.

Sources
To order: http://www.armarm.com/Order/order.mv?
www.pousette-dart.com, www.johntroy.com, www.allmusic.com

[Note: Pousette-Dart's solo career continues. His site includes samples of solo material, as well as a number of exceptional rare tracks: ones that never made it on a PDB album. He, with his sister Joanna, also manages the estate of his late father, the abstract expressionist painter Richard Pousette-Dart (1916-1992). The album cover features a detail from his work "Bird Woman."]

[John Troy’s site keeps people up-to-date on his solo career with a sense of humor throughout. John Curtis' still plays guitar and teaches in the New England area. The group has stayed in contact and played together on an occasional basis (the band appears on Pousette-Dart’s latest solo release.)]

Selected Pousette-Dart Band Discography:
Pousette-Dart Band 1976, Capitol Records
Amnesia 1977, Capitol Records: see review. It reached number 143 on the Billboard charts.
3 1978, Capitol Records; reached number 161 on the Billboard charts.
Never Enough 1979, Capitol Records; had a number 83 single on the Billboard charts with “For Love.”
See review of Never Enough/3 import release.
Live at Sigma Sound, Philadelphia, (November 15, 1977) 1978, Capitol Records
Pousette-Dart 1994 (Artist’s Resource Management, out of print); 10 tracks from these sessions were later re-released on Ready to Fly 1998, Artist’s Resource Management (3 additional tracks were added; Michael Dawe appeared on 2)
The Best of the Pousette-Dart Band 1998, Artist’s Resource Management

[This is part of an occasional series on "Blasts from My Past."]

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Romancing