Not so for Gerry Goffin, whose Back Room Blood was released this spring on Adelphi/Genes CDs. As the first song on the album attests, it's "Never Too Late To Rock And Roll" and Goffin rocks with a vengeance reserved, perhaps, for those few artists who have been inducted into both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Goffin has always been known as a lyricist of great sensitivity and understanding (listen again to "Tonight I Celebrate My Love"), but his latest work also reflects his opinion of the world as he now sees it ("If you still have innocence, better lock it in a vault/Once it was a virtue, but now it is a fault"). It's not always a pretty picture but his words paint images you're not likely to forget.
In the past, Gerry's best known collaborator was Carole King, but on the new CD he is ably assisted by co-writers such as Bob Dylan, Barry Goldberg and Tim Drummond, giving a new edge to his already edgy writing style.
Gerry Goffin has two songs in his BMI catalogue that have logged more than 3 million performances. Five others have been played more than 2 million times. But, instead of resting on his very impressive laurels, Goffin feels it's always the right time to rock & roll.
