Jerry Harrison/Casual Gods – “Man with a Gun” (1988) Review | Harrison Takes a Shot at a Hit Single (And Misses)
Kronomyth 2.2: Heard of a band that’s loaded with weapons…
The song Man with a Gun first appeared on the soundtrack to the 1986 film, Something Wild. Cute film if you haven’t seen it. The song re-appeared on his next album, Jerry Harrison: Casual Gods, and was issued as a single overseas (it was only issued on promotional singles in the US). This might be my favorite Jerry Harrison song, although I can’t say that I spend a lot of my spare time organizing Jerry Harrison songs in my head. The song has a cool, detached groove that doesn’t sound too much like Talking Heads. An extended version includes a guitar solo from Chris Spedding that honestly adds nothing to the song except an extra two minutes. In the UK and Germany, a pair of nonalbum tracks, We’re Always Talking and Breakdown in the Passing Lane, were appended to the 12-inch and compact disc singles. Funky but ultimately forgettable filler, these songs are best left to completists.
The Product
A1. Man with a Gun (radio edit) (Jerry Harrison)
B1. Man with a Gun (the entire guitar version)
Original 12-inch and CD single version
A1. Man with a Gun (radio edit) (Jerry Harrison)
A2. Breakdown in the Passing Lane (Jerry Harrison/Ernie Brooks)
B1. We’re Always Talking (Jerry Harrison/Ernie Brooks)
B2. Man with a Gun (the entire guitar version) (Jerry Harrison)
Promotional 12-inch single version
A1. Man with a Gun (single version) (Jerry Harrison) (4:26)
B1. Man with a Gun (extended guitar version) (6:30)
The Players
Rick Jaeger (additional drums), Chris Spedding (guitar). Produced by Jerry Harrison, assistant producer: Ernie Brooks; original mix by Eric “E.T.” Thorngren; additional engineering by Don Peterkofsky
The Plastic
Released on 7-inch, 12-inch single and CD single on May 31, 1988 in the UK (Fontana, JERRYDJ 2/JERRY 212), Australia (Mercury, 870 420-7) and Germany (Fontana, JERCD 2) with regional picture sleeve. (First appeared in 7/30/88 issue of Billboard.) Also released as promotional 12-inch single in July 1988 in the US (Sire, PRO-A-3165).
