Even more than the songs, the joy of the album comes in hearing the Jayhawks luxuriate in the signature of their sound: the vocal harmonies of songwriters Gary Louris and Mark Olson. Their voices blend so well — Louris taking the high registers and Olson the low — that they become to Louris’ ears almost like a third voice.
It’s a sound many thought was lost forever in 1995 when Olson quit the band and moved to California. Years of swimming against the musical tide of the grunge era and disappointment that songs like “Blue’’ and “Take Me With You (When You Go)’’ had not become hits despite hard work and critical acclaim had taken their toll.
Unlike now, “we were playing in front of audiences who really didn’t know who we were and our goal — the whole reason for being out there — was to try to win them over,’’ Olson said. “That’s a whole different mindset and I think it got to me after a while.’’
He was burned out.
“That’s one of the things we’re going to copyright,’’ Louris said. “`Burning out’ is one and `soldiering on’ is the other.’’
Yes, Louris soldiered on, finding new voices, a less pastoral new sound and releasing three strong albums in the Jayhawks’ second edition.
Enter “The Rookie.’’ Producers of the 2002 film wanted to include a new Louris/Olson song and the two men agreed. The song wasn’t included in the movie or soundtrack, but they enjoyed working together again. While Louris stayed with the Jayhawks, Olson had his own more acoustic band, the Creekdippers, that had more success in Europe than the United States.
By 2005, Louris was the one feeling burnt and shut the Jayhawks down. “I really felt the band was over when we sold all the gear,’’ he said.
Louris and Olson continued working together as an acoustic duo and recorded a disc as a team. Wherever they played, they’d hear the same refrain from fans: When are you going to get the band back together?
In 2008, Jimenez-Zumalacarregui asked for the Jayhawks to play a Spanish music festival. He didn’t just request the Jayhawks, he requested a specific lineup, with both Louris and Olson, bass player Marc Perlman, keyboardist Karen Grotberg and drummer Tim O’Reagan.
