Lone Justice. They broke up after the second album. The first, self-titled, was pure alt-country and contained classics like "Sweet Sweet Baby (I'm Falling)," the Tom Petty and Mike Campbell written "Ways To Be Wicked" and Bryan MacLean's "Don't Toss Us Away." Bryan MacLean was part of the sixties classic band Love and he was also the older (18 years older) step-brother of Maria McKee who was the front person of Lone Justice.
Maria wasn't just the singer, she also wrote or co-wrote five of the ten songs that made up the band's first album. She also played guitar on the album and her band mates were Don Huffington on drums, Ryan Hegecock on guitars and Marvin Etzioni on bass guitar.
The band's 1985 debut was followed a year later with SHELTER -- Maria and Ryan were still in the band but four new members joined the two -- Shane Fontayne on guitars, Gregg Sutton on bass guitar, Rudy Richman on drums and Bruce Brody on keyboards. SHELTER was a different kind of album. It was still alt-country but it also brought in other sounds. It had a lot of longing and lot of tones that brought to mind Ireland. Maria wrote or co-wrote the ten songs that made up the album. "I Found Love" kicked things off (and featured a great supporting vocal from the late Vesta Williams). It was followed by the title track which became the band's biggest hit (it and "Ways To Be Wicked" were both top thirty hits on BILLBOARD's Mainstream Rock chart and "Shelter" also made it into the top fifty of BILLBOARD's Hot 100 singles.) "The Gift" and "Dixie Storms" were two other great songs on the album but the masterpiece was "Wheels."
And that was it for the band.
Maria McKee went on to a solo career -- seven studio albums and three live ones. From THE DAYS OF THUNDER soundtrack, she got the hit "Show Me Heaven."
This is probably a good time to note that Maria is one of the country's greatest singers. She's got the range, she's got the power and she delivers real emotion.
She should be one of our most celebrated singers. She found a little more prominence as a solo artist -- a top forty hit on BILLBOARD's alternative chart and another song -- "Show Me Heaven" -- was a top forty hit on BILLBOARD's adult contemporary chart. "Show Me Heaven" would become a number one hit in three countries including the UK.
As she pursued her solo career -- or maybe because of her solo career -- the audience for Lone Justice continued to grow. "New" albums were released. Two live albums -- of 80s concerts -- were released: 1994's BBC RADIO 1 LIVE IN CONCERT and 2019's LIVE AT THE PALOMINIO 1983. Demos and alternate takes -- often mingled with the original release tracks -- showed up on 1988's THE WORLD IS NOT MY HOME, 2003's THE BEST OF LONE JUSTICE, 2014's THIS IS LONE JUSTICE: THE LOST TAPES and 2018's THE WESTERN TAPES, 1983.
For those unaware, a band that does just two studio albums doesn't usually have that number of compilations released. But with each year, the band's reputation grew.
And this year, VIVA LONE JUSTICE was released. A new album. Almost forty years later, a new album.. The album's origin is some 1993 recordings that were reworked, an early live track and a few songs recorded over the years. Maria's back with Ryan Hedgecock, Marvin Etzioni and the late Don Heffington. It's a ten track album, yes. But it's much more than that.
The band reminds you just how good they were on tracks like "Jenny Jenkins," "Wade in the Water" and "Teenage Kicks." And on other tracks, they demonstrate that they're even better than they once were.
They cover Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You," for example.
Early on in the band's career, Maria's vocals were often compared to Dolly's and you can hear the similarity on the recording but you also register that Maria was not a copycat.
She was an original and she paved the way for a lot of singers. Alanis, for example. The first time I heard Alanis, I thought it was Maria. No, she doesn't have Maria's range or Maria's vocal beauty but she tended to do the soft talk sing and then try to let the vocal roll out on the chorus like a wave on the ocean.
The other stand out is "You Possess Me."
Without either of the two above tracks, VIVA LONE JUSTICE would be an album worth seeking out. But with those two tracks, the album is not just a reminder that there's a band (and soloist) with past work worth exploring but also a band (and soloist) with so much still to offer.