Being a big Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood Mac fan back in the late 70's, I don't think I would have bought the albums back then. Stevie's haunting voice on "Tunnel O' Love", the B-side to "Magnet and Steel" is what hooked me on Walter Egan. The nice thing here is that you get the first two albums on one CD. The bonus is the great sound from being remastered. Any Stevie Nicks fan will enjoy the number of songs she appears on (and there are many of them).

My introduction with Walter Egan was the only song he seems to be known for. True, "Magnet and Steel" was a hit, and was played frequently on the radio from its 1978 peak of #8 on the charts, up through the mid 1980s, but there is more.

I first got a listen of the entire Not Shy LP in its 8-track format, then on vinyl, and finally in 1997, I snagged the now out-of-print Razor & Tie reissue. Why? Simply put....this is music that is great for those road trips, crusing down the highway, and even when not travelling the roads, is a fun listen.

It's too bad, Fleetwood Mac got all the fame and glory for their Rumours album (Which I will admit, is a flawless pop album), and Bob Welch had his share with his late-1977 single 'Sentimental Lady' (which seems to have been forgotten and is only heard in playback over the PA systems of supermarkets and small dying malls)..all overshadowing what members of the Mac (namely Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, and Lindsey Buckingham) alumni put out when beside Egan. Just have a listen to 'could-have-been-hit' songs like "Blonde In Blue T-Bird" (Stevie wails on this track) or "Make it Alone". To my ears, they have that undeniable hint of that 'Mac' sound that was unescapable at the time. A shame that Not Shy wasn't pushed ahead in promotion by the record label. The entire album is near perfect for me. I can't find a single filler track.

Once I get to hear the Fundimental Roll half of this disc, I'll add to the review.

I picked up this two'fer CD along with the other Egan two'fer HiFi/The Last Stroll (It will be my first time ever hearing those two albums), and on this CD there's Egan's long OOP debut, Fundimental Roll, in its entirety for the first time ever on CD. With the other three unheard of (to my ears) albums, I'm not expecting the same sound I heard with "Magnet", but so long as the music here is fun and puts a smile on my face, that's all that I care about. 'Fun' and 'upbeat' seem to be two things missing from a lot of so-called mainstream 'rock' music these days, which really is too bad. In today's world, that kind of stuff is sorely needed.

Highly recommended for fans of the Mac's later years and those who want something upbeat to listen to.

...but I'm still rather attached to my body. I graduated from high school in 1977, and at the Theatre Department's year-end banquet, I received two awards: 'SHYEST' and 'BEST BODY.' That said a lot for my acting ability, didn't it? And you wouldn't expect the guy with the best bod to also be the shyest, would you? Well, take a look through some of my Amazon reviews and you'll see that I'm no longer shy (some might even call me an opinionated, loudmouthed jerk). And yes, I did have the best formed male body, but that's because I was also on the wrestling team - pumping iron all the time - and my competition in the Theatre Department was a bunch of prancing sissies singing Westside Story tunes. Not much competition there, ya know?

One summer after graduation, my friend, Eric, and I were hitting all of the Rock 'N' Roll clubs and seldom missed the free noontime Friday concerts at Santa Monica City College. One Friday we caught this dude named Walter Egan playing great summer beach town tunes on that diminutive stage, and I liked his catchy pop so much that I went right out and bought his just released album, 'NOT SHY.' Within weeks, I heard his song 'Magnet And Steel' on the radio and listened as that July and August it steadily climbed the charts all the way up to #8, making Egan yet another One-Hit Wonder. I felt like I was an "insider."

What's surprising is that the album 'NOT SHY' contains at least half a dozen other cuts that could have just as easily cracked Billboard's Top Ten chart, being (to my ears) much better than the "one hit", but they got no radio airplay. Who can explain that stuff? But if you want an authentic slice of that late '70s pop pie, you could do much worse than Egan's second release, 'NOT SHY.' It was recorded in L.A. in '77 and contains 36 minutes of music that includes Fleetwood Mac pop icon Stevie Nicks singing backup on 5 tracks and bandmates Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood on 2 each, along with Dean Torrance (of Jan & Dean fame) on 1 other.

'NOT SHY' is out-of-print as a single release, but is currently available here in a "Two-Fer-One" package along with Egan's debut album, 'Fundamental Roll.' But I also bought 'Fundamental Roll' way back when and never much cared for it. A little (OK a LOT) older now, and wiser, and more mature, I couldn't bring myself to play that one at this point, as it contains a song called 'Tunnel O' Love' which is about a certain part of a woman's anatomy; a little too lewd and crude for me at (nearly) 47 years of age. I think women should be considered in their totality, not examined part by part. So let's look at 'NOT SHY' alone (*By the way, 30-second song samples can be heard on the Product Page for this out-of-print release.)

SWEET SOUTH BREEZE is a real toe-tapper that opens with Egan's twangy guitar. This had Top Ten hit potential.

MAGNET AND STEEL is the big hit. A ballad which includes a very Beach Boys-like guitar break. "Hey baby, ya wanna camp out on the beach tonight and build a bonfire and...uh....OK, well maybe next weekend?"

