Lon & Derrek Van Eaton

Artist: Lon & Derrek Van Eaton

LP: Brother

Song: "Sun Song"
[ listen ]

After a delicious breakfast with a bunch of friendly folks at Carl's Kountry Kitchen on the outskirts of Syracuse, I headed downtown to check out Sound Garden, the city's only record store. Sadly, the garden wasn't producing much this year. Had someone forgotten to water? I found only one fruit and a couple of vegetables that were ready for the harvest.

One of the veggies was this 1972 LP by Lon & Derrek Van Eaton, who had put together a homemade demo tape that drew the attention of at least half of The Beatles, who, in turn, helped these budding musical brothers get signed to their label, Apple Records. With no vinyl listening station available in the Garden of Sound, I had to take a leap of faith on this one. I figured they'd probably sound kinda' like The Beatles, but maybe more interesting since they hadn't become popular. 

In fact, Wikipedia informs us that George Harrison was fairly certain he had the next big thing on his hands with "Sweet Music," a Van Eaton Brothers song he produced and released as a single before the album came out. No one cared. Then the album got released and everyone ignored that too. Harrison reportedly sent a memo out to the Apple Records marketing staff: "What the !!!!! is the matter out there? 'Sweet Music' is a No. 1 Hit!" It just goes to show, you never can tell who the Americans will decide to throw their panties at. 

The Van Eatons do sound a little like The Beatles, but just knowing that these smouldering naked siblings (I have a brother too, but we never ended up in any of these positions together as far as I can recall)...anyway, just knowing that these sexy siblings never had people throwing panties at them somehow makes them way more alluring. And I can't explain the public indifference toward Lon & Derrek any better than George can. I threw my boxer underwear at the album cover as soon as I saw it at the record store.

Just look at those heavenly eyebrows.

[ Lon & Derrek Van Eaton, nowadays-ish ]

[ Sound Garden — Syracuse, NY ]