Playlist: Unreality Reality

This weekend, the Iowa Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inducted a few more of the lesser knowns that played a part in Iowa rock history.  Not that Paul McCartney needs another induction anywhere, he's the big name going into the Iowa Rock Fame, for his band managed to pack them in on the weekends at a small bar in Hamburg or Luxemburg.  A lot of bands and musicians were part of the big cover band scene in the 60s, 70s and so on. Mike Daughtery, Rich Webster (Dogs On Skis, solo artist who played The Vine in Iowa City), Don Bourrett (The Velaires) still rocking on drums at age 74, Bob Sarr (Pete Klint Quintet, Zephyr,  Patrick Hazel), Jan Kuehnemund (Vixen, yes that band that made a few albums for EMI in the 80s, the early parts of that band started up here in Iowa) are some of the folks and plenty more. 



The bands that made it in the Iowa Rock Fame will never be in the one in Cleveland and that's okay.  But we have a wide variety of bands.  Chase had a hit in 1971 with Get It On and made three albums for Epic before a plane crash took the life of Bill Chase and a few other members of the band.  Captain Beefhart And The Shipwrecks was an early 60s band that featured a George Clinton (no not that one), Sliver Laughter, Crystal Axe, Instant Blues Machine, Spectrum 70 and who can't  forget Oink Henderson And The Squealers?  The Gayla Ballroom, Independence's dance hall and where up and coming acts got their start is one of two places inducted into the all, the other Des Moines Veteran's Memorial  Auditorium.  Radio personality Maxwell Schaffer and Decorah's KDEC station.  Somehow, Bob Dorr, making a fifth attempt for a fifth spot in the Hall didn't make it this time.

 

Last month's ratings improved slightly last month thanks to the Swinging Steaks adding a link to the blog about them.  For the first time the first top five blogs all came from August with Talking To The Stars a distant second and the Hit Records Blog 3rd.  Even the singles going steady 18 Davenport Finds did quite well.  Look for more scratchy 45s blogs in the forthcoming future.

Glen Cornick passed away.  He was 67.  Best known for the bass player on the first three Jethro Tull albums and the Living In The Past collection.  Later did two albums with Bob Welch in the band called Paris; made two fair to meddling albums for Capitol.

Jimi Jamison, lead singer for Survivor and expert background singer on other's recordings (Omar And The Howlers) died Monday from a heart attack.  He was 63.  

The rains stayed away Sunday for the New Bo Festival and it was fun time watching Mirage do a tribute to Jean Luc Ponty in the afternoon.  They had a female violinist who was very good tackling a version of Eat That Question by Frank Zappa as well.  Hipknosis (they spelled it that way) I didn't make till I heard their end song of Let It Be.  The Leviathan String Ensemble, a group of students from Washington High School, did a half hour recital of songs.  At least they're playing real instruments and they were pretty good.  I didn't make it to Jim Post's performance either.  Later did my walk around downtown CR and part of Cedar Lake and came back to see the violinist from Mirage still talking to somebody in the evening shadows.



Reality shows suck but I do pay attention from time to time on a couple of them:  History Channel's Ice Road Truckers and VH1's tacky Dating Naked.  I tend to comment more on IRT on Twitter than Dating Naked, since the latter show is on nights that I work.  Ice Road Truckers if you look at it is an ho hum affair about truck drivers making hauls for either VP express or Polar Industries, going to remote places and going over frozen lakes and rivers.  Despite the good intentions of Alex Degraboski (typo) who chats live on Twitter or Facebook, the show has been a snoozer all season.  The only tension has been Darrell Ward walking out on Polar and starting up his own transport.  With bad background music and scary/hilarious animation of what would happen if the ice breaks on them, we do not see that happen. If something would happen like Darrell Ward falling into the lake on thin ice, you wouldn't see that.

