1998-1999 was dominated by the The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill, a truly superb album. I first heard the Lauryn Hill album during a trip to New York City in 1998, the first time I’d traveled back to the States since moving to the Netherlands in 1994. Naturally, I was blown away. The album was about what I expected from one-third of the fabulous Fugees. However, it was another album I bought while in the Big Apple that really blew me away that year.
Whitey Ford Sings The Blues was the second solo album from Everlast. I had his first album, Forever Everlasting, an album I bought around the time it was released in 1990. Most of you out there have probably never heard of Forever Everlasting and for good reason. To say it sucked donkey balls would be a kindness. As a result, I ended up regreting the eight bucks I spent and it ended up gathering dust at the bottom of my tape collection. When “Jump Around” exploded on the scene in 1992, launching House of Pain and making all the white kids go crazy, I didn’t even make the connection to the Everlast in Forever Everlasting. That’s how little I listened to Erik Schrody’s solo debut.
When I heard the new-and-improved solo Everlast it was driving into upstate New York with the chick I was visiting and her best friend. Ends was playing on the radio and I was blown away in the back seat. The combination of guitar and flow was so different I couldn’t believe it was the House of Pain frontman, let alone the same guy who sucked so badly on Forever Everlasting. The entire album strikes a delicious balance between hip-hop and acoustic and electronic blues-pop-rock.
For the uninitiated, give the lead single from Whitey Ford Sings The Blues – “What It’s Like” – a spin to hear the less hip-hop-leaning side of the album. Learn how cool Everlast can be. Then give some thought to buying the album and checking into his later albums.
yeah its a great album, my dad had me listening to everlast when i was 8. but now that shit makes sense cus i know what its like p;