MUSiC
The blues have never sounded
so
Nappy Brown
Something Gonna Jump
Out The Bushes
Black Top
1950s R&B hitmaker Nappy
Brown is alive and well. Something
Gonna Jump Out The Bushes is a
high-spirited, soul-stirring gospel
inspired blues and R&B workout
with Brown being ably backed by
most of the Black Top regulars, in-
cluding former Roomful of Blues
members Ron Levy and Ronnie
Earl, New Orleans legend Earl King,
and Texas whiz-kid fretman Anson
Funderburgh.
Brown leads a dual career, per-
forming blues on his own and
singing with his wife in a gospel
Pick of
the Week
group and the line blurs as his
gospel leanings shine through on
every cut. On "I'm With You All
the Way," Brown sings to a lover
but the passion is no less fervent,
the voice no less soulful than if he
were singing to the Big Guy in the
sky. Levy's sweeping organ pushes
the surging rhythm which will have
you bopping your head and shaking
your hips.
The title track is a funky, funny
reminder to live clean, while "Have
Mercy, Mercy Baby," "You Mean
More to Me Than Gold," which fea-
tures King on guitar, and "You Were
a Long Time Coming" are soulful
roadhouse blues ballads reminiscent
of vintage Bobby "Blue" Bland and
the days when the blues were sung
with conviction in smokey, down-
town clubs. But this is no reac-
tionary oldies album; the performers
are simply too intense to let that
happen.
The flamenco blues of
"Flamingo" would be pure cheese in
eavenly
part sinfully sweet R&B.
Rule Dance Hall proves that
Wailer possesses one of the most
beautifully resonant voices in 'the
reggae world. His cover of Sam
Cooke's "Saturday Night" is a ro-
mantically sonorous sing-a-long.
But it is the propulsive reggae dance-
hall rhythm that injects this tune
with alluring character. One gets the
feeling that had Wailer grown up in
the U.S. he would have been a
scorching R&B crooner. He perfectly
captures the bellywarming nostalgia
of the Motown sound.
On "Stir It Up," a reggae classic
originally done by Wailer's former
band, Bob Marley and the Wailers,
Bunny picks up the pace to produce
a smoldering, soulful jam that
sounds like a reggae rendering of
Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing."
The exhilarating lyrics draw a poetic
comparison between passionate,
sexual energy and the similarly
scintillating feeling when the soul is
lickedby the flames of activism and
protest.
On "Old Time Sinting," Wailer
whips up a succulent vocal arrange-
ment that sounds like the Jackson
Five should be dancing in the back-
ground. Just picture Michael, Jer-
maine, Tito, Marlon, and Randy
spinning and twirling; handclaps
grooving and funky polyester suits
shining. The song retains its imme-
diate freshness, however, with its
ooze-groove reggae rhythm.
R&B fans who nostalgically re-
flect on the "good old days" will
gobble this album up if they're
willing to take a chance and buy it.
Besides, for anyone who's never ex-
perienced the charming allure of reg-
gae, Bunny Wailer's Rule Dance
Hall is a perfect place to begin.
-Todd Shanker
The Godfathers-
Birth, School, Work, Death
Epic Records
The Godfathers might have chosen
a heavy title for their first major la-
bel release, but their music remains
as upbeat as ever. This five-piece
band from overseas injects a fashion-
able dose of each of the title's four
elements into their powerful guitar
rock, a combination destined to land
them on the American charts - col-
lege charts particularly.
Once you work your way past the
tough blast of their power chords and
Rolling Stones' riffs, it becomes
obvious that the Godfathers' songs
are written title-first around a catchy
phrase and an even catchier hook.
Their lyrics are often dumb ("Cary
Grant's on LSD... A million mums
are hooked on valium..."), but the
band packs enough of a wallop to
See MUSIC, Page 12
SHEA.-
Continuedfrom Page 8
right in the middle of the lobby.
And a family; riding down a glass
elevator highlighted with lights,
gawked at the large, white columns
set into the building.
"My name is Jacqueline and I'll
be your waitress," a voice inter-
rupted. She looked tired, but she
sported the best smile she could.
"I'll have a grilled cheese on
rye," I tell her.
"I'll have the spaghetti with
meatballs," one of my friends said.
While my other friend was mak-
ing up his mind, I looked down at
the swimming pool. A little girl, no,
more than 10 years old, was wearing
nothing but a wet T-shirt. "Hate sin,
Love God," it said on the back.
"I'll have a hamburger," my
other friend said.
Back at the pool, an older man
wearing a "PTL" windbreaker
sneaked unsuspectingly upon another
little girl and pushed her into the
water. Hard. Real hard.
The girl did not laugh.
"On second thought," I told
Jacqueline, "make it wheat."
Jacqueline smiled, scribbled
something on her pad, and walked
away. When she came back with the
food about a half hour later, she
brought me the sandwich on rye.
"I'm sorry," she said before I had
a chance to say anything. "I forgot
you wanted wheat. Do you want me
to change it?"
I told her not to worry. Part of
me wanted to get out of there, and
another part of me didn't want to
hurt her, feelings. All these people at
Heritage U.S.A. seemed so nice, I
'thought as I ate my rye sandwich.