 

Dating Naked on the other hand is a more radical version of Blind Date, but with a few more boys and girls in birthday suits jumping into hot tubs or pools or doing radical things although sometimes lust takes over and the lucky ones get a little.  Such in the case of Ashley Fonda and Alika Medeiros whose tongue hockey has gotten them down the aisle in a quickie marriage.  Which the whole world knows it's not going to last since you actually have to learn to live together and see all the good and bad in people and trying to keep it going despite the odds. In this day and age of shock value, there's no shortage of "shock reality", and another channel has Naked And Scared, to which two people spend a month on a remote island wearing nothing but a smile and trying to survive the elements and themselves.  Apparently, Jessie Nizewitz didn't read the fine print before signing on to Dating Naked about the show being filmed in the nude and is suing VH1 for 10 million since they showed her naughty bits during a wrestling scene, scaring off her Jewish boyfriend of one month and the internet forever immortalizing  her in a in-humanizing way, especially when you type her name on Google search and see the results.  That said, Dating Naked is lot like Blind Date but when you think about it, it's more mindless than that show.  Even with clothes off, the majority of the show you're trying to stay awake.  Kinda like Ice Truck Truckers, or Honey Boo Boo, or Pawn Stars, or.....

Diggy Kat, after leaving Radio Buzz'd now his own net radio station on Live 365 called Lucky Star Radio. I consider net radio to be a hobby of sorts but anybody that plays The Townedgers I will support them the best way that I can.  Lucky Star Radio is new rock and goth most of the time but once in a while they'll play an oldie or two. Home of Songs That Made An Impact Series:  http://www.live365.com/stations/luckystarradio

KOSY 95.7 is the new CHR station in this area.  As if anybody cares. WWHP, "the whip" in Farmer City has resorted to classic rock replacing the alternative blues and country they're famous for.  Yet another classic rot outlet to hear Glory Days once again. 

Link of the day: Despair. http://www.despair.com/

George Starosin takes on Blue Oyster Cult: http://only-solitaire.blogspot.com/2014/09/blue-oyster-cult-blue-oyster-cult.html 


Reviews:

TOTO-35th Anniversary: Live In Poland (Eagle)

A bit of turnover since this 2013 show, Simon Phillips left to do other things, replaced by Keith Carlock so I guess this serves as a farewell to Simon.  Toto can't get arrested in the US so they took their show to Poland in front of one of the most enthusiastic crowds in live music history, hell they're a metronome the way they clap in time to the music.  Despite the hits, Toto was very much of a progressive rock band themselves, with top notch musicians, Steve Lukather and David Paich with Steve Porcaro being the holdovers from Toto IV, and Joseph Williams from the mid 80s returning to lead vocals and doing a very good job although the bantering the crowd gets a bit too much for these ears, especially during the long jam on Africa.  Nathan East provides the bass and his long history proves that he belongs there too.    A very generous 2 CD 2 and a half hours of Toto might too much for the casual fan but they certainly picked a fine night to record the whole thing.  Of course most of the hits are there (99, Hold The Line, I'll Be Over You, Rosanna) but the lesser known numbers are just as good (Pamela, On The Run Medley) and of course to show their prog roots, Home Of The Brave with an over the top ending that could rival Emerson Lake and Palmer for total pomp and circumstance.  But don't laugh too hard, this is a fine show and you had to be there.  That's why there's a DVD of this out there.  With your name on it of course.
Grade B+

Elvin Bishop-Best Of: Tulsa Shuffle (Epic/Legacy)

