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COLLECTORS CHOICE (www.ccmusic.com)
JIMMY DURANTE/Songs for Sunday: How Warners let Durante’s “September Song” escape from their clutches into the Collectors Choice fold proves no one up there is paying attention. Whether you like offbeat ‘golden throat’ stuff or sincere ‘performance’, Durante’s version has proved to be one of the killers in the label’s line. Now comes another off beat choice, Durante’s gospel album. The Schnozz’s take on Elvis gospel and more. Some time a touch too esoteric for the pomo tastes that could really drive his ‘comeback’, it’s does come across as a heartfelt Christian-lite set for those that want to be in touch, but want to be in touch with some humanity in the mix. Could it be we’ve under rated Durante and he was more than an endearing doofus? I feel something out there in the offing.
LINDA LEWIS/Lark: Why she was categorized as a folkie only proved nobody was listening the first time around. The babe of a member of Family, who produced, drew sidemen like Pat Donaldson and Gerry Conway (folkies), but they all used the opportunity to explore their rocking soul sides. A dandy set that had a lot of spark and gumption that is easy to feel today, this is certainly the kind of set that deserves another airing out to the benefit of sharp ears everywhere.
LINDA LEWIS/Fathom’s Deep: Lewis came back with he same team as on her debut augmented by power cats like Danny Thompson and soul men like Max Middleton and Bobby Trench. Running smack into the 1974 oil crisis that managed to hobble a lot of careers, Lewis was one that got lost in that shuffle even with a novelty single to power through the clutter. Hey, these were the days of “Kung Fu Fighting“! With a resume that spanned musical theater and stints with John Lee Hooker before getting here, Lewis offered up her smartest album of her career even though she would go on to release others and gave the kind of set followers like Tracy Chapman should have paid more attention to. Merging a singer/songwriter sensibility to the festivities, Lewis as a real contender. This album stands up and you are sure to find it a stand out if you’ve never come across it. Check it out.
ERMA BOMBECK/The Family that Plays Together: In the pre-Palinolithic era, domestic goddesses wore girdles, neck scarves and weren’t issuing platitudes when spinning folksy humor. At one time, as unhip as she may seem, Bombeck was the last word on domestic humor, running in every newspaper and having a TV home. This album, pulled from two concerts, finds her at her suburban, down home best—a distaff Jerry Cower with running water and automatic transmissions. Recorded when the war was over (circa 1970s-that war), she was there in the marketplace side by side with Cheech and Chong and George Carlin making America laugh. Certainly well worth checking out if you like you like your belly laughs to come from the -so funny because it’s true- side of domesticity.
LOUIE RAMIREZ/Latin Au Go Go: Remember when Bart Simpson used to say things like “let’s mambo”? He might have had this mid 60s set of mambo and cha cha by the Latin vibe band leader in mind. A high spirited romp that wasn’t made with gringos in mind, it’s a pop date at it’s core, but it wears a cool ethnicity on it’s sleeve paying mind to the commercial values of crossover accessibility. A fun party record all the way, Ramirez is on the money throughout adding enough power to the mix that you don’t have to be in a retro mood to dig it. Fine, fun stuff well worth checking out.
SIGNUM CLASSICS
BRIAN KNOWLES/Poetry Serenade: No matter what’s going on in the stock market today, we know we can always count on those lovely Brits to know how to come up with quite the tony package of classy listening. Composer Knowles rounds up some singers ready to roll up their sleeves and deliver the goods as he sets some classic poetry to music for a drawing room extravaganza that was made to be the soundtrack to high tea. On this side of the pond, this is an NPR package all the way. A delightfully up market package, this is a must for the civilized listener looking for that totally tickity boo experience that will leave them uplifted. Quite.
Volume 31/Number 320
September 15, 2008
MIDWEST RECORD
830 W. Route 22 #144
Lake Zurich, IL., 60047
CHRIS SPECTOR, Editor and Publisher
©2008 Midwest Record
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