May, 1978
Ampersand
9
Dixieland jazz break to the middle of "Dixie
Chicken," these arrangements aren't drasti
cally different from the originals they're
just more energetic. This is what a live
album should be but all too rarely is: a
chance for the musicians to l(xsen up and
play in what's at least supxsed to be their
natural habitat, the concert hall.
But not to worry. Kven when the Feat
)x)scn up, they're still one of the tightest
rock bands to be found. A quick listen to the
live "Rocket in My Pocket" should convince
non-believers. With musicians of this band's
caliber, loose isn't the same thing as sloppy.
These guys just sound like they're having a
much better time on stage than they do in
the studio. (Though, I'll admit, they never
usd to sound too bad there, either, until I
heard this record.)
As might be expected, there are various
solos throughout the record, and they're in
telligently and articulately done within the
context of the songs. Nobody resorts to mere
(lash or spotlight-grabbing, which is one of
the band's main strengths. Each member
seems to understand that he is just that, con
tributing his part to the total sound. As a
result, the solos work at least as well on rec
ord as on stage, a rarity indeed when a con
cert is transferred to vinyl. Lowill George,
once considered the "leader" of Little Feat,
makes his presence known just often enough
to let you know he's still a vital part of the
band, but he seems more than content to
share the spotlight with others, most notably
Bill Payne on keyboards and Kenny Grad
ney on bass.
The Tower of Power horn section adds
fine I i'kup on several cuts, while never in
truding it all.
And if all this isn't enough to convince
skeptics to get hold of the record, it's also got
some of Lowell George's by-now-infamous
liner notes. What more could a person want?
Ah, what the hell. Why should I be ner
vous? I'll say it. Maybe Little Feat is the
finest band in America. One of them, at
least. Now I just wish this crazed hipster
would put his gun away.
Ken D6Gf6
Richard Torrance:
Double Take (Capitol)
Jimmy Buffett:
Son of a Son of a Sailor (ABC)
On the album cover, Jimmy Buffett looks
pleased; his songs sound it. His record com
pany has given star packaging to this travel
ing club-band-made-good, and Buffett is
freer now to enjoy sea, sun and drink. Prod
uction is appropriately lively for ditties, slow
western and barroom tunes. Three songs
especially "Fool Button," "Livingston
Saturday Night" and "Cheeseburger in
Paradise" (an ode to the carnivorous life)
exude an atmosphere of raunchy fun.
"The Coast of Marseilles" and "African
Friend" are, above all, romantic. "Marseil
les," one of the two cuts on the album not
written by Buffett, is a simple song which
could have been thrown away because it's so
short. However, the arrangement builds it
into the type of gently pleasant song you'd
want to put on again.
Looking for something to begin where
"Margaritaville" left off, I didn't really find
anything. "Son of a Son of a Sailor" sounds
the closest. But then there's "Mariana," the
hippest song on the album. Don't let the
references to Steve Martin and Anita Bryant
stop you from listening. "Son" or "Man
ana" could be on the radio a lot.
Maybe it's incongruous to have a happy
musician. Maybe Buffett's paid his dues and
deserves to enjoy himself and indulge his
love for the sea. Whatever it is, the record
sounds like he's in control of a seasoned
band in one of his favorite bars.
Becky Sue Epstein
When "Runaround Girl" pops out of the
speakers, it pops. There's no Aphex Aural
Exciter, but the band still sounds like it's
doing a session in the next room. Torrance
has obviously put a lot into this album with
John Carter, a new producer for him on sev
eral selections, and the performer's new con
fidence shows up. You can tell that he's
heading in the direction he wants to be
going toward a good, hard, rock band.
(The remaining selections were produced,
uncredited, by John Haeny and remixed by
Carter).
The first two cuts on the album are the
strongest. "Runaround Girl" and "I can't
Ask for Anything More Than You" both use
some elements of early Motown production,
which also helps by association with what
we remember as the more carefree era of
rock. Blending disco with an early Sixties
sound, "I Can't Ask" could be Torrance's
"Stayin' Alive."
Torrance has written or co-written 6 of
the 9 tunes on the album. Though he doesn't
hold back on any of the cuts, several should
sound better live. Torrance sings particu
larly hard on "Got No Shadow" and on
"Long Lonely Nights." "Get Into the
Music" is xock and roll not heavily done,
and very listenable.
But after hearing the whole album, the
first two cuts still stand out. They're bright,
uncomplicated, and they'd get you moving
on a dance floor and humming to the radio.
They're hot. BSE
Dissolution
Jazz
Ubiquity:
Starbooty (Elektra)
Dee Dee Bridgewater:
Just Family (Elektra)
Lenny White:
The Adventures of Astral Pirates (Elektra)
Now, I know that there are many mansions
in the house of music. I know that music has
many styles and many purposes and many
widely, wildly different guises. I know that
taste in music,' like taste in anything, is
highly subjective and that there is, ulti
mately, little to be gained by disputing
tastes with which one, as an observer or a
reviewer, has no sympathy.
I know all this, and know it well. But I
still feel honor-bound to report that I have
the feeling, way deep down in my music
loving little heart, that there is something
less than sublime going on here. That, for
example, a small complement of slightly un
synchronized voices chanting in a loud r &b
whisper the words, "I'm a star, you're a
star; Starbooty. I'm a star, you're a star;
Starbooty" against a conventional electric
rhythm track is not among the highest
achievements of contemporary artistic or in
tellectual civilization.
So what? you may ask. So what, indeed.
The three albums considered here are the
first releases in Elektra's new, informally
linked "fusion" line. The "fusion" referred
to is that between jazz and rock andor R&B
which is to say that it's the sort of music
that results when good jazz players (accom
plished or promising) decide that they want
a house in the hills just like Herbic Han
cock's. And no two words describe "fusion"
better, in my way of thinking, than ... So
what?
I have one main objection to fusion music:
f Continued on page 17)
2j
FATHA
A
U v if m
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