MidwestRecord.com

KARI ON PRODUCTIONS
GLEN HELGESON/Distant Borders Revisited: I get a kick out of this guy’s career path.  Inspired to pick up guitar after meeting John McLaughlin in high school, he then hooks up with Up With People and goes on to sign to para-new age label North Word just as the company is flaking out.  Fast forward and you find Helgeson sounding like a first class world/fusion guitarist leading a handpicked crew of Minnesota musicians that “Prairie Home’ fans will have currency with along with others.  Right in the pocket of anything the big boys are putting out, this is a zesty, tasty set that goes a step beyond the usual biz jazz and is loaded with a great warm and friendly vibe.  Check it out.
1112 (Worldview)

BOOK SUPPLEMENT
ANDREWS McMEEL
PATRICK McDONNELL/Animal Friendly: One hopes all in well in the world of McDonnell.  While Mutts is up to it’s usual standards, this treasury collection that looks back at the last year has a touch too much filler ala “Shelter Stories” and pages from Mooch’s diary with just a semi-philosophical line.  Nearly a tenth of the panels are taken up that way, and for anyone that needs their fix of Earl and Mooch’s exploits, that takes a real bite out things.  Other than that, our two unlikely pals continue to find wonder in the world viewed through their eyes in a way that makes sense to them.  The subtle laughs keep coming and the easy Zen philosophizing makes you think and chuckle, as always.  Still a fine comic oasis for people that need a little break from the world.

HARPER COLLINS
SAMMY DAVIS JR/Photo By: Probably one of the better coffee table books that will come out this year, this is a cool time capsule on a lot of levels.  Obviously, for anyone still digging the whole Rat Pack vibe, this is a real insight into that world.  Back in the day, Davis never went anywhere without his camera and almost nothing that came in his viewfinder was safe from being snapped.  You have all his pals in over 300 pages of candid shots, as well as chorus girls, and anything else that caught his fancy.  While you have to give askance that this isn’t intended to be something like a Diane Arbus collection, this is also a reminder of what things were like in the cusp of the civil rights era.  One thing that jumps out at you as you wander through this book is how much of an outsider Davis continued to feel like even after he broke down one barrier after another in his non-stop rise to the top.  It was certainly a different America, one where he could sell out a Vegas show room but wasn’t allowed to stay in the same hotel.  It’s also a look at the old Hollywood with a veneer that isn’t there now thanks to the times were live in.  The celebs then were just as nuts as the ones now, but there was something more going on than fame for the sake of fame.  More than merely an exercise in nostalgia and finding hidden profit in cleaning out old storage lockers, the only thing that could improve this is making it available on dvd rom for those more interested in digital permanence than coffee table placement.  There are simply some walks down memory lane that are heathier strolls than others and this is one of them.

Volume 30/Number 202
May 21, 2007
MIDWEST RECORD
830 W. Route 22 #144
Lake Zurich, IL., 60047
CHRIS SPECTOR, Editor and Publisher
(c)2007 Midwest Record

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