PINK
CADILLAC
by Joe Harvard
Pink Cadillac was the band put together by Dave "Champagne" Alcott after the demise of the Shane Champagne Band- cohorts Gary "Shane" Levine went on to start Gary Shane and the Detours, enjoying moderate local success with the song "Johnny's Coal Train", while drummer Ricky "Rocket" Rothchild played for a number of bands including the Taxi Boys, Kristy Rose and the Midnight Walkers, and MC5 axeman Wayne Kramer's band. Pink Cadillac shared the same work ethic that characterized Shane Champagne, as well as the professionalism that Alcott later brought with him to Treat Her Right. The band developed a strong local following, but were later hampered by the unfortunate coincidence of Springteen's "Pink Cadillac" and Aretha's song of the same name, just as they were releasing their eponymous debut LP. Even though Dave got there first, it was discouraging to have folks think you named your band after a popular song by the Boss (or the Queen of Soul for that matter). Pink Cadillac was a band in constant, albeit subtle, flux. Dave Alcott seemed to be searching for the stylistic vehicle for his considerable songwriting skills. Beginning life with a pop approach, the band morphed into a honky-tonking rockabilly outfit, heavy on the "-billy", a direction enhanced by the inclusion of Doug and Lester. Hell, Doug even wore a cowboy hat. The LP recorded with this lineup was a strong first offering, but fell through the cracks due to a lack of industry/audience interest for that musical style. Dave led the band in a slightly different direction after that, and for a time the group's sound resembled classic Boston roots rock a-la Real Kids. Dave's songwriting was a bit too sophisticated to stay comfortably within those well-defined borders, however. The near-final version of the band with the two Jeffs and Jonathan Paley was arguably the best. It was in this pot that Alcott finally managed to pull all of the former elements together. The country-inflected, guitar-driven pop fit Dave's tunes to a "T". The transition to Treat Her Right was natural after this lineup, awaiting only the bluesier sounds enhanced by the instrumentation of cocktail drum, harmonica and "low guitar". Just before Alcott called it quits with Pink Cadillac he replaced Jonathan Paley with yours truly, Joe Harvard. Jonathan was way more Joe-pro than I was at the time- and I bet he can still sing a whole lot better. Dave was fishing for that missing element though, and our short-lived version was trashier and more garage than the others. We recorded a few tunes at my first 8-track home studio, So-So Sound, that document the change. Both "Marlena" and "She Shot Me Down" appear on Buy American: the Year at So-So (available on cassette for six bux if you want it). As far as I know these are the last tracks laid down before Dave split to start Treat Her Right. Had they been playing the same material a few years before or after they lived Pink Cadillac probably would have made a much bigger dent than they did, which is too bad. But then, had the group taken off there never would have been a Treat Her Right, and the latter arguably left a richer legacy in terms of output and originality, so it all works out in the end. Dave Alcott now gigs out with the Heygoods, a band that features stand-up bass, lap steel and Dave's wife Katey on acoustic guitar. At a Green Street Grille show in September of 1998 Dave pulled out a few tunes from the old Pink Cadillac song bag. "Wicked, Wicked Ways" and "Home of the Blues" sounded as fresh as ever, once again proving a good song is a good song no matter how you play it.  Pink Cadillac LP, Produced and Engineered by Will Garrett Recorded and mixed at Newbury Sound
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