Given his good ole boy aw shucks persona, Bishop can play the hell out of the guitar.  He's legendary for his time in Paul Butterfield's Blues Band till even he couldn't handle his boss' ever changing ways so he stuck out on his own and recorded three albums for Fillmore (later Epic). The original EB Group was a real motley crue, former Linn County lead singer/keyboardist Steve Miller (RIP) proved he was no Mickey Thomas, Miller's vocals more rough and tumble than the sweet highs of the future Starship leader. Joy Baker, good background vocalist, lead singer not so much and they were the better members. The harmonica player Applejack is the Albert Ayler of harmonica, and not in a good way.  But what dammed the group was that they had a very shaky rhythm section and perhaps the most ill suited and one of the worst drummers that I've heard in my years in John Chambers, ex Loading Zone box tapper.  This best of showcases the Fillmore/Epic years which means the hits are not here, you want the Mercury best of.  Most of the songs are either blues standards ruined by an out of time drummer, and when they do start to rock a bit harder on the remake of Don't Fight It (Feel It), the drummer can't keep a beat on that either without doing unnecessary cymbal crashes and gives a feeling of a bull in a china shop.  Only time things heat up is when Bishop takes over the vocals and shows a hint of what's to come when he signed up with Capricorn.  The sections taken from his Rock My Soul album are the highlights.  By then they got a more competent drummer (Bill Meeker).  Stealin' Watermelons would be one of Bishop's signature songs too.  While Tulsa Shuffle is not recommended, it is of some historical value, Bishop was the best vocalist out of the bunch and it's also a valuable document of the contributions of Steve Miller, a part of the Iowa hippie blues rock band Linn County, who made three albums for Mercury/Phillips. An acquired taste as well.  Liner notes to Tulsa Shuffle are worth reading as you try to get through 7 and a half minutes of So Good.  Which isn't.

Grade B-

Murray Attaway-In Thrall (DGC)

A record that went straight to the budget bins after release.  Attaway was the main songwriter of Guadalcanal Diary, a band that recorded four albums of varying degree for Elektra, before he disbanded the group and went solo.  He signed up with Geffen and they pulled all the stops out and signed up some big name session players for this album (Nicky Hopkins, the Mr. Mister drummer Pat Mostelleo (sic), Robby Blunt (Robert Plant, Steve Gibbons Band) Aimee Mann, Jon Brion, even Jackson Browne himself helps out. James Guthrie (Pink Floyd) mixed the whole thing and the uneven Tony Berg produced this.  Very ambitious record judging by the lineup but the thing didn't sell.  Geffen Records had this idea of just giving this away in a weird promotion scam (like they did with another artist, Rick Parker (Lions & Ghosts)). It didn't work, and Attaway was cut loose not too long after, and this record gave him a black eye about the music business to which we haven't heard much from Murray, although he has reformed Guadalcanal Diary.  In Thrall is really not bad, it starts out great with No Tears Tonight and Under Jets, which does sound like G. Diary.  Perhaps the weight of the guest stars added too much variety to the album,  Fall So Far, is vintage Nicky Hopkins on piano, but not characteristic of Guad Diary.   While the last two songs My Book and Home are Murray's most personal lyricwise, musically they tend to mender and brings the record down a melancholy end.   But for a ten cent CD In Thrall isn't a waste of time, it has enough songs to recommend and perhaps make it a keeper for the casual listener.  Murray Attaway was the alternative rock to the grunge that Geffen Records was promoting before that cash cow band's leader shot himself out of this world.  By then In Thrall was history too.  An overlooked failed mini classic.

Grade B+




Playlist:

Answer The Phone-Sugar Ray (S/T)
Maybe This Day-Kissing The Pink (Nude)
Rock And Roll Woman-Buffalo Springfield (Again)
Drivin' Blues-Frijid Pink (S/T)
Everytime I Look At You-Darryl Hall/John Oates (Abandoned Luncheonette)
Joe Perry Project-Life At A Glance (Let The Music Do The Talking)
Saturday Night-Eagles (Desperado)
Don't Let Him Know-Prism (Small Change)
Do You Read Me-Rory Gallagher (Calling Card)
How Long-Rick Nelson (Rick Sings Nelson)

Fun With Scratchy Records Two

It's been a while since I have posted some old time scratched up relics from the past so I thought I'd share two examples of some of my overplayed and now retired grooves.  They got craters in them groove and one is cracked.

