Anytime Tomorrow

This review is part of a series in which I review Neal’s solo records one by one chronologically, and chat with various friends and bandmates who were part of the making of each record.

The beachy, sun-filled Anytime Tomorrow marks a turning point in Neal’s musical career. It’s when Neal really goes electric, and it’s one of my absolute favorites – it embodies his musical transition from New Jersey Americana to California gold. Recorded in North Hollywood with the usual players, it’s the first real rock album of his career, although apparently not everyone thought so!

I learned from talking to Jim Cardillo, the gentleman who originally signed Neal, that Glitterhouse asked for and expected a rock record. They’d seen the Neal Casal Band jam for two hours a night in Europe, and they expected that same level of momentum and energy. To be sure, the album has its more experimental and singer-songwriter moments, but it’s sprinkled with plenty of uptempo, full-band rock and roll numbers. But somehow, Anytime Tomorrow didn’t quite meet Glitterhouse’s expectations.

The record kicks off with “Willow Jane,” a fantastic single, a straightforward love song complete with a horn section that is impossible not to sing along with with a little bit of a Motley Crue vibe. You can find some fantastic versions on Archive.org of the Cardinals jamming it out.

“Fell on Hard Times” was originally written for the Rain, Wind and Speed era but was scrapped at the time. The imagery of this song is so remarkable – dreaming bare branches, hotels shaped like ashes. I’ve always suspected the line about “weed, speed and bluegrass” is a sort of nod to Little Feat. It’s easy to miss the heartbreak this song depicts behind the blasting guitar solo driving this one along. I really think it’s one of Neal’s best songs ever.

Similarly, I always found “Oceanview” to be one of the best Neal Casal classic California songs, a piano-laden Beach Boys-type love song filled with promise, with this amazing hook – apparently not everyone thought so! See Jim Cardillo’s story below about this song – I cannot believe anyone ever thought this was less than brilliant. I’ll never understand it. It was a standout track to me when I was a teenager and still is.

“Eddy & Diamonds” harkens back to Neal’s hair metal roots with a guitar solo that’s very “Almost Cut My Hair”-esque, highlighted with John Ginty’s signature accents. “Just Getting By” is another standout, an excellent example of that bait-and-switch – a breezy, laid-back melody with words that relay real pain.

“Camarillo” is another real highlight, a catchy, heart-on-his-sleeve perfect pop song about the realization of the need to let go. Just those opening lines, so relatable to anyone but still enigmatic in true Neal fashion. “I left town with a broken heart and a twisted arm, I didn’t wanna go.” It’s so simple, and just another case of a sprightly-sounding sound that conveys honest heartbreak through the lyrics only. It’s always been one of those songs you put on repeat to find some sympathy to feel along with when you’re sad, but the fantastic melody instantly cheers you and kind of reminds you that it’ll all be okay because hey, music.

Angie McKenna’s angelic harmonies as usual add so much depth and texture to the sweet “Time Down the Wind,” which past reviewers have noted sounds like a Jackson Browne title if there ever was one. The album ends with the gorgeous acoustic tune, “Too Much to Ask,” which many consider to be one of his masterpieces with its intricate riff and Neal’s gentlest voice.

The cadence of this album almost feels like a day fading to night, with a bursting, energetic opening that gradually winds down to a quieter, star-filled evening. I can’t fathom anyone finding it less than perfect.

Jim Cardillo shared his memories about “discovering” Neal and some especially interesting stories about this record in particular.

I was at Warner Chappell Music in early 1991. Gary Waldman and I had known each other from years before when he was working at Megaforce Records. I was working at Concrete Marketing before I was doing A&R. We were both working in the heavy metal world, but we both knew that we had interest in other kinds of music. When Gary started working with Neal, he thought it would be something that I would like, and he sent me a demo tape. I got about maybe two and a half songs in and I called Gary and I was like, who the hell is this?

Gary started to laugh. He said, “Ah, I thought you would like it.” I said, “This is amazing. I’ve got to see him.” So I flew to New York a week or two later. I was staying at the Paramount Hotel and Neal and Gary came into the city. Neal brought his guitar and we sat and talked for a bit.

