Glenn Morrow's still making Hoboken history

Glenn Morrow's Cry For Help readies its swan song... Volume 1

“a:” First band to play Maxwell’s. Individuals: One of the first bands to break out of the nascent Hoboken scene. Rage To Live: First release on Bar/None Records. Longtime owner of landmark Hoboken label. Glenn Morrow isn’t just in the history books; he wrote a few pages. Now Glenn Morrow’s Cry For Help is ready to release its final album. Or is it? We talked to the man himself to get some answers.

Glenn Morrow Photo by J Testa

Q: First question, the intriguing title: Our Final Album, Vol. 1. There’s obviously the intimation of finality, but “Vol. 1” leaves some wiggle room. So are you really thinking about pulling the plug on this project, or is the “Final Album” tag just a nod to the fact that none of us is getting any younger and nothing lasts forever?

GM: This band has been together 13 years now, which amazes me. Is that longer than the Beatles? I think it will go on in some form or another till the wheels fall off. I’m very proud of the fact that so late in life we seem to have all rallied and put some solid albums out there. I originally thought of the title ‘Our Last Album’ with the idea that you could say “while we were working on our last album we were already thinking about the next one.” Then Ric Sherman came up with the better, funnier title.

Q: It’s been six years since the last Cry for Help album. Have you been writing and working on new songs over that time? Have you been working on these songs over that span of time, or did you decide to do another album and then write some songs? (Jim Mastro’s recent album contained songs that were recorded over a span of 20 years.)

GM: All these songs were written since we made the second album except “Sweater Weather” The verse was written over 20 years ago but it was always in search of a chorus. I liked the verse melody quite a bit and kept trying out different chorus structures over the years and lyric ideas that I would abandon. While we were finishing the album I thought it needed a good catchy mid-tempo rocker so I returned to that old verse and wrote a new chorus; so I guess this is both the oldest and most recently completed song on the record. The opening line is the same as from the song I wrote 20 plus years ago. “Well I’ve been thinking lately about the rings around the trees”—I’m not sure what I meant by that but it felt right—the Richard Brautigan poem “All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace” inspired some of the direction of the lyrics

Q: You have some talented guys in the band with you. (Ric Sherman, lead guitar; Mike Rosenberg, bass; Ron Metz, drums.) How collaborative is the songwriting process? Do you bring a song to the band as a demo and have everyone hash out their parts, or is the songwriting process itself something you all work on?

GM: We spend a lot of time tweaking the material. Everyone throws in ideas. The most collaborative tune was probably “Let’s Stay In Bed.” I wanted to come up with a hummable melody so I first sang it a cappella and Ric fleshed out the chords, then Mike suggested a rhythm from an old Al Green tune and Ron modified that. I don’t like to lock down lyrics right away. I find if I try to write stuff down immediately it feels a little stilted. I just sing along throwing out ideas until things stick. Sometimes it happens as we are doing the final recording. I think that comes from listening to live show tapes of the Replacements where Paul is teasing out ideas by ad libbing different lines in new songs as they traveled from town to town.

Q: Andrew Burton’s keyboards are a big part of the album and add a dimension not heard on the band’s previous work. How did he come to be part of the recording process.

GM: Andy has played keyboards on all our albums but this time he got very involved. I’ve known him since the early days of Bar/None Records when he played in Otis Ball and the Chains. (Check out his piano on the song “Love You ‘Til I Don’t”) He also played in Grace Pool, a band that included a couple members of my band Rage to Live (Elly Brown and Bob Riley) and was signed to Warner Bros. He has a production studio in the same place we rehearse so it was easy for me to to go up there to throw ideas around. We sent him tracks that were pretty complete and then he added all sorts of sounds: pianos, organs, strings, vibes, bells, even mellotron. We let him run wild and he really took some the album tracks to unexpected places. I love his cinematic Bacharach approach on “Boom Boom.”

Q: The album features several distinctive styles and genres, so I am going to ask you the question that every musician hates: How would you describe Cry For Help to someone who’s never heard the band?

To paraphrase our sticker copy: “Classic rock ’n’rollers walk into CBGBs and catch a ride on the newer waves.”

