Johnny Thunders - You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory (CD)

All Music Guide

Johnny Thunders made his name as a guitarist with a fastandloose signature style with notorious '70s punkglamsters the New York Dolls. But he made his legend by living the rock and roll life the way Slim Pickens rode a flying nuke in the movie Dr. Strangelove: a wild trip that was never going to end pleasantly. Thunders was a junkie and a rock and roll animal of the first degree. But he was also a unique musician who in both life and death has enjoyed cult status and welldeserved respect. You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memoryfeaturing material from Thunders' postDolls outfit the Heartbreakers, as well as solo workis a pretty fair encapsulation of all that Johnny was: talented, troubled, sometimes witty, sometimes mean. A gifted guitarist and, at all times, culticon in progress.This threedisc set is at once a treasure trove and a grab bag. There are plenty of gems, a few bummers, a lot of overlap, some notable omissions and a story behind every songbut it's the kind of mishmash you li...ke to get waistdeep in if you're a hammerandtongs rock/punk fan. The first two discs were previously released as L.A.M.F. Revisited and Live at the Lyceum, the third combines a full rerelease of D.T.K. Live at the Speakeasy and 10 acoustic tracks lifted from Live and WastedUnplugged 1990. In total: 48 tracks and over twoandahalf hours of Johnny juice.When the Heartbreakers' debut L.A.M.F was first released in 1977, it suffered from a botched production job. Fortunately, Thunders oversaw a remix in 1983 and rescued the album's very significant material. Among the cuts here that became Thunders anthems are “Pirate Love," “Can't Keep My Eyes on You" (penned by drummer Jerry Nolan who'd also been with Thunders in the Dolls), “Chinese Rocks" (the authorship of which was always contested by Thunders and the late Dee Dee Ramone), and the thuddingly ironic “Born To Lose." Some of the other tracks lack the same lustere.g. “All By Myself" and “I Love You"but they don't hold back what is essentially a strong disc with some excellent guitar work from Thunders.Live at the Lyceum is a crisply recorded live set (though the bass is a little buried in the mix) that features the Dolls' classic “Personality Crisis," a killer rendition of another Thunders biogem “Too Much Junkie Business," and the exceedingly creepy “So Alone," during which Thunders delivers a pedophilic monologue.As part of this package, the D.T.K gig is really only noteworthy for two things: the frenetic punk of “Get Off the Phone" and Thunders' quasiMetallic K.O. taunting of the crowd. However, the second half of the third discwhich features just Thunders on acoustic guitar and a saxophonistis fine stuff. The acoustic components of Thunders' shows always added a lot to them and the tracks from Live and Wasted prove it again. “Sad Vacation," a perverse version of “As Tears Go By," P.F. Sloan's “Eve of Destruction" (a number in which Johnny never sang the high notes; this time letting the sax do the upper register fills), and the deadset classic “You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory," boost the entire disc. And the betweensongs banter, when Thunders rambles on about his rep (“I cough, I still rock and roll"), and whatever else stumbles into his patently inebriated mind, is priceless.This box set also contains a booklet with informative liner notes by Shane Baldwin.You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory is certainly not the only way to get to know the licks and tricks of Mr. Thunders. Nor is it of any real benefit to fans who already own the original discs of which it is comprised. But if you want a big shot of the bad boy, and you don't mind a little redundancy, this one will light you up and clue you in on why Johnny Thunders, though no virtuoso, was a great rock guitarist in his own right. - Adrian Zupp, All Music Guide Read more Less