Afterwards, we walked through a
mall located inside the hotel. One
woman, Janet, worked at a record
store devoted solely to religious
music. She, too, was nice. When I
asked her in a rather condescending
tone how the Tammy Faye records
were selling (I noticed they were
marked down from $14 to $10), she
said with a smile, "Oh, there doing
just fine. People seem to like her a
lot."
It's almost sad; Heritage U.S.A
spends all this time being friendly to
you, but when you leave, there's no
one
you
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INTERVIEW
Continued from Page 8
G: Right, and that's what I want to
do now. I don't want to go up there
to Alligator and he tell me "well,
I'm going to tell you what to play."
It's his label and he's got the right
to do that but I'm still Buddy Guy
and I don't want nobody to hold me
back. I been shortchanged all of my
life in record studios. Everybody
wants a piece of the cake which I
don't mind giving up but let me be
free man.
D: When you came to Chicago, you
were considered like the young turk,
the young wildman of the blues.
Now you're like an old man of the
blues. does that feel weird?
G: I have to take the place of the
old guys- Muddy, Walter. Right
you are, I'm in the same spot but
it's not weird. I'm just glad I'm
here. I don't ride around in
limousines. I don't make that kind
of money but I got an old raggedy
car will bring me to Detroit with the
band. I just have so much fun man
but it's just such a shame to say
they don't record blues because blues
is a part of music regardless of what
they done taken it into now. Black
people were singing spirituals and
blues down throught the years man.
Things go on from folk tradition to
guys like Son House to Muddy to
me and I'm hoping I'm not the end
of it.
D: You're a pretty outspoken, free
thinking guy - basically you don't
take shit. Do you think that's hurt
you?
G: It could be but I live and die
with that. I'm Buddy and I don't
want nobody to make me nobody
else. When I first came to Chicago,
fine, I was a little young and I
hadn't heard that much and I was
willing to take ideas. I still am but I
am not willing to take ideas while
I'm recording.
D: You're from Louisiana and a lot
of great musicians have been from
there and Mississippi. Do you think
there's any reason for that?
G: I don't know. Being from down
there, you had seasons and you
worked the hell out of the seasons
- I was a sharecropper's son- all
summer long and then December,
January, and February, you had to
time to just sit around. and what we
did was play njusic. We didn't have
nothing to do but just play - just
say "welldshit let's have some fun
on Saturday night," pick up the
acoustic guitar and PLAY. And it
would happen. I just loved the stuff.
My parents and grandparents say I
always was picking at something
before I was old enough to know.
D: Where did you start to play - in
church?
G: No, though my family was very
religious and I still am but I never
did play a guitar in church. A Black
Baptist mother don't believe in a
guitar up in church (laughs) so I
didn't get the chance to do that. A
little part of that is in me and you
better believe that. I still like to go
and hear that good singing. Blues
players get a lot of stuff from church
people.
D: Were you always into music?
G: Oh yeah, my parents weren't
even able to have a radio so you
know, I had to be born with some-
thing. My dad used to look at me
and say "I don't know why he got
it" and my grandmother would say
the same thing "I don't know where
it come from but he just plays."
I would strip my mother's screen
.r1
NON-STOP C(
Kinko's is open 24 ho
anytime for fast servic
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Copies, Binding, Pas
See INTERVIEW, Page 11
540 E. Liberty
761-4539
9th Annual Conference on the Holocaust
Rabbi Dov Edelstein
Gentiles Who Rescued Jews
An Interfaith Memorial Service
For the Victims of the Holocaust
March 13 8pm Rackham Amphitheater
Rabbi Edelstein was ordained in Hungary in 1944, just prior to his
deportation to Auschwitz. For the past twenty-five years he has been active
in promoting friendship between Christians and Jews. Local clergy and
survivors will participate.
1950s R&B star, Nappy Brown, has an excellent new release of gospel-tinged blues.
lesser hands but Brown's rich tenor,
Levy's organ, Kaz Kazanoff's tenor
sax solo and Eugene Ross' guitar
work pull the song up and turn it
into a joyful stomp. "Your Love is
Real" is a hard driving three chord
dance floor song featuring red hot
guitar solos by Funderburgh and
Earl.
This album is gonna jump out
the bin and grab you.
-Alan Paul
Bunny Wailer
Rule Dance Hall
Shanachie Records
Picture the Jackson Five with
Dreadlocks. Or the Four Tops with
congas, steel drum, and reggae
basslines. Now that you're on the
right track, you should listen to
Bunny Wailer's hummable new al-
bum, Rule Dance Hall. The LP is
Wailer's (Neville Livingstone)
homemade concoction of one part
slithering smooth reggae and one
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Meet with Eli Pfefferkorn, national representative
of Haifa University, to find out more information on the Overseas Programs.
He will be available Tuesday March 15,11am-4pm.
Call 663-3336 to make an appointment
Overseas Studies Program
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Fully accredited college program, Kibbutz program,
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For catalogue and application call (212) 818-9050
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PAGE 4
WEEKEND/MARCH 11, 1988
WCWEEKEND/MARCR 1., 1988