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(Still On The) Eve Of Destruction
P.F. Sloan
All The Best Records, 1993
REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 03/05/1998
If you were growing up in the mid-'60s listening to the radio,
the name P.F. Sloan may ring a bell with you. He was the songwriter
behind such hits as "Eve Of Destruction" (a hit for Barry McGuire)
and "Secret Agent Man" (for Johnny Rivers), but he met with brick
wall after brick wall every time he tried to record his own
songs... kind of reminds me of the movie
Grace Of My Heart.
However, it has only been recently that Sloan has gotten the
chance to release an album of his own work, and while
(Still On The) Eve Of Destruction has a few warts, one
wonders what the hell the suits were thinking back around 1968 when
they said "no" to his recording solo.
With the assistance of a few friends, Sloan shows he has a
capable, if not stellar, voice to give life to his creations. It is
quite powerful in the gentle moments, and is right at home when the
tempo is increased. He likewise is a capable musician on guitar and
keyboards, but I often wished he hadn't resorted to electronics in
the keyboard department. Acoustic piano is so much prettier.
Sloan took a big chance when he decided to re-record his two big
hits - this could have been very dangerous. Luckily, the versions
either stay in the same style or improve on the originals. While
Rivers will always be
the person who sang "Secret Agent Man," Sloan (with the help
of Young Fresh Fellows as the backing band) is just as powerful of
a vocalist on this track. However, he chose to update "Eve Of
Destruction" to reflect some of the environmental risks we take
each day, and the new version, while thought-provoking, is also
much gentler than the original. (In one sense, the gentleness of
the track could work to Sloan's disadvantage.)
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