Don Hollinger-Cruel World (Atco 45-6492) 1967

Hardly anything shows up on the internet about  Delton (Don) Hollinger and so far nobody has put up this little funky R and B number, however the plug side  Until I Find You can be found on you tube.  I don't believe there's has been a stock copy of Atco 6492 only promo copies have been found from time to time and very pricey too on EBAY.  (further researched showed that somebody on EBAY had a stock copy of said song).  I'm not sure paying 40 dollars for a new copy warrants the situation to replace my old VG- G+ version, it still plays but I compare it to driving down a gravel road with bumps along the way.  Hollinger was a journeyman soul singer, he came from Georgia and had a much more grittier and growling vocal than Otis Redding or Bobby "blue" Bland. And since before the internet made things easier to research, and since there's not much about Hollinger and this forgotten soul classic, I'm guessing that the sessions sound like they came from Florida  at Criteria Studios, or perhaps a lesser known studio in Atlanta. You might call it a live in the studio recording with no overdubs.  It turned out to be the only single that he would record for Atco.  He would continue to write music for others and record off and on till his passing in 1991.  The best writeup comes from this site: http://www.sirshambling.com/artists_2012/H/don_hollinger/

This single I got came from a Drive In on some promotion night in 1968, we were at an old now forgotten drive in in Waterloo and we won a batch of records, which I thought was a big deal but most of them were DJ promos of bands and artists nobody gave much thought about.  Somewhere in that stack of 45s, I recall most of them were blah, there was an Anita Bryant 45, Joe South And The Believers A Fool In Love and Cruel World/Until I Find You.  Being a 7 year old brat, these records were subjects of frisbee flying or trying to reproduce our own label.  Since they were black and white, why not take some magic markers and add color?  Didn't look so good on the other side of the 45 but Cruel World was left alone.   Had I known that trying to find a replacement copy would mean taking out a second mortgage on the house, I would have treated this record much more better.

And guess what. Cruel World is now on You Tube. Somebody remembered! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWsSvo6jLIk

Bobby Brant-Piano Nellie  (East West 45-EW 124) 1958

The East West Story (1957-1958) simplified: 

Atlantic had three divisions of varying degree for their record roster.  Of course the big one was Atlantic, which at that time was for R and B and Doo Wop groups, Atco was more of a rock and roll label even back in the 1950s, that's where Bobby Darin started after being on Decca and of course later on Vanilla Fudge, Cream and Sonny And Cher would be on Atco. Which leaves us East West, better known as the one off label for also-rans or licensed from minor labels.  David Gates (Bread)  released Swinging Baby Doll (EW 123-1958) a rockabilly number that's like Bobby Darin with more a guitar sound, Charles Brown recorded When Did You Leave Heaven (EW 106 1957) in typical Brown fashion but the Dick Jacobs inspired arrangements date this badly.  Jay Holliday Wang Dang Doo (EW 102) is fairly tough rockabilly until the cornball vocal chorus derails the whole thing.  Al Henderson Ding Dong Dandy (EW 113) gives visions of something that Bobby Rydell would get away with, with higher chart placings.  The only artist that got any chart position in the East West era (circa 1957-58) would be the Kingsmen (part of Bill Haley and The Comets fame) and their number 35  Week End (EW 115) in 1958.  Their followup Cat Walk (EW 120) didn't chart.

The strange aura of East West can be attributed to the different types of oddball music, Daddy Lolo (oriental rock and roll) by Ganim's Asia Minors (EW 109) would have sounded out of place even on AM radio in 1957,  The Tracey Twins' out of tune Heartbreak Hill (EW 108) The Glowtones period piece doo wop The Girl I Love (EW 101) and some attempts to cash in on the teen beat also came up with minimal results (Tony Castle, Burt Taylor).  But by 1959 Atlantic closed up East West and it remained closed until 1990 when they restarted the label and it did have much more success with the likes of AC DC, Pantera and En Vogue on the roster.

