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LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - P.F. Sloan secured his place in pop history just by writing Barry McGuire's "Eve of Destruction" and Johnny Rivers' "Secret Agent Man," two different yet iconic 1960s hits. His checkered and often mysterious career also included founding the Grass Roots, plus writing-producing with Steve Barri for numerous other acts.
Sloan released a few solo recordings over the decades, and then he was off the radar. He's now returned with his first album in 15 years, "Sailover" (Hightone), and he revisited the past without a whiff of nostalgia during Wednesday's winning appearance at Largo.
Playing acoustic guitar and some harmonica, Sloan was personable and pithy between songs and full of anecdotes and quips. The Fairfax High grad said, "I went to high school up the street and, 40 years later I'm playing the Largo -- dreams do come true." Then he launched into "Secret Agent" and was off and running for the next 90 minutes.
The three-man backing band that included "Sailover" producer and co-writer Jon Tiven on guitar was skillfully understated, letting Sloan shine with the songs.
The night's numbers included the once-controversial "Sins of a Family," a song Sloan wrote and first recorded at the start of his career that now appears on the current release. When it came to the new material, he showed he hasn't lost his touch, as evidenced by the torchy "If You Knew" and the simmering blues of "Soul of the Woman."
He was joined by original Grass Roots member Creed Bratton -- now an actor on NBC's "The Office" -- for a version of that band's folk-pop classic "Where Were You When I Needed You" that also included the Bangles' Vicki Peterson and her husband John Cowsill contributing harmonies. Bratton stuck around to sing "This Precious Time," capped by some stellar duet vocals between the old friends.
Sloan pulled out the summertime breezy "You Baby," another '60s wonder waxed by both the Turtles and the Mamas and the Papas; it was contrasted by intensely probing material like the new "Love Is 4Giving," a compelling look at decades of poverty that continues to rage in South Los Angeles.
Before playing the immortal "Eve of Destruction," he dissected the protest classic verse-by-verse, analyzing his most famous song as a dialogue between a young man and God.
Sloan told the boomer-age audience he only seems to play live every 10 years or so. Here's hoping that'll change now. And kudos to Hightone Records for helping to bring him back.
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