THROWBACK TO THE FUTURE : Richard X. Heyman’s Do-It-Yourself Approach Captures the Eternal Appeal of the ‘60s Sound

The advent of computers in pop music has taken the gee-whiz appeal out of the solo album that really is solo--played and sung by one musician, without supporting cast.

With drum machines and synthesizers at their disposal, performers who want record-making to be a private affair can easily approximate a full-band sound. For the budget-minded, who can’t afford to hire a band, or the antisocial, who agree with Sartre that “hell is other people,” digital technology makes it easy to fly solo.

Richard X. Heyman is a throwback to the early ‘70s, when such rockers as Todd Rundgren, Paul McCartney and Pete Townshend would turn out do-it-yourself albums that were impressive because they really were man-made. McCartney’s 1970 solo debut, “McCartney” (with Linda McCartney on hand to do whatever it is that she does), Rundgren’s “Something/Anything” and Townshend’s “Who Came First,” both released in 1972, saw the stars overdubbing all vocals, playing all guitars, basses and keyboards and, for better or worse (mostly for worse), doing the drumming as well.

The New York-based Heyman is well-suited to the go-it-alone challenge he has taken on his two albums, “Living Room!!” and the current “Hey Man!” They show him to be a capable guitarist and bassist (though not in the Rundgren/Townshend category), a dexterous piano and organ player, and--the hardest part of the circuit to complete--an effective drummer. While Heyman did let other hands lend bass and guitar parts to a few tracks, the albums are essentially all his own work. Evidently not the antisocial sort, he’ll have a full band behind him at Bogart’s tonight, although he is expected to take a fling on each instrument during the show.

There isn’t much point in being able to play all the instruments on a song if the song itself isn’t worth playing. But songwriting is Heyman’s greatest strength. His style springs from a pure-pop lover’s infatuation with the ‘60s. With the Beatles and the Byrds as his main foundation, Heyman calls to mind all sorts of past and present sources who have worked that tradition. At the same time, he captures the freshness and exuberance of ‘60s-based pop, and exploits its expressive possibilities in songs that can crystallize an emotion, sketch a small story, or frame a clash of conflicting feelings.

Heyman often echoes the past. “Monica,” a wistful, winning ballad, is almost a sequel to Rundgren’s “Marlene,”--except that Heyman goes beyond the adolescent romantic helplessness of Rundgren’s song to envision a couple determined to build an adult life together despite a raft of obstacles.

“Loud” is a tribute to the “Drive My Car” Beatles; the string-sweetened “To Whiskey Flats” is a glowing near-remake of a Kinks oldie, “The Way Love Used to Be,” and “In the Scheme of Things” could come in handy for Tom Petty or Roger McGuinn if either of them should ever need outside material that fits their style. As a singer, Heyman has a husky-reedy blend that can recall such pure-pop exponents as McGuinn, Elvis Costello, Marshall Crenshaw and NRBQ’s Joey Spampinato.

Heyman does have quirks of his own. His “Civil War Buff” joins the Band’s “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” and Dave Alvin’s “Andersonville” on the select list of pop songs that can speak to the legions of Americans intrigued by the war between the states (surely Heyman’s is the first rock song to mention historian Bruce Catton, or to rhyme “real fanatics”--or anything else--with “Appomattox”). Heyman lends depth to “Civil War Buff” by questioning how he could relish one of history’s bloodiest conflicts. How, he wonders, could a peace-loving man like himself “love Matthew Brady’s pictures of (dead) soldiers lying in the rain?”

Any song form broad and flexible enough to encompass feelings and ideas like those must have classic, timeless expressive qualities. That’s why ‘60s pop styles are still with us, and why, in the hands of skilled practitioners like Heyman, they can remain involving even if they don’t sound new.

Who: Richard X. Heyman.

When: Thursday, Jan. 9, at 9 p.m., with They Eat Their Own and Volkwood Ghost.

Where: Bogart’s, in the Marina Pacifica Mall, 6288 E. Pacific Coast Highway, Long Beach.

Whereabouts: Take the San Diego Freeway to the Seal Beach Boulevard exit, go left, then right on Westminster Avenue and right again on Pacific Coast Highway. Bogart’s is just past the intersection of Westminster and PCH, on the left.

Wherewithal: $8.

Where to call: (310) 594-8975.