Ben Vaughn "Mood Swings" 1992

Given the inconsistency of his individual records, Mood Swings is the best sample of Vaughn's pithy, playful retro-vision. The 21-track collection includes many of the aforementioned songs; the mix of Combo tracks, solo waxings and the 1984 single "My First Band" (literally recorded in Aldo Jones' parents' basement) captures Vaughn's genuine love of rock'n'roll history, the way he adroitly revitalizes the old ways with contemporary enthusiasm and the genial, anthemic quality of his finest writing. This best-of is truly Vaughn's best record. - trouserpress
A really *stupendous* collection of Vaughn's recordings from '84-'92. Incredible pop music that blends elements of different genres (rock, folk, rockabilly, country, blues, surf, soul) effortlessly. Vaughn & company can really rock 'n' roll, in the best sense of that term... they remind me a bit of the Young Fresh Fellows, and the Morrells (now the Mummies). Lyrically, Vaughn is quite clever, but not in the cloying sort of novelty-song way that wears thin after a few listenings. Tracks range from the whimsical-in-a-Jonathan- Richman-sort-of-way ("Growing a Beard", "Rhythm Guitar") to the more sardonic ("Dressed in Black", "She's Your Problem Now"), to the sadly silly ("Too Sensitive For This World", "The Man Who Has Everything").
Guest musicians abound, but never intrude. Peter Holsapple (ex-dB's) can be heard playing mandolin, Alex Chilton (Box Tops, Big Star, Panther Burns) sings some background vocals, as does John Hiatt.
I'd hesitate to call Vaughn a singer-songwriter, even though he wrote all but four tracks on this disc, and two of the remaining four he co-wrote. Roughly half the tracks on the disc are by The Ben Vaughn Combo, while the rest were recorded with a reasonably steady lineup and occasional guests.
A few of the tracks here are rerecordings of earlier songs, whose original production Vaughn was unhappy with. I'm not enough of a Vaughn-o-phile to know if this is a Good or a Bad Thing. Either way, the versions on this disc are superb! - By hyperbolium (Earth, USA)
trax:
01 Dressed In Black 02 Doormat 03 Growin' A Beard 04 Too Sensitive For This World 05 The Man Who Has Everything 06 Daddy's Gone For Good 07 She's Your Problem Now 08 Rhythm Guitar 09 El Rambler Dorado 10 Beautiful Thing 11 Jerry Lewis In France 12 She's A Real Scream 13 Shingaling With Me 14 Big House With A Yard 15 Lookin' For A 7-11 16 I Dig Your Wig 17 I'm Sorry (But So Is Brenda Lee) 18 M- Motor Vehicle 19 My First Band 20 Vibrato In The Grotto 21 El Camino