FINALLY FIND A GIRLFRIEND with Stevie Nicks featured rather prominently in the background had "hit" written all over it. After years of being the loneliest guy with a good body, I finally found a girlfriend. But the minute I began joyfully singing this song...she dumped me! And the search began again.

THE BLONDE IN THE BLUE T-BIRD is another one that shoulda been a hit. Who can hear this one without thinking of the movie, 'American Graffiti'?

STAR IN THE DUST contains the lyric, "I recall what somebody once told me: Only the lucky in love survive." Here Egan cleverly references his debut album which kicked off with the song, 'Only The Lucky (In Love Survive)' So now you know who the "somebody" was who told him.

I WANNIT is the weak link on the album. Not offensive but not a standout track either.

MAKE IT ALONE contains some angst-driven guitar playing from our boy which gives the song the edge it requires - really his best work on the album. And yes, you can make it alone! Just look at me; I've made it alone. But it IS kinda lonely to be a lone kinda guy. But you CAN make it...alone...and lonely....very lonely....desperately lonely. OK, that's all I have to say about that because it's starting to depress me.

UNLOVED. Ah, yes, here's another one about being alone, lonely, unloved. It's about a girl who can't be contacted because she's "unlisted" her phone. But hey, the singer's gonna make it alone even though he may be a bit lonely, a bit unloved...REALLY unloved. Oh man, here we go again. "Hey baby, let's get together and...oh, I see. OK, well maybe next weekend?"

JUST THE WANTING. No, this brooding ballad is not about wanting a girl when you're unloved and trying to make it alone. It's about the wanting to attain something in life...something a little BIGGER than a girlfriend...unless of course, your girlfriend is named Bertha, or something like that. There's a line in this song that says, "I remember when I was seventeen and my life had just begun." That's funny because I was seventeen when I first saw Walter playing on that little college stage, and I too felt that my life was full of pristine promise. Little did I know back then that the best I'd ever do in life was to write semiappreciated reviews for a then unimaginable internet shopping site while trying to....make it alone...so alone.

HOT SUMMER NIGHTS. Yeah, I know all about hot summer nights (today's high here in Phoenix was about 115 degrees and it's still about 100 at 2 AM), but somehow I get the feeling that Egan has a different kind of "hot" in mind. This may be my favorite track. Here's another one with tremendous hit potential that inexplicably never got played over our radios in the summer of '78.
"A-Woo-ooo-ooo-OO-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo, hot summer nights."

There's nothing fancy on 'NOT SHY'; just simple, but catchy commercial pop, summery and tasty. Alright listen, I gotta go now. No, you can't go with me, and don't let me catch you trying to follow me either. I'm gonna MAKE IT ALONE, gosh darn it, and I can't do that if you're following after me like a lost little puppy dog! "Alone" means alone and I can make it that way...I can....I just know I can. Of course, if you're blonde and female...you think maybe I could catch a lift with you in your blue T-bird? Perhaps we could MAKE IT ALONE together. OK, well maybe next weekend?

I guess there are worse disks to experience a guilty pleasure - but this is one of mine. The good thing is that don't have to purchase these separately - the dual disk is a nice touch.

Egan produces some of the best beach-y music since the Beach Boys/Jan & Dean era. It's a music genre that has all but disappeared.....and even Egan's disks are pushing the 30yo mark.

Completely overlooked save "Magnet & Steel" (and that only hit radio due to Fleetwood Mac riding high), there is some credible and good material that encompasses both 'Fundamental Roll' and 'Not Shy'.

That being said, had the best of material on both disks been combined, it could have made for one great disk. As it is, some of the weaker material truly waters down the potential these disks had.

Stand out cuts include: "Won't You Say You Will", "Yes, I Guess I Am", "Magnet & Steel", "Just the Wanting", "Finally Fine a Girlfriend", "Blonde in the Blue T-Bird" and "Hot Summer Nights".

These aren't deep albums or songs. Just fun....and there's nothing wrong w/that.

Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood are all over these two very decent, very enjoyable albums by Walter Egan, but who is Walter Egan? He's best remembered for the hit "Magnet & Steel" and for his woodcutting side-hobby(displayed in Buckingham's liner notes for "Out of the Cradle"). He's sort of a non-rabble-rousing good-time boy, a bit callow and unambitious. But his straightforward vocals are pleasant and undemanding, and he sounds even better duetting with La Nicks. Best songs feature Nicks prominently: "Won't You Say You Will", "Yes I Guess I Am"(which features a blistering Buckingham guitar solo), the positively infectious "When I Get My Wheels"(Stevie gets down on this one--"Watch out!!"), the rollicking "Finally Find a Girlfriend", and the best song here, "The Blonde in the Blue T-Bird". On the 'Not Shy' album, Egan got a bit more involved and expanded his band outside of his friends, but the girl back-up singer is no match for Nicks(who appears on several songs nevertheless)and his personality is still too lackadaisical to fully come through.