Andy Zwerling - Spiders in the night 1971

Probably not a major surprise, but while still attending high school in Long Island one of Zwerling's first jobs was as a freelance writer for Rolling Stone magazine (he reviewed The Dead's "American Beauty" among others) - naturally he contributed record reviews to the magazine.  He apparently also wrote songs on the side and through a weird set of circumstances, was introduced to A&R man/producer/friend Richard Robinson.  Zwerling had previously written a favorable review of a Flaming Groovies LP that Robinson had produced.  Their meeting led Zwerling to record some demos for Robinson who was then working for Kama Sutra Records.  Robinson somehow then convinced the company to sign Zwerling.  The catch was that Kama Sutra demand that Zwerling finish the record using no more than 64 hours of studio time.

Co-produced by Robinson and the late Lenny Kaye (the two also provided instrumental backing throughout the set), 1971's "Spiders In the Night" showcased Zwerling as a capable, if slightly offbeat singer/songwriter. With his blaring baritone Zwerling certainly wasn't the greatest singer you've ever encountered and the largely acoustic songs were a bit on the spare and under produced side (remember he had roughly three days to finish the project).  Sure, as you'd expect from a 17 year old living on Long Island,  there was plenty of suburban angst on display in Zwerling originals like 'Slicing', 'Sifting Around In A Haze', and 'It's In the Morning'.  On the other hand tracks like 'Knife Man', 'Orange Skylight' (an apparent meditation of the annihilation of American Indians) and 'Turtles vs. Green Ants' weren't exactly your standard James Taylor-styled singer/songwriter fair.  Deeply personnel, moody, and occasionally simply indecipherable (anyone got a clue as to what the title track was about), nothing here was particularly commercial (at least in a top-40 sense), though there were plenty of stunning melodies floating amidst these ten original songs. Combined with Zwerling's earnest dedication to the material, the set had a certain hard to describe quirky appeal - imagine a less eclectic Jonathan Richmond, or a more focused Skip Spence (whom Zwerling has named as an influence) and you'd be in the right musical neighborhood.  http://badcatrecords.com/

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