Reach Up and Touch the Sky
Encyclopedia
Reach Up and Touch the Sky, sometimes called Reach Out and Touch the Sky, is a 1981 double
live
album by Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes
. Released on Mercury Records
in 1981 to satisfy the contract of the band, which had recently broken up, it was a moderate commercial success, charting in the United States and reviving the band's flagging sales. It was also critically well received. In 2003, the Rough Guide to Rock
indicated that the album was the band's "defining moment".
was related to the band's close connection with such then old-school rock as Bruce Springsteen
in the era of punk rock
. At the end of 1980, Southside Johnny
broke up the band (though it later reunited), and the double live album was released in 1981 to complete the band's contract with Mercury Records
. According to NME
, the album at least temporarily put an end to the band's commercial decline. Although a moderate seller in the United Kingdom
, the album charted in the United States
, reaching #80 on Billboard's
Pop Albums
chart and #31 on Rock Albums.
described the album as "the penultimate party band playing unsurpassed party music."
In 1993, the Los Angeles Times
described the album as "magnificent",, and in 2000 the New York Times numbered it among the band's best albums, along with debut I Don't Want To Go Home
, Hearts of Stone
and At Least We Got Shoes. In that same year, PopMatters
compared the album to then-current release Live at the Paradise Theater, finding Reach Up and Touch the Sky superior in sound quality, but preferring the "intensity and performance" of the newer release.
Tracks marked with ** are not included on the CD release.
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
live
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
album by Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes
Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes
Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes are a Jersey Shore musical group led by Southside Johnny. They have been recording albums since 1976 and are closely associated with Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. They have recorded and/or performed several Springsteen songs, including "The Fever" and...
. Released on Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
in 1981 to satisfy the contract of the band, which had recently broken up, it was a moderate commercial success, charting in the United States and reviving the band's flagging sales. It was also critically well received. In 2003, the Rough Guide to Rock
Rough Guides
Rough Guides Ltd is a travel guidebook and reference publisher, owned by Pearson PLC. Their travel titles cover more than 200 destinations, and are distributed worldwide through the Penguin Group...
indicated that the album was the band's "defining moment".
Background
In the early 1980s, the band was losing its commercial edge, which at least in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
was related to the band's close connection with such then old-school rock as Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
in the era of punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
. At the end of 1980, Southside Johnny
Southside Johnny
Southside Johnny is an American singer-songwriter, who usually fronts his band Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes.-Early days:...
broke up the band (though it later reunited), and the double live album was released in 1981 to complete the band's contract with Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
. According to NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
, the album at least temporarily put an end to the band's commercial decline. Although a moderate seller in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the album charted in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, reaching #80 on Billboard's
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Pop Albums
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart and #31 on Rock Albums.
Critical reception
The album has been critically well received. Rough Guides stated that the music itself was "[h]ot and sweaty" and "could not disappoint." Though noting that fans might miss Steve Van Zandt, who was not performing with the band at this time, Allmusic indicates that "this is still a storming document of a great act in their prime" featuring "most of the best selections from their Epic and Mercury albums, along with some superb covers." On its release in 1981, Rolling StoneRolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
described the album as "the penultimate party band playing unsurpassed party music."
In 1993, the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
described the album as "magnificent",, and in 2000 the New York Times numbered it among the band's best albums, along with debut I Don't Want To Go Home
I Don't Want To Go Home
I Don't Want to Go Home was the first album by seminal New Jersey rock/R&B band Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. The work helped establish the basis of the Jersey Shore sound....
, Hearts of Stone
Hearts of Stone (Asbury Jukes)
Hearts of Stone is the third album by New Jersey rock–R&B band Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, released in 1978.-History:Hearts of Stone has been called "the best album Bruce Springsteen never recorded", which is not quite accurate...
and At Least We Got Shoes. In that same year, PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
compared the album to then-current release Live at the Paradise Theater, finding Reach Up and Touch the Sky superior in sound quality, but preferring the "intensity and performance" of the newer release.
Track listing
- "I'm So Anxious" (Billy Rush) – 3:08
- "Talk to Me" (Bruce SpringsteenBruce SpringsteenBruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
) – 6:03 - "All I Want Is Everything" (John LyonSouthside JohnnySouthside Johnny is an American singer-songwriter, who usually fronts his band Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes.-Early days:...
