Health And Happiness Show - Demos (FLAC)

Ok... Hi again folks. This is just one of those bands, it seems, that slip by the awareness of the public at every chance moment. This is probably just another one of those, but here goes...
These tracks, all of them, are just fine examples of the craftmanship of songwriting, using great instrumentation and arrangements with excellent execution by the involved performers. If you are fans of bands like Uncle Tupelo, Wilco, and, especially, the group - The Waterboys, then these songs will be right in that rich vein of Alt/Country Rock with some Celtic flavoring that mining over and again brings enjoyment to you, time after time. Give all of these tracks a few listens... let them sink into you a bit, and then let me know if that past description I gave is wrong in any way at all.
Apparently, this was the demo tape they shopped around to several different labels before signing to Bar/None Records who put out the first (1993), and second (1995) of their albums. Both of those albums gathered great reviews from critics and such but, much like I stated, they never really registered with the music-buying public. And, realistically, they never got much if any media exposure to help them along. Of course, all of that makes little difference to all the great songs they left behind on three releases. And, also, with Tony Shanahan becoming a full-fledged working member of Patti Smith's band to this day, the band did go through some personnel changing from record to record. All of them had great guest artists and such for each one, and the songwriting and arrangements were always consistant and strong. Now... for these demo tracks here, I think that the musicianship and songwriting is even more evident. These are fully finished studio demos and they sound great. But, also, the proper commercial releases of some of these songs now sound just a bit over-produced and busy in comparison... these demos here just breathe openly and seem earnest in a way. Very good stuff indeed to me. Heck, maybe... I am just in a single opinion of that by myself. Well, I think the band pretty much shut it down by the Summer of 2001, but they left it behind them on their own terms; and gave us something to look back upon and they should feel mighty proud of the recordings left behind as their legacy. Give this a try for yourself if you feel so inclined, I've tried to give you an idea, in a way, of what you are looking at here. I gathered some more infomation, redoing the info text and filling it out a bit more. All extra that I did is shown for you to look over below and I even threw together some simple artwork for this, tying it all together nicely in this upload. Enjoy...

Health And Happiness Show - Demos
1990-93?

Demo cassette (low generation) > CD-R (0) > EAC > FLAC > DL > WAV > WaveLab 5 (DC offset correction, smoothed and evened track separations with ultra light noise reduction) > FLAC (level 8, align on sector boundaries)


Tracklist:

01 The Ghost Of Love 3:49.49
02 Why You Cry 3:57.18
03 Sinner's Lullaby 4:59.59
04 Don't Have Far To Fall 5:10.12
05 Jewel Box 4:15.37
06 I'll Be Your Train 3:42.33
07 River Of Stars 3:41.27
08 Woman Of Gold 4:12.28
09 You Are What You Dream 4:23.57
10 Live Your Love 4:47.31

Total Disc Time: 42:59.51


Band members at the time of these demos -
James Mastro - Acoustic and electric guitar, harmonica, spoons, vocals
Vinny DeNunzio - Drums, percussion, vocals
Tony Shanahan - Bass, piano, organ, accordion, vocals
Kerryn Tolhurst - Dobro, guitar, mandolin, lap steel guitar
Todd Reynolds - Violin, fiddle

and possibly other musicians included.


Tracks 1, 3, 7, 8 & 9 appeared commercially on 'Tonic' (1993)
Tracks 4 & 6 appeared commercially on 'Instant Living'(1995)
Tracks 2, 5 & 10 do not appear on any of their three albums or any other albums that I could find listed.

None of these tracks here are the same as the official commercially released versions.


Their bio as told by James Mastro:
The Health & Happiness Show started with me and Vinny sitting around his kitchen singing Hank Williams' songs and drinking beer. We'd both been in bands that over the course of years had record deals, were close to getting record deals, or one showcase away from getting a record deal. Needless to say, our view of the music biz was a bit sour. These "kitchen-table hootenannies" kind of reintroduced me to what playing music was supposed to be about.
Started getting together with other friends around their kitchen tables, and realized if I pushed all the tables together, had the makings of a band-a band that wanted to play just to play-not to get a record deal. We booked a show (2 years ago), had a good time, and booked another.
Tony Shanahan joined the band when his best friend, Graham Maby, recommended he fill his spot while away touring. Tony in turn suggested to his friend Kerry Tolhurst, a multi-instrumentalist, to sit in with Health & Happiness at a show at Paddy Reilly's. Kerryn, never hearing the songs before, played them better than the rest of the band. I asked him if he'd like to play with us again. He did - and does.
Todd Reynolds was friends with original H & H fiddler, Sean Grissom, and had joined the H & H show onstage a few times. When it became known Todd had a car, I asked him to join.
There were no auditions, ads in papers...everyone just kind of gravitated toward each other- for the music, and the idea of playing for the fuck of it.
There's nothing like endless sucking up to the music biz corporate mothership to take the joy out of playing music. Endless showcasing, the dangled carrot of "liked the tape, when are you playing out?" "It's good I'd like to hear more" or just simply "interesting".
Jim Mastro found himself in this situation in the late 80's. He was close, so close... he had a developement deal... a publishing contract... a Best Unsigned band award from Musician and East Coast Rocker Battle of the Bands but he didn't have that deal. What he did have was hundreds of showcases at CBGB's ...in disgust he broke up the band (Strange Cave) and focused on production. When he would reenter the arena in the 90's it was strictly for fun.
The Health & Happiness Show got its name from the old Hank Williams' radio show, that was sponsored by Hadacol, a magic elixir that was 1/2 alcohol, and quite popular in the dry counties down South. Our early get togethers, beer and music, was our elixir, our 'Tonic' (the name of their first album). That's what these songs are to me - tonic. On tour, we've played with everyone from Kirsty MacColl to Marty Balin to Barenaked Ladies, and somehow fit in with all those audiences.

Discography -

1993 - Tonic - Bar/None Records

1995 - Instant Living - Bar/None Records

1999 - Sad & Sexy - Neh Records

Band members brief history -

James Mastro - 17-19 years old, member of The Bongos - 2 records for RCA; Strange Cave - RCA demo deal; produced lots of local bands; Health & Happiness Show
Tony Shanahan - played with Johu Cale; Hearts & Minds, Slaves Of New Brunswick, and others; now longtime member of Patti Smith's band
Vinny DeNunzio - original Feelies drummer; then Richard Hell band; Health & Happiness Show
Kerryn Tolhurst - member of Australian band The Dingoes; wrote hits for Pat Benatar & Little River Band
Todd Reynolds - played violin with Steve Reich and others; Health & Happiness Show

James Mastro and Vinny DeNunzio were the only constants for all three Health And Happiness Show albums.

Artwork (2 sets) is included.

Learn more here