50 Years Later: Daryl Hall & John Oates Make A Second Album Impact With Lo-Fil Philly Soul On ‘Abandoned Luncheonte’

With the hindsight of a half-century, hearing Daryl Hall & John Oates’ second Atlantic album, Abandoned Luncheonette, (released 11/3/73) is not just a reminder of how commercially successful they eventually became in the eighties, but also how consistently well-written, produced, and played were virtually all their studio albums.

This 1973 one was overseen by Arif Mardin, known for his work with contemporary r&b/pop figures such as Roberta Flack and Donnie Hathaway as well as the iconic ‘Queen of Soul,’ Aretha Franklin. And while pairing the frequent collaborator of noted engineer/producer Tom  Dowd with two Philadelphia-based musicians kids might’ve seemed a stretch at the time, their complementary vision proved fruitful in the form of a piece of work as intelligent as it is polished.

It took a while for many people to notice  Abandoned Luncheonette though. In fact, it wasn’t until three years later, when “She’s Gone” was re-released as a single, that the duo was paid much attention and by that time H&O had left the label for RCA, where they would make a home for the duration of their stardom.

The aforementioned semi-ballad, bereft of histrionics but long on genuine melodrama, was indicative of the abundance of careful thought that went into the entirety of the album. In a very real sense, it is a template for what would become known as blue-eyed soul, incorporating as it did folk and rock influences with both vintage and contemporary R&B, including but not limited to Motown a la the Temptations or Smokey Robinson and the Miracles or ‘the Philly sound’ of the O’Jays and Teddy Pendergrass (with whom the pair would subsequently perform).

Details abound in this early H&O signature song,  but never so many the arrangement becomes so dense it obscures the emotion at the heart of the song. Likewise for numbers such as the cheery “When The Morning Comes:” the unified efforts of all involved become all the more impressive when taking note of the long list of established session players appearing on the nine tracks totaling a little over thirty-six minutes. 

The corps of players don’t exactly sound like a band on “Had I Know You Better Then,” but they hardly sound anonymous either. Such deep and abiding engagement in their musicianship is a tribute to the experience of hornman Joe Farrell, drummer Bernard Purdie, and keyboardist Richard Tee, among many others. While they and their peers are subservient to the songs themselves (all of which are originals), the main duo stands as a flashpoint for the performances. Hall and Oates’ vocals alone, together and in counterpoint, inject a liberating and usually infectious quality to the witty likes of “I’m Just A Kid (Don’t Make Me Feel Like A Man),” and “Las Vegas Turnaround (The Stewardess Song).” 

And that’s not to mention the dramatic title song (the subject of which on the cover has its own story). To be fair, Abandoned Luncheonette isn’t all that far removed from the more overtly Beatlesque stylings of its predecessor Whole Oats. Still, it’s probably no coincidence the sophomore album marked the duo’s exodus from the ‘City of Brotherly Love’ to the Big Apple’ of New York NY: on the dark “Lady Rain,” the acoustic guitar of Oates is only a little more prominent than strings (Mardin’s bailiwick) and synthesizers.

The latter advance in technology was handled by multi-instrumentalist Chris Bond, who also participated in the arrangements here. His importance in the work (and greater success) of Hall & Oates would be crucial to their later efforts. Still, it was only after that wizard and true star Todd Rundgren played, engineered, and produced the next LP, War Babies, that Bond assumed supervision of the eponymous fourth album (complete with its silver cover art) containing “Sara Smile.” Hall & Oates’ first top ten hit was a harbinger of the six number ones they would garner beginning in 1977 with “Rich Girl” from the prior year’s Bigger Than Both Of Us. 

In retrospect five decades later, the foundation of the certifiably classic sound of such famous recordings crystallized on Abandoned Luncheonette. Thus, it’s little wonder that, even with some downturns in their career’s prosperity (including their stint on Arista Records beginning in the late Eighties), Daryl Hall & John Oates’ self-produced longplayers like Voices restored the luster to their billing. And there’s little if any doubt this overall longevity is at the root of a resurgence of their popularity in recent years, though perhaps not wholly coincidental is their 2014 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

Still,  Hall’s solo endeavors–dating back to King Crimson figurehead Robert Fripp’s production of 1980’s Sacred Songs and extending to his web series Live From Daryl’s House–led to the resumption of successful touring. As with the judicious moves from theaters to larger venues early in their history, H&O simultaneously heightened their shared profile and reaffirmed how their music hasn’t dated appreciably in the interim since their names were household words