We went up to the second floor of the Paramount, which had this little like mezzanine level and some tables. We sat down there and Neal took out his guitar and played me a bunch of songs. And I was just blown away by him. I was floored. We went out to eat afterwards and I signed him right after that.

Some of the songs on the tape were “Indian Summer” and “Silver Dollar” on it and maybe “Buried Alive in White.” Those were the ones that made me think, holy cow, this is unbelievable. It was just something that was really genuine and honest, and different from what was going on in music at the time. When you put it in context of the time, you’re at the start of grunge, Nirvana, and Alice in Chains, Sound Garden and all that. Neal was as far from that as you could be. In a way it was a weird signing for me because it went against the grain of everything that was going on at the time, but there was just something so great about him that I just had to work with him.

We work together solidly for the next 10 years. From ’91 to 2001, 2002, we worked together pretty extensively in that period of time, up until he got the deal with Zoo. And then subsequently after he got dropped from Zoo and started putting out his own records and on Glitterhouse.

Anytime Tomorrow was a crazy one because there was so much going on. You had this push and pull with the Glitterhouse Records in Germany over it. His band had done a rock thing on the previous tour when they were over there, and that’s the record they thought they were getting, and the one they wanted. Anytime Tomorrow had uptempo songs, but it also had really different songs on there for Neal as well, like “Oceanview.”

I thought it was this great song and when Neal first played it for me, I was blown away. Things he had done on that song reminded me of some of those Brian Wilson flourishes. I thought it was such a great growth moment for him.

But Glitterhouse was very skeptical about “Oceanview.” Neal took it very hard. It was so hard for me to grasp that there was this bone of contention over this song. When I look back at that record, I just think of the struggle he went through having to defend his art and the songs that he had crafted for that record. There were some brilliant songs on there, it always amazed me to think of what was going on behind the scenes at the time.

In hindsight you look back and it’s such a high watermark for him and this amazing high point in his creativity, but it wasn’t seen that way behind the scenes at the time. And it’s just absolutely crazy to me.

He had a lot of love for the label and for the staff there and had appreciated the career they had given him overseas. But he was very firm and adamant about the songs he had written for that record. He wanted to move forward and have a good relationship with them, but it definitely stuck with him.

People have made conjectures that, with Hazy Malaze did sort of, after that was sort of what Glitterhouse was expecting or wanting. I don’t think so. I think Neal was self-assured and self-reliant and self-aware enough as an artist that he wasn’t going to cater to anybody or what anybody thought he should be. He was going to write the songs that he felt, and play with the people that he wanted to play with.

It’s crazy when you look back at a lot of those songs. How did people not get this? When I signed Neal, I thought he was so undeniable. I thought, “He’ll have a record deal in three months, this’ll be easy. No problem at all.” But years later we’re going, “What the hell are we doing wrong? How does nobody get this? How is it this much of a struggle?” Maddening to us. You listen to the first record and think, “How’d People say no to these songs? How does this not have an audience? There were so many great songs on that. How did it not catch on?”

It’s just one of those things. It all went the way it was supposed to go and took the time that it did. Neal was this amazing force of nature on stage and whoever he played with and whatever band he was in, you knew he was there.

Whether it was producing the Angie McKenna record or, playing on the Todd Thibaud record or playing with Hazeldine or any of these other people, he was always prepared, he was always on time, and he was a person that people liked being around.

He loved music so much. Aside from being a gentle soul and very spiritual, he was also good at listening as well. He was very much the team player guy. Especially when it was somebody else’s record, he had a way of fitting in and knowing what they needed and being able to bring that to the project. You could hear him sort of evolve and blend in to what was needed, but yet still have his distinctive sound and tone on anything he played on.

He was a sponge. He loved music and he would always talk to you about music and wanted to turn you on to different things, but it was never heavy-handed. It was this genuine love of where the stuff had come from, this genuine excitement about wanting to turn other people onto it. I think that was one of his gifts as well. Being a fan of music and spreading that knowledge and that love to other people.

Jim Cardillo, September 2020