Although The Kingsmen' Week End was perhaps the better known rocking song, the toughest rocking single came from Bobby Nelson Poe, aka The Poe Kat aka Bobby Blant. Recording for Jim Lowe's White Rock label, Piano Nellie got picked up for distribution via East West EW 124.  Brant's Rhythm Rockers actually was the first rock and roll band backing up Wanda Jackson (Let's Have A Party) and Piano Nellie features the piano work of Big Al Downing, one of rock's most unknown players but had a style all his own.  After this single, Poe would focus his energies on management, getting a number 33 hit with She's The One by The Chartbusters (Mutual 502).  Poe would also would think up of something called the Pop Music Survey which basically is survey and consulting radio stations on upcoming hit singles.  Something that would backfire years later with the overplayed format surveys that radio stations haven't changed in 3 decades. Poe passed away in 2011.  http://poekat.blogspot.com/

If you followed this blog (and some folks do), you will note the importance of Piano Nellie.  My copy has seen better days and eventually I did replace this record with a much more playable reissue of the White Rock single that I got overseas via EBAY.  There's a hairline crack on this record and sad to say a victim of a five year doing abuse to this record.   Since I have not seen any pictures of the East West 45 of Piano Nellie, I decided to offer the services of my reference copy.  This record was included in a box of ten singles that was bought for a dollar at either an old Wells store or K mart.  Again, most of the other records were as good and were used for frisbees and I can name some of other 45s from this batch.  Ben E King's Let The Water Run Down (Atco 6415) was another song that I played till the grooves wrote off, great Bo Diddley riff, that 45 got replaced from a trip to St. Louis,  Ray Agee  Open Up Your Heart/The Gamble (Shirley 123631), The Spectors Three I Know Why (3 Trey T-102) and The Drifters He's Just A Playboy (Atlantic 2253) were also part of this collection. There was a Carla Thomas Stax single in there too but I didn't much care for that one.  You may have noticed that most if not all of these labels were part of the Atlantic Records distribution which might explain why all of these were in these cheapo cheapo box sets that sold for two dollars at the local department store.  The version of The Gamble off you Tube sounds like my old record: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFWfzCtchec

Nevertheless Piano Nellie is quintessential rockabilly with Downing's piano driving the beat.  Gives me visions of The Blasters and perhaps if the Blasters would have heard this with Gene Taylor  perhaps they might have taken a crack at this song.  I can see Phil Alvin singing to this.  Of course, had we taken care of our records better than what we did 50 years back we can still listen to them today rather than leaving them as ref copies.  It's better to get the White Rock reissue, cheaper to than the East West copies which sell for at least 50 to 90 dollars in VG shape or better. 

Come to think of it, this is Al Downing's baby.  Bobby Brant just adds a bit of singing to sweeten the pot. Plus the band cooks too.  This is rock and roll. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3TUtJutp-4



The original fun with scratchy records can be found over here at this link:  Updates is that I found links that actually do have The Train by Ray Charles and The Cabin Crew so you can actually hear the songs: http://rscrabb.blogspot.com/2013/01/fun-with-scratchy-records.html

P.S.
I noticed that these scans of my scratchy 45s were found on a 45 cat website.  The person who lifted these photos is Jente Jan De long who made the wry observation that the record was in a late 1980s record jacket.   Not exactly Einstein, the sleeve was mid 80s but in usual R S Crabb, fashion, I added the later sleeves for shits and giggles.  You can find my scans of those records at 45 cat.   Thanks for keeping the scans alive, I may leave these prized singles for you in my will. 

Playlist: Shakin All Over

August is almost over, doesn't seem to be much of a summer.  We had big plans for everything, till a tornado and basement water changed all that.  I missed out on Hairball coming back here this weekend but next week is New Bo Arts festival, and I'll be spending Sunday down there (weather permitting of course).  If you're there Saturday Night you can catch 4 time Iowa Rock and Roll inductee Bob Dorr and the Blue Band from 7 to 9 or you can go into Parlor City and catch Mark Avery Band.


