Newspaper Page Text
Soulful Brass plays
seamy, steamy funk
By WILLIAM IIAINES
Entertainment editor
Friday night's Soulful Brass concert at Memorial was a
pre-Halloween affair in the sense that the crowd played a trick
on the hand by not showing up en masse until well after 10 p.m
But the Brass still handed out some seamy, steamy funk with
their top 40 r&b treats
'it's supposed to start at 8 o’clock, but they (concerts) never
do," a Union information person informed this reviewer at a
few minutes past 8 p m.
Traps, keyboards, amplifiers: all stood mute as a few people
trickled into Memorial. At 8:20. there was one security guard
for every person in attendance, there were four security
guards.
Concert review
Soulful Brass picked up their instruments at 8:30 and
bulldozed their way through an hour long first set. dove tailing
songs and jive-talking at 90 m.p.h partially to block out the
almost non-existent audience and partially to fulfill what the
Brass had observed to be* professional segueing and chatter
A handful of people watched the band thump through a
credible version of the Commodores' well-constructed "Brick
House ' But. fortunately, the hall was slowly filling, somewhat
like the lower compartment of an overturned hourglass
The Atlanta-based Brass churned out disco-sized versions of
chart hits that would have made the Casablanca and Salsoul
moguls proud The sextet pretended oblivion to the sparse
crowd congealing into a dancing mob The only concession the
Brass made to their nerve stuttering beginning was to ask that
the stage lights be turned down
It was the six-year-old Brass' second set that started the
blood of the healthier males at Memorial surging Three
sinuous beauties in low-cut black dresses, known as Lady Love,
replaced lead vocalist Michael Ford.
While Ford was reduced to strolling about the stage, adding
an occasional background vocal or directing a paternal glance
toward the trio, the girls sizzled through selections by The
Emotions (“Best of my Love ”), Dorothy Moore (“I Believe
You") and George Benson (‘ The Greatest Love of All").
The seven-year-old Love was unanimously the high mark of
the show Josie Short, sister Jewel and Barbara Snow were
sadly excluded from their "back-up band's" shortened third
and fourth sets, leaving more than one sweaty male dancer to
ponder their absence.
The Brass, consisting of the soul-funk of Roderick Hixon
(bass), Michael Wr.ght (drums). Anthony Pearson 'trumpet)
and Harold Lawrence (trombone), failed to keep the dancers on
the floor with their tepid ballads, but the introduction of Lady
I^ove changed all that Few people sat out during the Brass'
final two sets of the night
The lack of a Brass guitarist was not overly noticeable as the
bass drums rhythm section of Hixon-Wright pumped up the
steady back bone beat By the end of Brass' show . 300 to 400
dancers were scuffing their shoes on the Memorial floor to the
enchantment of the sextet’s 20-minute cover version of
Heatwave's "Boogie Nights.”
Curiously enough, the Brass stayed away, for the most part,
from selections by Earth, Wind & Fire. K.C. and the Sunshine
Band and Barry White, all disco staples. But the Brass
remained contemporary in their varied program
Michael Wright later explained that the reason the Brass
didn’t perform original material in concert was the possibility
of another band perusing and playing the songs.
Photo by DONNA MINCKY
Soulful Brass turns loose the funk at Memorial
Parton
clothed with
‘weak pop’
By El) GKISAMOKE
Assistant city editor
Hello, er. goodbye Dolly.
Parton is finally Retting the recognition
she has deserved for years as one of the
most engaging, stylish and convincing
musicians in any genre, but the songs on
this album are mostly mindless
compared v-iih what she can do
Now, we all know that Dolly can write
one helluva good country song. She can
take even the most awkward piece and
turn it into a strong, moving song with
expert craftsmanship.
But Here You Come Again marks
another step in the wrong direction for
the blonde (be it a wig) beauty.
Her gradual departure from country
may sell more records for her, but is
selling records or making music more
important?
Like Linda HonstadL Parton‘s lieautil
Album
review
voice ran save an album In this case it
does She surrounds herself with
competent musicians like David Lindley.
formerly with the Eagles
This is not meant to be one of those
one-song albums, but it might as well be
Tht title song, "Here You Come Again"
has been released as a single and will
probably be the selling point of the
album
With the exception of "Sweet Music
Man ’ and "God's Coloring Book,"
Parton doesn't have much to offer.
We still get some of the good Parton
country, but she has cloaked herself with
weak pop material
This kind of departure is where
Itonstadt went wrong We can only hope
Dolly avoids the same pitfalls.
I can appreciate certain parts of this
album besides the cover.
Dolly continues to sing with that sexy,
breaking voice. There are examples here
of how she can say a little and imply a lot
and of how deftly she handles a
metaphor
But "Here You Come Again" can leave
one uneasy The songs are disappointing
ly shallow and it sounds as if she was too
rushed or tired to really sort this
material out and give it that down-home
country touch
Still, a lot of people will probably
embrace this one
"Put your arms around and hold me
tight," sings Parton sweetly.
The Peace
Corps is alive
and well.
Scruggs’ Revue
blossoms late
ate and slept in three part harmony out
there in Odessa
Their voeal abilities were best
highlighted on a song that Gatlm
introduced simply as "one we only do on
special occasions." He. Rudy and Steve
then sang a cappella a gospel-flavored
chant which should have brought goose
bumps to everyone present.
