Lone Justice - Rattlesnake Mama - Non-Album Tracks (1983-1984)

I've posted a 1985 concert from Lone Justice, Maria McKee's 1980s band, and I've posted a bunch of Maria McKee's solo stuff, with more to come. But it occurred to me that I haven't posted Lone Justice stray tracks yet, so I'm going to do that now. There are enough so that I've been able to make two albums out of them. Here's the first one.

Lone Justice was formed in 1982, but they didn't put their first album until 1985, the first of only two. It turns out they did a fair amount of recording in 1983 and 1984, and had enough material for an album, but didn't release it, for some reason. Many fans believe their 1985 and 1986 albums were overproduced, and didn't reflect how great the band was in concert. Those fans generally prefer their 1983 and 1984 recordings as being more authentic to their "cowpunk" sound. (Personally, I like their first album, but I think their second one was overcooked.)

The vast majority of songs here have been officially released, but almost all of them came out on archival releases many years later. Only "Never Be You," a Maria McKee solo track released as part of a movie soundtrack, came out at the time. Three of the songs - "Sweet Jane," "The Highway Song," and "Jackson" - are still unreleased. But those are studio recordings, and they have excellent sound. The vast majority of the songs were written by McKee and/or other Lone Justice band members, though there are a few exceptions, such as the above-mentioned "Sweet Jane" and "Jackson," as well as "Working Man's Blues" and "This World Is Not My Home" and probably a couple of others.

All in all, it's very strange that Lone Justice didn't release an album by 1984 that contained many of these songs. I suspect their record company saw so much potential in McKee and her fantastic voice that they wanted to try to hit a home run with her right away, and didn't let the band develop in an organic way. At least we have these recordings.

Two songs have been included as bonus tracks. One, "Sweet Dr. Jesus," was recorded in 1981, when McKee was just 15 years old. She sings it with Bryan McLean of the 1960s band Love, who, believe it or not, was her much older half-brother. The other bonus track, "Mama Said You're Doing Me Wrong," is a fine song from 1984 that I otherwise would have included, but the only recording I know of comes from an audience concert bootleg, and the sound quality is rather rough. By the way, that song was co-written by McKee and McLean.

01 Drugstore Cowboy (Lone Justice)
02 Nothing Can Stop My Loving You (Lone Justice)
03 Dustbowl Depression Time (Lone Justice)
04 Grapes of Wrath (Lone Justice)
05 Rattlesnake Mama (Lone Justice)
06 Working Man's Blues (Lone Justice)
07 Cactus Rose (Lone Justice)
08 Cotton Belt (Lone Justice)
09 This World Is Not My Home [I Ain't Got No Home] (Lone Justice)
10 How Lonesome Life Has Been (Lone Justice)
11 Sweet Jane (Lone Justice)
12 The Highway Song (Lone Justice)
13 Never Be You (Maria McKee)
14 The Train (Lone Justice)
15 Jackson (Lone Justice)

Mama Said You're Doing Me Wrong (Lone Justice)
Sweet Dr. Jesus (Maria McKee with Bryan MacLean)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16695507/LONJSTCE1983-1984_RttlesnkeMma_atse.zip.html

I'm not sure when or where the cover art photo is from exactly, but I'm guessing it's from 1985.