I Own That CD! - The La's

Lee Mavers was a perfectionist. And an incredible talent. He could spin a tale in less than three minutes, with his thick Liverpool accent and a “rootsy” music sound (as he described it). But his ego and love of the early demos basically destroyed his band - The La’s.

That didn’t mean that we all didn’t love their first and only release, simply titled The La’s. It’s today’s feature on I Own That CD!

Inspiring many including The Stone Roses and Oasis (By Noel Gallagher’s own admission, it was Mavers’ vision that inspired the songs that made Oasis household names), this album wasn’t released.

The La’s signed a record deal with the respected Go! Discs label in 1987 on the strength of their live show and some demo recordings that would go on to haunt Mavers. They spent the next couple of years recording and then scrapping entire sessions, moving from one producer to the next, in search of the elusive magic that Mavers heard on the demos. Finally, during a session with producer Steve Lillywhite — best known for U2’s string of early ’80s albums and, later, the big Dave Matthews records — the La’s apparently just gave up completely, bailing on the recording. Lillywhite finished the album without the band, the label released it, the press and the people loved it, and Mavers, well he disowned it.

The influences were taken from The Hollies, The Kinks and of course The Beatles. The sound was described as beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat - a popular music genre, influenced by rock and roll, skiffle, and traditional pop music, that developed in the UK in the early 1960s.

Everyone knows “There She Goes” - how many rom-com movies from the 1990s used the song for its soundtrack? It’s a near-perfect song. Head-swaying, shiny guitars with simple, beautiful lyrics. But dig deeper into the CD and you’ll find plenty of other songs to love.

“Way Out” is a favorite of mine - a folk-flavored tune with a tight guitar solo, all in the span of two minutes and thirty seconds. They “rock” a bit more on “Timeless Melody” mixing their 1960s influences with more modern inspirations like The Smiths.

The La’s sadly weren’t meant to last…After members came and went, frustrated by playing the same songs over and over, the band finally disbanded (but of course there were tries of reunions).

Who knows what would have become of The La’s - The promising first release remains a favorite and I still have my version on CD - You can borrow it if you’d like.