Johnny Spreen – Very Raw Unfinished No Mix No Money

Johnny Spreen
Very Raw Unfinished No Mix No Money
19?? (no label)
Blues Rock
Bayville, New Jersey, USA

Johnny Spreen – Words, voice, melodies, drums, pianos

1. America
2. Pleeding Eyes
3. Northern Skys

Technically, this demo had no name – what I put for the name was just a note on the j-card. But I thought it made kind of a cool, underground title. I am also not sure if Johnny’s last name is Spre, Spreer, Sprean, or something else – hard to tell by the way he signs it. But it most likely looks like Spreen, so I will go with that until I hear otherwise. I have several tapes of his, and they all look lo-fi, so I wasn’t sure if it was cool lo-fi or “dude with too much time” lo-fi. But if these three songs are any indication, he is pretty serious. This is not the experimental lo-fi that I thought it would be. It is a one-person band sound, but more roots-rock/Americana than quirky. I’d say his vocals and writing style put him somewhere between Robert Vaughn and Springsteen. You just wonder what this would sound like with real drums and a full band. And yes, that is the way tracks 2 and 3 were spelled on the J-card. Not sure if it was accidental or intentional. I’ll have to dig out those other tapes. One is called In Vain. All three songs here also appear on a longer demo as well.

Missing Information: When was this released?