Records

Rip It Up, Issue 98, 1 September 1985, Page 28

Records

Howlin’ Wolf The London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, Little Walter Super Blues Chess Hoorah, some locally released blues at last. RCA has reissued two albums previously released in New Zealand. The move is to be applauded. Let's hope it does not stop here. More Chess material is available today, mainly through Europe, than ever before. The 1972 London sessions al-

bum is one of Howlin’ Wolf’s best, although the title, reflecting a record industry fad, is something of a millstone. Don't be deterred. Clapton, Watts, Wyman, Winwood and company strike the right balance of support to the mighty Wolf.

Several of these “fathers and sons" collaborations were tried, none succeeded so well. The other album is from the late 60s, a rather fallow period for all concerned. Muddy dominates (of course) the music, a fairly anonymous reading of such "greatest hits” as 'Long Distance Call', 'Who

Do You Love’ and 'My Babe! Bo Diddley is his jivey self, but Little Walter is in a very deteriorated condition. There is a fun, if artificial, party atmosphere, but all three men and all three are masters of their craft are better represented elsewhere. Ken Williams Cashmere Fourth & Broadway More class from Philly World, the label that is bringing out the best in sophisticated soul. If you

didn't hear or like their cool 'Can I’ single, then you better stick to your Flying Nun collection. Cashmere, like their labelmate Eugene Wilde and soul mates Frankie Beverley and Maze, have this great smooth groove, effortless but compelling. The album is helped by the production talents of Messrs Sigler, Robinson and Forte, especially on the uptempo 'Someone Like You’ and the slinky 'Don’t Keep Me Waiting’. Lead vocalist Dwight Dukes puts in a fine performance and even the wimpiness of 'Cutie Pie’ is transcended by his vocal style. Place this one next to Eugene and Luther as soul highlights of the year. Kerry Buchanan

Bob Marley and the Waiters The Legendary Bob Marley Powderworks How long can this go on? These cheap reissues of old and dubious Marley material will soon be available in sufficient quantity to make floor tiles for an average bathroom. And that would be the best use for the vast majority of such material.

Once again, someone has delved into the file of 24 demo tracks recorded by the Wailers around 1972 while cooling their heels in London, waiting for Johnny Nash and business manager Danny Sims to decide whether to take them on as a backing band. Hux Brown and Jackie Jackson, who later played with Toots and the Maytals, helped out on guitar and bass respectively, Rita Marley sang backup vocals and Hugh Masekela played trumpet. The session were lacklustre and uninspiring, the product of bored and rather depressed musicians who were at a loose end with a bad deal in a country they didn’t particularly like.

Some of these tapes have already been issued on the

Chances Are LR The tapes are still the subject of legal action by Rita Marley, who claims their release was never authorised.

Says Bunny wailer of these sessions: "Them should never release duh songs 'pon nuh album.” He ought to know. In honourable memory of Bob Marley, what is needed is a compilation of far more militant content than Legend, and possibly some dub mixes of his best works. This album pays homage only to his earning power. Duncan Campbell Lonnie Mack

Strike Like Lightning Alligator/Ode It sounds like tired record industry hype: "Lonnie Mack is back!" But that’s what it is. Mack is a sort of legend of a guitar player, renowned for a 1963 hotted-up instrumental version of Chuck Berry’s ‘Memphis’. After that, his was a name guitarists with a bar blues bent might cite as an influence, but he remained a peripheral figure at best. Now modern day bar blues virtuoso Stevie Ray Vaughan has lent his aid in bringing Lonnie Mack recognition long overdue.

The album is essentially hard, fast guitar blues, and perhaps Side One is a shade samey. Certainly the gems are on Side Two. Opening is a furious remake of “Watch Your Step’ as the title track, a ballad ‘Falling Back In Love With You', which allows Mack to employ his gospel voice, and the acoustic ‘Oreo Cookie Blues! This three-way (Mack, his brother and Vaughan) guitar conversation has a back porch feel that keeps it charming even when the food hog lyric is overly familiar. Mack’s 1963 debut set, The Wham Of That Memphis Man, has been reissued by the British label Edsel, and is as good as its reputation suggests.

Hot licks can be healing music. Ken Williams

The Beach Boys CBS A long time ago, barely adequate as instrumentalists, but who sang melodies and harmonies which were a joy to hear. The band had a songwriter able to encapsulate (or was it idealise?) a lifestyle in music so sublime that teenagers the world over felt they vicariously belonged to some leisured surf and hot-rod crowd of mid-60s Californians. Twenty years later, all those teenagers have aged and taken on different preoccupations (such as worrying about the economy or the incipient lifestyles of their own kids). But that band they used to listen to hasnt. It's still desperately hanging on to a shopworn dream of "some beautiful women... to show me how to ride the ultimate wave."

As if that weren't enough, the songwriter has been recovering from a mqntal breakdown by writing substandard new songs and rewriting one or two of his early ones. The rest of the band has virtually abandoned any pretence of instrumental competence, leaving such matters in the hands of studio pros. The band also solicits songs from sympathetic outsiders like Boy George and Stevie Wonder when they make an album.

Now it's just possible that some of the band’s old audience might be nostalgicly tempted to purchase such an album (it's hard to imagine anyone else wanting to), particularly if they hear the few bars of glorious old harmony that introduces the first song, Getcha Back’. They should be warned though what they just heard was the highpoint of the album.

Peter Thomson

Thomas McClary Motown Here is an album without a single. McClary, a Commodore for 15 years, has the talent to do some fine work. He has a great voice, not as sweet or refined as someone like Luther Vandross, but McClary does have the versatility to sidestep the endless rehashing of the same song we seem to get from that other man.

His years with the Commodores have made him a very professional performer, and the opening track 'Wild Imagination' is a graunchy soul stomper that really warms the feet. Two songs later, still no sight of a single, but instead a teasing anthem, 'Thin Walls', about a guy who wants to meet the girl in the next apartment. It's steamy, a summer song that's beer-sodden and horny. 'Man In the Middle' rides debarge down de Nile Rodgers without the jaunty Egyptian guitars and sweaty, hairy palms. It's a quirky dance step and it deserves club time. The following track, 'Contagious) not the Whispers' recent single, is a pretty duet with the makings of a dancefloor blockbuster. Laugh along to the final track of the album, if you dare; only people who don't know the words to Three Times A Lady’ are allowed to throw stones at this one.

Why be rude about an album that tries hard and succeeds most of the time? I liked the Commodores (until Lionel Ritchie got so silly) and I want to like Thomas McClary. This is an album I'll keep and play again over summer.

Peter Grace