Not Shy

Artist: Walter Egan
Label: Razor & Tie
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 079892202724
EAN: 0079892202724
ASIN: B000002Z7W

Release Date: 1993-09-23

Not Shy

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General

| Pop | Styles | Music

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| Pop | Styles | Music

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General

| Rock | Styles | Music

Tracks:

Sweet South Breeze
Magnet And Steel
Finally Find A Girlfriend
The Blonde In The Blue T-Bird
Star In The Dust
I Wannit
Make It Alone
Unloved
Just The Wanting
Hot Summer Nights

Customer Reviews:

I'm NOT SHY Now...........2006-07-16

...but I'm still rather attached to my body. I graduated from high school in 1977, and at the Theatre Department's year-end banquet, I received two awards: 'SHYEST' and 'BEST BODY.' That said a lot for my acting ability, didn't it? And you wouldn't expect the guy with the best bod to also be the shyest, would you? Well, take a look through some of my Amazon reviews and you'll see that I'm no longer shy (some might even call me an opinionated, loudmouthed jerk). And yes, I did have the best formed male body, but that's because I was also on the wrestling team - pumping iron all the time - and my competition in the Theatre Department was a bunch of prancing sissies singing Westside Story tunes. Not much competition there, ya know?

One summer after graduation, my friend, Eric, and I were hitting all of the Rock 'N' Roll clubs and seldom missed the free noontime Friday concerts at Santa Monica City College. One Friday we caught this dude named Walter Egan playing great summer beach town tunes on that diminutive stage, and I liked his catchy pop so much that I went right out and bought his just released album, 'NOT SHY.' Within weeks, I heard his song 'Magnet And Steel' on the radio and listened as that July and August it steadily climbed the charts all the way up to #8, making Egan yet another One-Hit Wonder. I felt like I was an "insider."

What's surprising is that the album 'NOT SHY' contains at least half a dozen other cuts that could have just as easily cracked Billboard's Top Ten chart, being (to my ears) much better than the "one hit", but they got no radio airplay. Who can explain that stuff? But if you want an authentic slice of that late '70s pop pie, you could do much worse than Egan's second release, 'NOT SHY.' It was recorded in L.A. in '77 and contains 36 minutes of music that includes Fleetwood Mac pop icon Stevie Nicks singing backup on 5 tracks and bandmates Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood on 2 each, along with Dean Torrance (of Jan & Dean fame) on 1 other.

As I write this, 'NOT SHY' (out-of-print as a single release) is currently available in a "Two-Fer-One" package along with Egan's debut album, 'Fundamental Roll.' It would be a better buy (more music, less money, and brand new). But I also bought 'Fundamental Roll' way back when and never much cared for it. A little (OK a LOT) older now, and wiser, and more mature, I couldn't bring myself to play that one at this point, as it contains a song called 'Tunnel O' Love' which is about a certain part of a woman's anatomy; a little too lewd and crude for me at (nearly) 47 years of age. I think women should be considered in their totality, not examined part by part. So let's look at 'NOT SHY' alone:

SWEET SOUTH BREEZE is a real toe-tapper that opens with Egan's twangy guitar. This had Top Ten hit potential.

MAGNET AND STEEL is the big hit. A ballad which includes a very Beach Boys-like guitar break. "Hey baby, ya wanna camp out on the beach tonight and build a bonfire and...uh....OK, well maybe next weekend?"

FINALLY FIND A GIRLFRIEND with Stevie Nicks featured rather prominently in the background had "hit" written all over it. After years of being the loneliest guy with a good body, I finally found a girlfriend. But the minute I began joyfully singing this song...she dumped me! And the search began again.

THE BLONDE IN THE BLUE T-BIRD is another one that shoulda been a hit. Who can hear this one without thinking of the movie, 'American Graffiti'?

STAR IN THE DUST contains the lyric, "I recall what somebody once told me: Only the lucky in love survive." Here Egan cleverly references his debut album which kicked off with the song, 'Only The Lucky (In Love Survive)' So now you know who the "somebody" was who told him.

I WANNIT is the weak link on the album. Not offensive but not a standout track either.

MAKE IT ALONE contains some angst-driven guitar playing from our boy which gives the song the edge it requires - really his best work on the album. And yes, you can make it alone! Just look at me; I've made it alone. But it IS kinda lonely to be a lone kinda guy. But you CAN make it...alone...and lonely....very lonely....desperately lonely. OK, that's all I have to say about that because it's starting to depress me.

UNLOVED. Ah, yes, here's another one about being alone, lonely, unloved. It's about a girl who can't be contacted because she's "unlisted" her phone. But hey, the singer's gonna make it alone even though he may be a bit lonely, a bit unloved...REALLY unloved. Oh man, here we go again. "Hey baby, let's get together and...oh, I see. OK, well maybe next weekend?"

