New York Dolls "Too Much Too Soon"

Too Much Too Soon is the 1974 second studio album by American hard rock band the New York Dolls. The group was dissatisfied with the recording of their 1973 self-titled debut album, leading the band's frontman David Johansen to enlist veteran producer Shadow Morton for Too Much Too Soon. Morton had become disenchanted by the music industry, but felt motivated by the band's energy and agreed to work with them as a challenge. They recorded the album the following year at A&R Studios in New York City.

Although the New York Dolls shared an affinity for Morton, they produced little original material with him. To complete Too Much Too Soon, they covered older songs and re-recorded their past demos. Johansen impersonated different characters while singing some of the novelty covers, and Morton incorporated many studio sound effects and female backing vocals in his production. For the album, lead guitarist Johnny Thunders wrote and recorded "Chatterbox", his first recorded performance singing lead.

Too Much Too Soon was released by Mercury Records on May 10, 1974, to poor sales and only charted at number 167 on the Billboard 200. After a problem-ridden national tour, the New York Dolls were dropped by Mercury and disbanded a few years later. The album received positive reviews from most critics, some of whom felt Morton's production highlighted the group's raw sound and made it a better record than their first. Like their debut album, Too Much Too Soon became one of the most popular cult records in rock music and has since been viewed by music journalists as a precursor to punk rock.

After being signed by Mercury Records, the New York Dolls released their self-titled debut album in 1973 to poor sales. Although it was praised by critics, the band members were not satisfied with producer Todd Rundgren's sound for the album and had disagreements with him before recording Too Much Too Soon. Songwriting and production partners Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller were originally enlisted to produce their second album, while the band's guitarist Johnny Thunders wanted to produce it himself. However, Leiber and Stoller withdrew shortly before recording was to begin. The group held a single session with Mercury A&R executive Paul Nelson at Media Sound Recording Studios, where they recorded 14 songs, most of which were cover songs.


At the recommendation of Leiber and Stoller, frontman David Johansen asked veteran producer Shadow Morton to work on Too Much Too Soon. Morton was best known for his work with the Shangri-Las, of whom the New York Dolls were fans, and had also been Johansen's original choice to produce their debut album. Morton had become disenchanted with the music industry and wanted to challenge himself by producing the band's second album: "The Dolls had energy, sort of a disciplined weirdness. I took them into the room as a challenge. I was bored with the music and the business. The Dolls can certainly snap you out of boredom."

Too Much Too Soon was titled after the biography of the same name on actress Diana Barrymore. According to music journalist Jon Savage, the title was "more than applicable to the Dolls themselves" because of alcoholism and other issues among the band members, including Thunders's heroin use and Nolan's contraction of hepatitis. A dedication to Barrymore was printed in the album's gatefold LP. For its front cover, the group eschewed the drag image that their first album had presented and they had developed a reputation for in favor of a fake concert shot. During the shoot, Thunders held a doll in his arm as if to strike it against his guitar to add shock value.

Released on May 10, 1974, Too Much Too Soon was another commercial failure for the New York Dolls, as it only charted at number 167 on the Billboard 200. It performed well below Mercury's expectations and sold less than 100,000 copies. Two double A-sided, 7" singles were released to promote the album—"Stranded in the Jungle" / "Who Are the Mystery Girls?" in July and "(There's Gonna Be A) Showdown" / "Puss 'n' Boots" in September 1974—but neither charted. According to Antonia, the selected singles demonstrated how "the Dolls were in need of a hit single and their current producer wanted to see them attain it" by accommodating radio audiences with toned-down studio versions of songs the band had performed more rowdily in concert. Joe Gross wrote in The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004) that the band's attempt to garner more airplay by enlisting Morton did not work because, "with a slicker sound, background choruses, and cleaner riffs, the Dolls just sounded skankier".


When Too Much Too Soon was released in Europe in July, the New York Dolls performed at the Buxton Festival in Derbyshire and the Rock Prom Festival at Olympia in London.[36] They also embarked on their second tour of the United States, which lasted only a few months. It was marred by cancelled shows and conflicts between the band members stemming from their escalating addictions to alcohol and other drugs. Because of their alcoholism, they failed to set up a recording session for a scheduled third album after the tour had ended, and by 1975, they were dropped by Mercury before disbanding a few years later.