ROCKIN’ AROUND
Marshall Crenshaw celebrates 40+ years of musical legacy
It’s been 40-plus years in showbiz for Marshall Crenshaw, which has provided a title for his ongoing concert tour. And it’s not something the Berkley native takes for granted.
“I’ve achieved longevity,” Crenshaw, 70, says with a chuckle from his home in upstate New York. “I’m aware of it. I’m not trying to dance around it or deny it. It’s a long time, but it’s kind of normal, isn’t it, for people like me to just refuse to lay down until they absolutely have to.”
And rest assured, Crenshaw does not feel like that time is even close.
Since 1982, he’s released 10 studio albums and more than a half-dozen EPs, and he’s scored hits such as “Someday Someway,” “Cynical Girl,” “Always on My Mind” and “Better Back Off.” His songs have been covered by others, including Bette Midler, Robert Gordon and Ronnie Spector, and he co-wrote the Gin Blossoms 1995 hit “‘Til I Hear it From You.” Crenshaw’s career also has included appearances in films (“Peggy Sue Got Married” in 1986 and as Buddy Holly in 1987’s “La Bamba”), a short stint in Bob Dylan’s band, taking part in a latter-day MC5 tour, hosting a radio show (“The Bottomless Pit” on New York’s WFUV) and writing a book (“Hollywood Rock: A Guide to Rock ‘n’ Roll in the Movies”).
His title track for the 2007 film “Walk Hard,” meanwhile, was nominated for Golden Globe and Grammy awards, and these days, he’s also part of Smithereens when that band goes on tour.
“That stuff is really important,” Crenshaw acknowledges. “It’s validating, too, that I’ve just kind of been in all these spaces with all these people.
“The very first big, big validating thing that ever happened to me was maybe after my second or third show at CBGB, in New York. I got off stage and somebody handed me a letter from somebody who had really been there and really just dug the set. I get to the bottom of the letter and it’s from Wayne Kramer, with his 212 phone number underneath his name.
“I nearly fell on the floor ’cause Wayne was most certainly one of the heroes of my youth, with the MC5. That was the first thing that happened to me where I thought, ‘OK, I’m just like in a different place right now. …’”
Crenshaw credits his upbringing in Berkley with introducing him to that place. His father in particular was an early rock ‘n’ roll fan who introduced Crenshaw to WLAC, the famous clear-channel radio station from Nashville and who also played guitar. “I could see he was having fun with it, and that just appealed to me immediately,” Crenshaw remembered. “As I got older, I found that was the thing that just stirred my imagination and inspired me and kind of transcended. It seemed to me like a good road to take through life — and I was ‘musically inclined,’ as they used to say. I had a feel for it.
“So I made that choice. I just felt that way forever.”