Sunday brings folk rock legend Jim Post and actor musician Ronny Cox at CSPS that night for 18 dollars.  Plus the usual starving artists displaying their arts and crafts and a couple street musicians. http://www.newboartsfest.com/

This Thursday, Boston comes to town with Starship opening up.  Not going to be the same Boston since Brad Delp ended his life in 2007 but Tom Scholtz is keeping the band going.  In concert Tom is actually using a real drumset, not like the Casio ones he had on the last flop album.



So far this summer one 90 degree day was recorded and that was Sunday the fourth time in 20 years that we got one 90 degree day, 1993, 2004 and 2007 were the other years.  So much for global warming.



The VMAs were on Sunday Night.  Big news was Suge Knight getting shot at six times at a after party and hit about three times but he should survive that.  Meanwhile Nicki No Talent farts on stage and they call it a wardrobe malfunction.  On a related note, see The Blue Band with Bob Dorr this Saturday night at New Bo.



Passings: Ralph Morman lead singer on the first Joe Perry Project album Let The Music Do The Talking and later Savoy Brown's Rock And Roll Warriors of a long illness.  He was 65.  He had more of a Rod Stewart type of vocals rather than Steven Tyler's, it did provide a nice counterpoint to Perry's vocals on the first JPP album.  Morman would leave and go on to Savoy Brown for two undistinguished albums, one of them was Rock And Roll Warriors to which outside of Nobody's Perfect the rest of the album was ho hum.  Had a new band going till the drummer was snatched away by Ozzy Osbourne and Ralph disappeared into a regular life.

After 36 years, Neil Young is divorcing his wife Pegi.  I always thought that next to Paul and Linda that this would be the forever marriages but I guess nobody stays in love anymore.  Sad to see this.  Of course Pegi is seeking child support, I think Neil can afford it.

After two albums  The Royal Southern Brotherhood (even second tier all star bands tend to lose members) are losing a band member.  Mike Zito is returning back to full time duties to his band and production duties (he produced Samantha Fish's last album), but RSB is getting a major upgrade in Bart Walker replacing Zito. It's a good fit, Walker also records for Ruf Records and his last album Waiting On Daylight was one of the best albums of 2013.  They'll be fine.


Burning Man, the big shindig out in California was going on and basically it's hard to get a ticket to even get in.  But things were shaking a bit more out there, due to an 6.1 earthquake out in Napa Valley. Too much rain delayed things on Monday too. But it will still go on once things dry out and the roads are decent enough to drive on.  In the meantime, a return back to Davenport to pick up what's left of the big finds I came to find that most of the 45s were picked up by other bargain hunters, thank our lucky stars we made it out there last week.  I'll doubt that I'll ever get that lucky again finding dime records.  Outside of a few curios and pop ones nobody gives a shit about,  I did find four Cds at the pawnshop for three bucks, most notably Rolling Stones Some Girls for a whole quarter, replacing my ruin copy due to the floods of June.  CO OP Records closed up their Davenport location and now has the Moline one, which they're barely holding on.  Goodwill in Moline, moved further down the road, the old location is a Sears (big deal).  And FYE is a thing of the past at the Mall.

