Waiting: The Van Duren Story [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

Among obsessive power pop fans (is there any other kind?), is one of the revered cult heroes of the underground Memphis pop scene of the '70s, that handful of Anglophiles in the great R&B town best represented by . had a much closer connection to than most -- he recorded demos at Ardent Studios with on drums, played in a band with , and even auditioned to play in a latter-day version of the band. But while 's music shared 's unabashed love for and , he favored nearly as much (his voice sometimes recalls ), and where 's songs were full of melodic angles and quirky guitar figures that kept them spicy, 's material was more melodic and had a smoother, sweeter attack. But as an instrumentalist, was one of the best on the scene, and his debut album, 1978's , is regarded as a classic of its form for good reason, thanks to its abundant hooks, clear but impassioned vocals, and the snap of the performances. may be a hero to record collectors and rock critics, but mainstream music fans never had much of a chance to hear his music. have made a documentary about that chronicles his life and career while also pondering how someone so talented could fail to grab the brass ring in the music business. collects 12 songs that appear in the film, and also serves as a near-perfect introduction to 's body of work. It features four songs from , two from its ill-fated follow-up , some rare live material, a pair of unreleased numbers, and two mid-'80s tracks from 's Memphis-based band . While these songs were cut over more than a ten-year period, the musical thinking behind them is commendably consistent, even when some all-too-'80s production choices mar the tunes -- and these tunes are deliciously tuneful from start to finish. If 's music had a flaw, it was that it lacked the spiky personality that set apart the best power pop artists (and it's worth noting the most memorable song here is a cover of 's "Make a Scene"). But pretty much anything here would have improved an hour of radio listening in the '70s and '80s, and if there was ever a musician whose sales figures were inversely proportional to their talent and potential, it was fans will welcome the soundtrack for its rarities, while those who have never been introduced to his catalog could hardly ask for a better way to study this overlooked prodigy of Memphis power pop. ~ Mark Deming