Ric Sherman, Glenn Morrow, Ron Metz, Mike Rosenberg. Photo by J Testa

Q: I have a lot of friends our age in bands who rehearse once a week, whether or not they have a show coming up or an album in the works. It’s just their night out with friends, the way some guys go bowling or play cards. Do you guys keep to any schedule, or are you like the Avengers and only assemble when you’re needed?

GM: We definitely subscribe to the once a week model. I think we just like the process of making music. I know I get off on playing whether there is an audience or not. We get together either to brush up on our song catalog, work on covers or create new material. Sometimes that’s when the best performances occur.

Q: You’ve watched the music industry go from vinyl to CD’s to streaming, and dealt with those changes not just as a musician but as a record label owner. What was the hardest part of that evolution to adjust to? What’s your take on the current state of the music industry, and do you agree that the mid-level band – one that isn’t selling out arenas but is sustainable financially with touring, merch, and new releases – an endangered species? What advice can you share with young musicians who are just starting to pursue music as something more than a hobby?

This recent phase where a lot of the action has moved to Tik Tok and it’s about people clicking on your stuff rather than buying it has not been easy to get used to. It seems like there are still all sorts of mid-level bands out there cobbling a living together - bands that go from town to town pulling in a couple hundred people a night. It is not for the faint of heart. The bands that are out there doing it DIY in an Econoline van have to pay way more for gas than we did in the early 80’s and the amount they make at a show hasn’t gone up. But still the dream goes on and technology cuts both ways. Now any artist can have an international reach and they can make their albums almost for free on their computers but the rents are not what they once were in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Q: Since I mentioned the label, I have to ask about your “retirement” and selling the label to Emmy Black. Was that decision sudden or something that you approached over time? What are you looking forward to in retirement? How do you keep yourself busy enough that you don’t drive your wife crazy?

GM: It was a slow process of uncoupling. Mark Lipsitz, who worked at the label since 2001, was supposed to take it over with Emmy Black. It was such a shock when he passed away a year ago. I was almost out the door and I had to come back and help right the ship. It took about eight months but I’m excited in a lot of the new directions the new team is going in.

I lived in a wonderful rent-stabilized apartment in Hoboken for over 30 years but eventually the luxury condos arrived but I have no regrets. I live on the west side of Harlem now and I love it and am grateful to have a new life. My wife and I have our own pursuits but we like wandering around the city together, seeing art, hitting protest marches and exercising. We know when to go to opposite ends of our much smaller apartment to give each other space. We’re still best friends!

I’m spending more time learning about music, studying piano and going deeper into guitar. I finally learned to properly read music. I did a lot of photography when I was younger and I’ve returned to that thanks to the iPhone. I was just up in Kingston, NY taking pictures in an abandoned mall. The shops and their signage was still there but the racks were empty

Glenn Morrow’s Cry For Help: Mike, Glenn, Ric, Ron

Q: You came to Hoboken at a time when the city was broke and decrepit, rent was dirt cheap, and artists and musicians were flocking to town. Now it’s 2026, Hoboken’s median family income is almost $200,000 a year, and rent is sky high (except for the small stock of rent control apartments left.) Do you think there’ll be any kind of music scene left in another ten years?

GM: The kids are better musically trained these days. They have all that School of Rock stuff and I guess they stay and live with their parents for a while till they see if they can do something with their talents, or they work day jobs and quadruple up in small apartments. The core music scene in the area has shifted to Jersey City except for the holdouts in the Neumann Leather building. Of course, DIY punk has a foothold everywhere and anyone can get together and have fun banging away in somebody’s basement till something possibly congeals into a real band.

Q: Feel free to plug anything you have coming up.

Bar None turned 40 this year but I’d like to point out that you have been on the New Jersey music beat longer than that. Thank you for all the time, energy and enthusiasm you have given to the music communities of Hoboken, Jersey City, Montclair, New Brunswick, Asbury Park as well as the many other places where you have scoured out new talent in the garages, basements, VFW Halls and local bars of the Garden State.

“Our Final Album, Vol. 1” will be released by Bar/None Records on July 17.
Glenn Morrow’s Cry For Help will be at Pet Shop in Jersey City with Psych-O-Positive on Thurs., July 30th and in Church Square Park in Hoboken on Wed., August 19th.