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    The Jock of Rock posted an update 4 years, 11 months ago

    RockChat Rewind with Joe Milliken.
    On this day in 1974, the New York Dolls released their second album on Mercury Records titled “Too Much Too Soon.” Recorded at A&R Studios in New York City and produced by Shadow Morton (Vanilla Fudge, Shangri-Las, Janis Ian), Shadow had been recruited by front-man David Johansen after not being happy with the production values of their debut release, which was produced by Todd Rundgren.
    Despite the positive vibe with Morton, the band had a difficult time producing enough original material for the album, and were reduced to recording cover songs and re-recording past demos in order to have enough material for the record. Guitarist Johnny Thunders also wrote “Chatterbox” for the sessions and sang lead vocals for the first time. Also, guitarist Sylvain Sylvain was upset that two songs he had written were not included in the sessions. Cover songs on the album included “Stranded In The Jungle,” “Don’t Start Me Talkin’” and “(There’s Gonna Be A) Showdown.”
    During the recording sessions, they also incorporated various sound effects, including gongs, female backing vocals, and gun shots, as well as Johansen creating different “character voices” for the cover songs. They also incorporated string arrangements and horns into the mix as well.
    Despite taking much more time to record the second album, it would not fair nearly as well as the bands debut album. It is felt that the main problem was that the band and producer were all battling addictions at the time, Morton and bassist Arthur Kane were struggling with alcohol and Thunders and drummer Jerry Nolan were fighting heroin addiction.
    Upon its release, “Too Much Too Soon” did not fare well, only reaching #167 on the Billboard album chart. The band was dropped by Mercury Records shortly thereafter and the band broke up just a couple years later. However, the album has gained momentum and more critical acclaim over time and is now considered a glam-rock cult favorite. In 2005, the album was remastered by the Hip-O Select (Mercury) label.
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