, Billy Rush) – 3:24 - "Hearts of Stone" (Springsteen) – 4:28
- "Take It Easy" (Jackson BrowneJackson BrowneJackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....
, Glenn FreyGlenn FreyGlenn Lewis Frey is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as a founding member of the Eagles. Frey formed the Eagles after he met drummer Don Henley in 1970 and the two eventually joined Linda Ronstadt's backup band for her summer tour. The Eagles formed in 1971 and...
) - 0:45** - "Trapped Again" (Lyon, Springsteen, Steven Van ZandtSteven Van ZandtSteven Van Zandt is an Italian-American musician, songwriter, arranger, record producer, actor, and radio disc jockey, who frequently goes by the stage names Little Steven or Miami Steve...
) – 5:14 - "Why Is Love Such a Sacrifice" (Rush) – 6:33
- "Restless Heart" (Lyon, Rush) – 3:42
- "Vertigo" (Rush) – 4:05
- "I Don't Want to Go Home" (Van Zandt) – 3:47
- "The FeverThe Fever (Bruce Springsteen song)"The Fever" is an early Bruce Springsteen song, perhaps first written in 1971 under the title " Fever For the Girl". It was performed by Springsteen in concert beginning in March 1973...
" (Springsteen) – 7:07 - "Stagger Lee" (Lloyd Price, Harold Logan) - 8:13**
- "Sam Cooke Medley: Only Sixteen/(What A) Wonderful World/You Send MeYou Send Me-Background:Cooke made a demo recording of "You Send Me" featuring only his own guitar accompaniment in the winter of 1955. The first recording of the track was made in New Orleans in December 1956 in the same sessions which produced "Lovable", the first release outside the gospel field for Cooke...
" (Lou AdlerLou AdlerLou Adler is an American record producer, manager, and director.-Life and career:Adler was born in Chicago, Illinois in December 1933, and raised in East Los Angeles. In 1964, Adler founded and co-owned Dunhill Records. He was President of the label as well as the chief record producer from 1964...
, Herb AlpertHerb AlpertHerbert "Herb" Alpert is an American musician most associated with the group variously known as Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass, or TJB. He is also a recording industry executive — he is the "A" of A&M Records...
, Sam CookeSam CookeSamuel Cook, , better known under the stage name Sam Cooke, was an American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocal abilities and...
) – 4:15 - "Bring It on Home" (Cooke) – 3:26
- "Havin' a Party" (Cooke) – 6:01
- "Back in the U.S.A.Back in the U.S.A."Back in the U.S.A." is a song by Chuck Berry, which was first issued in 1959 as a single a-side and on Berry's 1962 album More Chuck Berry, . The song's lyrics were supposedly written based upon Berry returning to the USA following a trip to Australia and witnessing the living standards of...
" (Chuck BerryChuck BerryCharles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...
) – 4:44 - "Medley: Having a Party, Pt. 2/Roll Out the Barrel" (Lew BrownLew BrownLew Brown was a lyricist for popular songs in the United States.Brown was born as Louis Brownstein in Odessa, Russian Empire...
, Cooke, Wladimir Timm, Jaromír Vejvod, Vasek Zeman) – 1:26
Tracks marked with ** are not included on the CD release.
Performance
- Southside JohnnySouthside JohnnySouthside Johnny is an American singer-songwriter, who usually fronts his band Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes.-Early days:...
– harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, vocals - Billy Rush – guitar, vocals
- Steve Becker – drums, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
- Gene Boccia – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Rick Gazda – trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- Joel Gramolini – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocals - Kevin Kavanaugh – keyboards, vocals
- Eddie Manion – tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
- Richie Rosenberg – tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
, vocals - Michael Spengler – trumpet
- Joey StannJoey StannJoey Stann is an accomplished saxophonist who has worked as a sideman and has recorded with a long list of rock and roll luminaries. Stann performs primarily both on the tenor and baritone saxophone but has contributed backing vocals and played the synthesizer while recording with them in the studio...
– baritone saxophoneBaritone saxophoneThe baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
, tenor saxophone