Ned Doheny :: “Hard Candy”
Ned Doheny, no, not the son of the oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny, who was murdered, along with his friend and assistant Hugh Plunkett on February 16, 1929, the other one born Patrick Anson "Ned" Doheny, who came from the melodic winds and cosmic canyons of Malibu that released an incredible body of work, more specifically 1976s “Hard Candy,” that to this day resonates even more, nearly half a century later, than it ever has. Gaining wide audience attention for his connection and collaboration with the likes of Dave Mason and Mama Cass Elliot, with whom he had a brief-lived trio act and moment of fame when the two recorded his 1971 classic “On and On,” Doheny also worked with Jackson Browne and Dave Mason while simultaneously soothing the soul and its sonic structure with a solo career that is iconically unimaginable and devastatingly original as he bridged the distanceless gap between pop/rock, funk, jazz and above all, songwriting sorcery. Having been the first artist to record on Geffen’s Asylum label, after he and Browne were expelled from Elektra’s failing recording ranch, with his self-titled debut, Doheny sophisticatedly soard the shifting shores with label mates Jonie Mitchell, a brief Bob Dylan, John Prine and Tom Waits throughout the decade with contemporary characteristics that reflected the sleepy simplicity of melodic meditation and lyrical legitimacy from one album to the next.
Photo: Henry Diltz
As we explore the musician’s sophomore release, let’s take a moment to carefully contemplate the ravaging fires that have taken over such legendary locations throughout Northern California and its unforgivable impact on communities, families, businesses, and our planet, whose exhaustion seems to be hitting its ultimate ceiling. The album opens up with a special track, "Get It Up for Love," that was originally recorded by David Cassidy the previous year on his album “The Higher They Climb," as well as on Maxine Nightingale’s 1977 album “Night Life," all before the decade ever finished, leaving the songwriter to occupy many different hats within his already legendary status. The album continues to take off down this revolutionary road filled with the sounds of a roaring Renaissance that quickly disperses into the subliminal skies of 1970s LA before crash-landing back down on some ghostly beach not too far from its dynamic destination. As The Beach Boys, more specifically the great mind of Brian Wilson, were beginning to step outside of the surf culture, which subsequently did not reflect too well with them as music history has exhaustively expressed many times over, Doheny shared a similar situation as his music transcended the “California vibe” by introducing textures of tonic healing properties to the shorelines of contemporary music without giving listeners and critics too much of the upper hand to pigeon hole the musician into any particular genre or style, as he began to eagerly explore the melodic methods and atmospheric approaches to what would soon become his most praised work to date, 1976s “Hard Candy.”
A spellbinding collection of songs that features friends and colleagues such as Don Henley and Glenn Frey of The Eagles, Booker T & The M.G.S guitarist Steve Cropper, and saxophonist for The Blues Brothers Tom Scott, the album possesses the enigmatic warmth and romanticism of Hemingway while simultaneously tapping into the righteous spiritualism of Jack Kerouac, Doheny displays an effortless performance throughout its core. With numbers like "I’ve Got Your Number," "Each Time You Pray," and "When Love Hangs in the Balance" diving in and out of the clear blue skies like that of some aerial albatross, the album’s impeccable intimacy is one for the ages as it’s not defined the musician’s career and the half a dozen plus titles to follow, it did leave a miraculous mark on society and sound that will continue to achieve critical acclaim and cosmic celebration for another half century for listeners both new and old.
