Released by Jimmy Carl Black on his home label Inkanish, The Early Years gathers live documents from the Jack and Jim Show, his long-term association with maverick guitarist Eugene Chadbourne. This CD-R has been produced in typical Chadbourne fashion: sound quality varies from good to poor, edits are crude, the tape breaks a few times, information is sparse (no indications as to where and when the tracks were recorded). Nonetheless, for a home release this one stands above average and anyone familiar with the Doctor's discography will appreciate the care Black put in selecting the material. There are many gems here, more than on The Perfect C&W Duo's Tribute to Jesse Helms and The Taste of the Leftovers, the two other discs he put out simultaneously. The repertoire covers about every area of both men's careers, from the jazz standard "Donna Lee" -- not that this duo is particularly jazzy, country and rock fill most of their cup of tea -- to Chadbourne's harsh rock songs and a handful of Frank Zappa covers. About two-thirds of these performances are very good, better than most of what the duo put out on their first two discs (Locked in a Dutch Coffeeshop and Pachuco Cadaver). Highlights include a fantastic nine-minute long "Fresh Garbage," Shockabilly's "Pile Up All Architecture" (with an uncredited keyboardist), "Secret of the Cooler," and "Nazi Punks, Fuck Off." As for the Zappa tunes, the guitarist performs them almost ad lib. "Lonesome Cowboy Burt" and "Trouble Coming Everyday" are entertaining; "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama" and "Oh No" might infuriate the fans.