In the middle of the show, the band left
the stage so that Gatlin might perform
alone with the audience, a gesture his
fans approved, lor Gatlin's strength is
that he has built a following through the
years doing his own music instead of
playing for mass appeal
The band returned for a finish that
included Take It Back It’s Over” and "I
Just Wish You Were Someone I lx)ve."
After the encore, they turned the stage
over the Scruggs. They couldn't turn the
Concert
review
audience over to the banjo picker,
however He had to do that himself, and
for a time it seemed he might fail
Some in the audience even began
leaving, perhaps turned off by the early
music which was heavily rock flavored
"Lady Madonna” and "That’s All Right.
Mama ' seemed more a showcase for
Earl’s sons than for himself.
However Black Mountain Blues.’’
followed by Paul and Silas” and “Earl’s
Breakdown'' gave the audience the
chance to show what music it preferred,
and the group wouldn’t let go after that
Mandolin Wind, a -ong by British
rocker Rod Stewart, received a good
bluegrass treatment and featured Randy
Scruggs on mandolin Randy was
spotlighted on fiddle on the next tune,
"Orange Blossom Special."
With the audience now in hand, the
band mixed in the type music that
opened the show This time no one
minded “Stu a Little Longer” was
followed by Earl picking some square
dance music, after which the band
successfully moved to the blues
("Everybody Wants To Go to Heaven”)
and back to bluegrass ("Foggy Mountain
Breakdown”)
Randy Scruggs is the best known of
Earl's three sons now playing with him,
having played guitar, fiddle, banjo and
mandolin on countless studio recordings
His frantic picking was superb Saturday
night, but brother Steve on piano and
saxophone proved to be an equal
musician as each tried to outduei the
other
Periodically, after Handy has hunched
wildly over his guitar and Steve had
bounced up and down oti the piano bench,
father Earl would step forward and show-
how to do it without straining picking his
banjo while that easy smile lit up his
face
WU0G
FRIDAY
7-10 a m Pancake Club with Jack Flap. Jungle John Jemimah. Rick Rascal
11 am Halt track Strawbs from th»* \\iuhwo«x1
5 05 p m —Half-track. Ben Sidran The Doctor U In
9-12 p m —If It Rocks with Johnny Pride
SATURDAY
Ham Half track. Guess Who. Number to
5 05 p m Half track David Bromberg. How I.ale'll Ya Play Til?
SUNDAY
8- 9 a m —Sonshine with Brad Burkhart 'Christian music*
9- 1 p m —Sunday Morning Classical with Ed Weiss
5:05 p m — Half-track. John Coltrane Turning Point
8-9 p m -Boston Symphony simulcast with channel 8. W'GTV»
Midnight -Blast from the Past Boston Blackie
ATHENS
Nov
Nov
3 Robett Klein at Memorial 7 and 9:30 p m
3—New Creation 'jazz' at The <*hamo!eon
ATLANTA
Oct 31 Thermos Greenwood at The (treat Southeast Music Hall
Oct 31 and Nov l—Kansas at The Fox H p in
Nov. 4-5- J J Calc at The (treat Southeast Music Hall
MONDAY
11 a m Half-track. Jimi Hendrix. Band of Gypsies
5:05 p.m - Half-track, Brand X. Moroccan Boll
9-12 pm —Anthology. Happy Halloween with Johnny Pride and Bill French
TUESDAY
11 a m —Half-track. Joni Mitchell. Miles of Aisles
5:05 p m -Half-track. The Meters. New Directions
6- 7 p m —Evening Exchange (call-in and talk show
9-12 p.m.—Of the People with William Beasley (CAW. bluegrass. folk'
WEDNESDAY
11 a.m —Half-track, The Heptones. Night Food
5:05 p.m - Half-track. Emerson. Lake and Palmer. Works I
7- 8 p m —Chicago Symphony with James Levine
9-12 p.m —Dynaflo with John Kelly (Contemporary jazz)
THURSDAY
11 a m.- Half-track, the Flying Burrito Brothers. Airborne
5:05 p.m.—Half track. Chicago. Chicago Transit \utliorit>
6-7 p m —Evening Exchange (call-in and talk -how»
9-12 p m —Danger Zone with Ginger Bailey (Black music)
■ r 4ll , _ _ Photo bv KATHERYN HAYES
Larrv Gatlin (left) woos Fox Theater crowd in Atlanta
By BRYANT STEELE
Campus editor
"A tough act to follow" is more than a
cliche in the entertainment business.
Such was the case Saturday night at the
Fox Theater in Atlanta when The Earl
Scruggs Revue floundered in its opening
numbers before finally winning the
approval of an audience that had earlier
given its heart to Larry Gatlin.
Gatlin and his excellent band started
shortly alter 8 p.m. and played until 9:30
when the audience brought them out for
an encore Mixing crowd-pleasers such as
"Statues Without Hearts" and "Penny
Annie" with his recent country singles '!
Don't Wanna Cry" and "Love Is Just a
Game." Gatlin had the audience cheering
every song and. at times, seemingly
brought the down-front followers to the
Though all of Gatlin's band are
excellent instrumentalist*, it is Gatlin's
vocal arrangements that keep this from
being just another good band Gatlin and
his brother Steve (bass) and Rudy
• guitar), blended their voices so well
the audience, which whistled and cheered
the instrumental solos, would become
hushed to hear the brothers sing
The three Gatlins grew up singing
gospel music in Odessa. Tex . but.
judging from the way their voices
complement each other, they must not
only have sung but also talked, walked.