Search - Larry Tagg :: With a Skeleton Crew

Skeleton Crew Has Plenty Of Muscle

Steve Walker | Gold River, California United States | 03/29/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Larry Tagg has prodigious songwriting chops, as well as being one of the best bass players around. I've seen this man perform both with bands in the Sacramento, CA area as well as on tour with Todd Rundgren, and he is a monster performer. His Beatle influence is near the surface in many of the cuts on this album, and every one of the tracks on "Skeleton Crew" is well crafted and melodically memorable. His style never clutters up or obscures the lyric or the melody. he prefers substance over flash, but can deliver flash when called for.The musicians he assembled for this album deliver tasty licks - there isn't a cliche on the whole project. This is one of the few albums I own that I listen to every track every time I put it on. I think it is a miracle that a major label never picked up on him. I never miss a chance to see him perform. He is vastly underrated and under-distributed."

Unique songwriter, Rundgren regular

John S. Harris | Memphis, TN | 06/08/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Larry Tagg is formerly of Bourgeois Tagg, an 80's band that had a minor hit on MTV and radio with "I Don't Mind At All" from their second LP "Yo-Yo", produced by Todd Rundgren. Tagg went on (as did the other 4 members of Bourgeois Tagg) to play on Todd Rundgren's 1989 LP "Nearly Human" (Tagg plays bass). Tagg and fellow Bourgeois Tagg members Scott Urbano (drums) and Lyle Workman (guitar) joined Rundgren on a tour of Japan in 1990 [watch for the long-awaited DVD release of a show from that tour in Summer 2002], and Tagg (and sometimes Workman) later went on to record and tour with Rundgren several times. "With a Skeleton Crew" is his 1995 solo recording. The version offered in this Amazon.com listing varies slightly from the one I found through another retailer years ago. My version has 12 songs, this one shows only ten, though one song listed here is not on mine. Tagg certainly writes some interesting melodies, kind of a mix of Pop and Rock with some interesting minor-chord transitions thrown in, unusual for rock and roll tunes. Those are perhaps more evident in two particular tunes on "Yo-Yo" ("Waiting for the Worm to Turn" and "Best of All Possible Worlds") than on this solo disc, but he still shows his unique stamp on these tunes. Highlights from this disc include "Christopher Columbus", "Burning My Rowboat" (hear those minor chords!), and "We Are Home." I hope my "minor chords" reference is musically accurate -- I'm no musician myself. But you Amazon.com shoppers should consider yourselves fortunate to have relatively easy access to this CD. I had to jump through quite a series of hoops just to verify that this CD even existed a few years ago. It is a very good album. I strongly recommend it."