| December
2005 CD Reviews
CD Reviews: Rock’s Old Guard Shows
Occasional Signs of Life: Cream, Deep Purple, Rolling
Stones…and More
Ratings:
Five Stars-Indispensable
Four Stars-Excellent
Three Stars-Very Good
Two Stars-Fair
One Star-Poor
No Stars-Destined For the Cut-out Bin
Cream,
Live At Albert Hall, Reprise Records
When
this journalist heard about the reformation of Cream for a
four-night stand at London’s Royal Albert Hall last year,
mixed feelings and nagging questions abounded: Could Eric
Clapton, Jack Bruce and Giner Baker, all into or nearing
senior citizen territory, play with the passion they had in
the sixties? Was this a crassly commercial venture aimed at
making money? How would the years apart affect their working
relationship, which suffered due to the members’ of drugs
and the inflated egos that caused the band to split
acrimoniously in 1968? With the release of Live At Albert
Hall, it has become apparent that most of my fears were well
founded. I could go on and on about the lagging tempos, the
terrible drum mix (Baker’s cymbals are non-existent),
Bruce’s pedestrian bass playing and vocals, Clapton’s
thin tone, and the general lack of energy missing from the
music. Maybe I expected too much from these three aging rock
veterans, but when I personally know and/or play with great
rock musicians who are over sixty and still have that fire
in their eyes, it leaves me no choice but to dismiss Live
At Albert Hall as ill-fated attempt at making money on
nostalgia. **
The
Rolling Stones, A Bigger Bang, Virgin Records
And
now, ladies and gentlemen, The Rolling Stones.
This
is more like it. The Rolling Stones new disc is their best
effort in years, brimming with tough rockers, a few quality
ballads, a little blues and funk and little evidence of
their advancing ages. Drummer Charlie Watts, well recovered
from a bout of throat cancer, plays like a man possessed.
Mick Jagger sounds twenty years his junior and Keith
Richards’s guitar playing, along with that of guitarist
Ronnie Wood is electrifying. Keith’s two lead vocals are
equally scintillating, and all in all, the band sounds newly
invigorated and genuinely happy to be playing together. Just
take my advice; buy it!
****
Deep
Purple, Rapture Of The Deep, Eagle Records
And
even Deep Purple still rocks well into middle age! The newly
released Deep Purple disc collects the band’s trademarks;
proto-metal riffs, classical strains, middle eastern
influences and more and combines them into a successful and
interesting release. While singer Ian Gillan may not have
the sheer volume and strength of his youth, he makes up for
it with clever phrasing and thoughtful lyrics, such as heard
on “Clearly Quite Absurd” and
“MTV” in which the singer thanks the video music
giant and classic rock radio for playing the band’s old
hits, but still bemoans their lack of interest in the
band’s new material. All in all, Rapture Of The Deep
shows an older band still breathing fire and talking trash.
***
The
Bobby Kyle Band, Last Call For The Blues,
self-released
I have to admit that Bobby Kyle is a
friend of mine and I have shamelessly promoted his records
over the last few years. So sue me. I’m partial and
definitely not objective. After all, this is my website, I
pay for its maintenance, so I can do what I please, right?
Let me put it this way; if Bobby’s guitar playing, singing
and songwriting weren’t top shelf, I wouldn’t bother. If
he sucked, you wouldn’t read about it here. Truth is, he
doesn’t suck, and neither does his band. In fact, they
kick ass on all counts. Bobby, a former sideman with Johnny
“
Clyde
” Copeland and Eddie Kirkland, has been paying some
serious dues the last several years trying to get his solo
career off the ground. Like most bluesmen, he books his own
gigs, drives the band’s van and sometimes pays his
musicians out of his own pocket, while trying to support his
family and pay a mortgage. It’s a tough go these days for
the blues, and Bobby’s music reflects the hard times, with
this soulful five-song EP/CD of original and cover songs
that exhibit a strong blues influence, but clearly fall on
the R&B side of the fence. Throughout, Bobby Kyle and
his band continually remind the listener that the blues got
soul. Check out
Bobby’s website: www.bobbykyle.com.
***
The BoDeans, Homebrewed-Live From
The Pabst, Back Porch Records
I
also find it very difficult to remain objective about the
BoDeans. I have been a fan of Sammy Llanas and Kurt
Neumann’s music for years, and now, with wunderdrummer
Kenny Aronoff on board (at least for this, their second
double live disc), The BoDeans, playing for an adoring
hometown Milwaukee crowd on New Year’s Eve, 2004, sound
spectacular. If you own their first live double disc, Joe
Dirt Car, you’ll get some overlapping of older
material, but Homebrewed contains newer material, as
well as live versions of tunes that did not make it onto Joe
Dirt Car. Throughout, Sammy and Kurt’s stellar
two-part harmony vocals are the centerpiece. Mix those
vocals with quality songs and tasty musicianship from all
concerned, and you have a winner.