Quad Cities minor league baseball team might not be in the playoffs, so I figured one last game at the Stadium by the river would be a nice way to end the day.   Very sparse crowd for QC standards but they seem to have the CR Kernels number this year by hitting two HRs in a 3-2 come from behind victory.  The Kernels are backing their way into the playoffs, they're in, but The River Bandits have a 8-3 record this year and when I watch both teams are 4-1 in QC favor.  A J Reed hit the tying HR which, once again was hit in my area and I could have a baseball to take home, but let somebody else get it.  James Ramsey hit the winning HR over the foul pole. While CR starter Steven Gonsalves struck out 10 River Bandits, The Kernels stuck out a league record 18 times, including a very generous one to end the game, but the nadir was them leaving 14 Kernels on base.  Quad Cities is still 2  games behind Wisconsin in the playoffs with six games left to play, but they have won 5 of their last 6 games. Anything is possible.  As always, watching the game from the brim (i.e. left center wall) is fun but really could have done without the customary brat with a baseball given to him via the bullpen and saying "want my baseball? can't have it".  And wished his damn parents would have just used birth control 9 months before it being born.

Reviews:

Jimmy Smith-Standards (Blue Note)

With Kenny Burrell on guitar, these two duet through 12 sleepy jazz numbers that are perfect for driving home after a disappointing bargain hunt. Only time they kick it up a notch is on Bye Bye Blackbird. Not bad but the sameness of the songs and moods tend to put me asleep, even if I'm racing the 12:15 Union Pacific to get across the tracks before it passes on by.  I didn't make it.
Grade B

Ace Frehley-Space Invader (E One)

Something about the RnRHOF induction ceremony rubbed Ace the wrong way and determined to do something about it, Ace may have come up with his best album since the 1978 solo project that trumped the rest of the KISS guys album that year.  But the funny thing is how uncanny and how close Ace comes to sounding a lot like Gene Simmons down to the growl and goofy lyrics of such notables as Gimme A Feeling (radio edit) or What A Girl Wants or the title track itself.   But I think Ace succeeds in making a actual KISS like record but a KISS record had Ace wrote the songs and not Gene and Paul.  There's enough guitar riffs and leads that makes this a better record than the last KISS record.  Plus this does sound like this would have been the worthy followup of 35 years ago right down to the edits that fade out the song and not make it drone on forever.  Even at 54 minutes, Space Invader doesn't feel like a chore to listen through, even the instrumental Starship sounds just fine.  That said, Space Invader is rock and roll we remember quite well and even Ace throws a bit of New York Dolls for shits and giggles.  Nothing wrong with albums with mindless lyrics as long the music is shooting straight.  The last album KISS Sonic Boom whopped his ass.  This time out, Ace wins the showdown.
Grade B+

The Funk Brothers Live In Orlando 2005 (Eagle)

They powered the Motown hits back in the 60s and 70s before Barry Gordy decided to move it all to LA and leave his Detroit sound behind.  Standing In The Shadows Of Motown was a nice honor movie which got the remaining Funk Brothers alive to do a live show at Universal Theme Park in 2005.  And this CD comes across like a cheap tribute show, although Bob Babbitt, Uriel Jones and Eddie Willis is in fine form and the assorted musicians can do a good Motown groove.  Too bad they ended up with piss poor female singers that come across more like Whitney Houston than Gladys Knight or Diana Ross.  Whoever is screaming on Neither One Of Us like a American Idol reject makes this unlistenable but it could be either Donna Curtin or Marcia Ware.  And they both stink.  Delbert Nelson comes in for male singer relief but the whole thing comes off as something that would play at a casino or theme park.  Give the band an A for effort, but the divas get a F and the whole thing winds up as a C album, graded favorably for historic value. But if you want the real thing, Motown still has the Funk Brothers best of in print.  Go with that.




Playlist:

Good Thing-Fine Young Cannibals (The Raw & The Cooked)
Dirty Love-Divinyls (Temperamental)
California Gold-Dada (Dada)
The Joker-Ace Frehley (Space Invader)
Back Street Girl-Bobby Darin (Inside Out)
Teach Each Other-Twins (Tomboys On Parade)
Glass-Incubus (S.C.I.E.N.C.E)
Open Country Joy-Mahavishnu Orchestra (Birds Of Fire)
Respectable-The Rolling Stones (Some Girls)
High-Jimmy's Chicken Shack (Pushing The Salamania Envelope)