JUST THE WANTING. No, this brooding ballad is not about wanting a girl when you're unloved and trying to make it alone. It's about the wanting to attain something in life...something a little BIGGER than a girlfriend...unless of course, your girlfriend is named Bertha, or something like that. There's a line in this song that says, "I remember when I was seventeen and my life had just begun." That's funny because I was seventeen when I first saw Walter playing on that little college stage, and I too felt that my life was full of pristine promise. Little did I know back then that the best I'd ever do in life was to write semiappreciated reviews for a then unimaginable internet shopping site while trying to....make it alone...so alone.

HOT SUMMER NIGHTS. Yeah, I know all about hot summer nights (today's high here in Phoenix was about 115 degrees and it's still about 100 at 2 AM), but somehow I get the feeling that Egan has a different kind of "hot" in mind. This may be my favorite track. Here's another one with tremendous hit potential that inexplicably never got played over our radios in the summer of '78.
"A-Woo-ooo-ooo-OO-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo, hot summer nights."

There's nothing fancy on 'NOT SHY'; just simple, but catchy commercial pop, summery and tasty. Alright listen, I gotta go now. No, you can't go with me, and don't let me catch you trying to follow me either. I'm gonna MAKE IT ALONE, gosh darn it, and I can't do that if you're following after me like a lost little puppy dog! "Alone" means alone and I can make it that way...I can....I just know I can. Of course, if you're blonde and female...you think maybe I could catch a lift with you in your blue T-bird? Perhaps we could MAKE IT ALONE together. OK, well maybe next weekend?

And five stars for MAGNET AND STEEL.......2004-09-01

I wonder why Lindsay and Stevie don't play MAGNET AND STEEL together any more. To me this is one of their greatest songs from the 1970s. We saw the video for it just last night on VH1 Classic, and I had almost forgotten that Walter Egan was really the artist who sang it, for thanks to Lindsay's production values it really does sound almost just like it could have appeared on RUMOURS or TUSK.

And there is no mistaking Stevie Nicks' amazing backup vocals, even though in the video, another girl plays Stevie or lip-synchs her voice. The video plays on the tune's resemblance to any number of 50s ballads, or "slow dances," to display a row of boys and one of girls facing each other, arms extended, touching hands then twirling side by side towards the camera in Capris and slouchy fifties leather jackets. Walter Egan stares into the camera's lens as though his gaze could burn it up. If truth be told, he looks a little silly and his hair is long and tangled, but he made a wonderful album or two back in the day and his fans wish he would return again in a big way.

"Magnet & Steel" was just the tip of the iceberg here..........2004-07-31

Walter Egan on his solo projects was pure California sunshine, with a bit of well-utilized help from his friends Lindsey Buckingham & Stevie Nicks, so some of the material tends to sound close to Fleetwood Mac in overall style. Not that there's anything wrong with that! This is some of the finest stuff from that era and really has held up well over the years. Do yourself a favor: if you purchase this album, you owe it to yourself to hunt down his first, "Fundamental Roll". Together these two albums are excellent, fun to listen to and totally captivating from start to finish. If all you think of when you hear the name Walter Egan is "Magnet & Steel", you're really cheating yourself. Songs like "The Blonde in the Blue T-Bird", "Hot Summer Nights" (and his version far outshines the hit single version by Night a year or two later, HIS is the one that should have been screaming out of billions of radios) and from the earlier album, "Only the Lucky", "Tunnel O' Love" and "Yes I Guess I Am" are just proof that there needs to be more justice on the charts and on the air. In a more perfect world, every one of these songs would be huge hits. There are unsung heroes apart from their one huge solo hit single...Jay Ferguson is one...Walter Egan is definitely another. Buy this album, You deserve it.

Haha! I own the promo-copy of this on vinyl.......2003-09-25

Whilst venturing through antique stores in St. Augustine, I came across a promo copy of this album in pristine condition selling for $2.00. I didn't really think about Walter Egan's connection with Lindsey Buckingham at the time of the purchase(I'm a HUGE Fleetwood Mac fan)...but it did cross my mind when I got home, which further enticed me to glance at the "credits". Turns out Lindsey produced this album. I was already familiar with the song Magnet and Steel, and was never really sure if Lindsey and Stevie did back-up, until I listened to Finally Find a Girlfriend, where Stevie's just belting away in the background. I guess what I'm trying to say is...this album is awesome.

Music Album:

Music Album

Music Album

Music CD

Life of the Party ~ Joe Johnson

In a Soulful Mood ~ Charles Mingus

Serenade to Silver ~ Andy LaVerne

Beach Ball ~ Dirk K.

Wave ~ Antonio Carlos Jobim

Rio De Colors ~ Sturunz & Farah

World of Kuchenlieder ~ Various Artists

Griot (storyteller)

Live ~ Adama Drame

Yuzumore ~ Yuzu