****
Lucinda
Williams, Live @ The Fillmore, Lost
Highway Records
Lucinda
Williams, reigning queen of alternative country and perhaps
the finest female singer/songwriter within the genre, raises
questions with her latest disc, a double live CD recorded at
the Fillmore in
San Francisco
. For starters, Williams mysteriously includes nothing from
her breakthrough disc, the classic Car Wheels On A
Gravel Road, sticking almost
exclusively with songs from her two latest releases.
Why this material was left out is perplexing. Next,
there’s a preponderance of slow songs, so many, that the
album’s pace becomes bogged down about halfway through the
second disc. Nothing ever rises above mid tempo. Do you get
where I’m going with this? A more varied selection of
tunes would have served the listener better. Not to take
away from the quality of the material included or the
performances; Williams is one of this writer’s favorites,
and her band fits her like a glove. Had the energy level
been kicked up a few notches, it would have made for a
better-balanced product. ***
Ryan
Adams & The Cardinals,
Jacksonville
City
Nights, Lost Highway Records
The
enigmatic Ryan Adams has returned with his new band, hot on
the heels of their last release, seemingly inhabiting the
guise of Gram Parsons, The Flying Burrito Brothers and other
country/rock heroes of bygone days, on the group’s new CD,
supposedly the second in a trilogy of discs to be released
in one year. According to publicity, this is the group’s
country offering.
Adams
regularly calls up the ghost of the doomed Parsons, who has
become an iconic figure to the alt country set.
Adams
’ material is at times triumphant and straight out of the
honky-tonks, and at other times, it drowns in
self-consciousness. His vocal delivery is forthright on most
occasions, but veers too close to annoying, off-key,
yodeling at others. All in all, Jacksonville City Nights
is an uneven effort, but I’m anxious to hear what Ryan and
his cohorts come up with next time. **1/2
The
Fabulous Thunderbirds, Painted On,
Artemis/Tone Cool Records
You
can’t kill The Fabulous Thunderbirds. I think this band is
going to outlive us all. With their shaved heads, doo rags,
menacing-looking facial hair and multiple tattoos, they are
also one of the motliest-looking bands I’ve ever seen, in
fact, they look positively threatening. With leader Kim
Wilson as the only original member left standing, The
T-Birds romp through a toe-tapping set of rock-inflected
blues and R&B that differs little from their
long-established style. Guitarist Nick Curran, is now a
fulltime member, as is west coast phenom guitarist Kirk
Fletcher, along with ex-Blaster piano man Gene Taylor.
Drummer Jimi Bott supplies relaxed grooves and a great feel,
and
Wilson
’s vocals and harp are always on the money. Overall
though, the material, while serviceable, doesn’t match the
band’s consistently high output from back in the Jimmy
Vaughan days of the late ‘80’s, when “Tuff Enough”
and “Wrap It Up” were all over the radio. **1/2
Magic Slim & The Teardrops/Anything Can
Happen/Blind Pig Records
Guitarist
Magic Slim may be one of the last of the “real thing”
Mississippi
bluesmen still active. This is his first live disc and
it’s long overdue, for Slim’s music translates best in a
live environment. Playing his trademark Fender Jazzmaster
(an instrument favored by surf guitarists) and
shouting his distinctive vocals, Slim plays an effective
variety of blues styles and tempos, from slow grinders, to
medium and uptempo shuffles and rock-inflected tunes.
Slim’s guitar style is loose and fiery and there’s not a
bad track here. “Goin’ To Mississippi” simmers for
over seven minutes until Slim rips out a hot solo about 4:39
into it; “I’m A Bluesman” and “Get Your Business
Straight” chug along with a Chuck Berry feel; “Black
Tornado” has a decidedly country feel not unlike “Maybelline”;
Muddy Waters’ “Still A Fool” is given the raw, slow
treatment. Slim’s backup band, as sharp as a tack after
countless years on the road, backs him with high energy and
soul. Magic Slim’s Anything Can Happen is a
great live blues disc.
Mambo
Sons, Racket of Three, Omnicide Records, self-released
The
Mambo Sons play straight ahead rock n’ roll music; drums,
bass and guitar with vocals, and no smoke & mirrors, no
studio tricks, no computers, no Pro Tools, and a definite a
lack of pretentious nonsense. Guitarist Tom Guerra supplies
edgy but ever-tasteful rhythm and lead work. Drummer Joe
“The Cat” Lemieux and bassist Scott Lawson are a solid
rhythm section and provide a supple foundation on every
tune. Lawson takes the lead vocals all around and does an
admirable job. The music contains a rootsy blues element,
but is solidly grounded in 60’s and 70’s classic rock.
One will hear melodic traces of The Beatles, Stones, James
Gang, ZZ Top and even a dash of Duane Eddy twang. Standout
tracks include “Delta Slide,” “Mr. Rebound,”
“Play Some Rock n’ Roll (She’s Comin’
Over),” and the red hot
Texas
boogie, “Been Out Of Touch.” There’s hope for
rock ‘n’ roll as long as bands like The Mambo Sons are
out there doin’ it. Order your copy at www.MamboSons.com.
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