Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, Sept. 29, 19*3
The Red and Black
Page 7
Herbie plays tasteful jazz
review of "Future
Shock." by Herbie
Hancock Produced by
Material and Herbie
Hancock A CBS records
release.
By CHRIS HOFF
Rr<l .IW Bun, suit» run
Herbie Hancock has
been one of the
forerunners in the recent
blast of funk-fusion jazz
artists While others like
Stanley Clarke and
George Duke have honed
their sound for more
radio airplay. Hancock
bas lavished only in the
adulation of his peers and
very astute jazz fans
Yet it seems that he has
shifted gears a bit with
his new relese. "Future
Shock." Hancock has
finally found a niche in
radio formats, which had
previously been held by
performers like Clarke or
George Benson, with his
current single. "Rock It "
The song takes off with its
rhythmic beat and
synthesizer harmonies
handled by Hancock
From there the band
goes into an extensive
vocal song, "Future
Hancock: finding new niche
Shock." Well-respected
jazz bassist Bill Laswell
i who appeal's on every
song i gets the sound back
to a more straight fusion
■ound with his placing
Pete Cosey also jumps in
w ith a searing guitar lead
towards the end, which is
very commendable Sly
Dunbar, another premier
ligure in the fusion field,
handles the drums on this
song and again on
"Rough " (Which are the
only two songs not
sporting a synth-drum
sound). This style is also
carried over into the final
tune on the first side.
"TFS " Although two of
the three musicians are
handling keyboards, this
is a tribute to the bass
playing abilities of
Lasweli.
The second side is more
of the same stuff. Han
cock and his back-ups
slow down a little on
"Earth Beat.” Hancock
is going for a dance
rhythm in this tune and
on the next one, "Auto
Drive." Besides the other
instruments Hancock
uses throughout the
album (usually elec
tronic) he adds the piano
to his repetoire Another
fine performance on bass
by Laswell and Han
cock's piano finesse make
this song one of the more
enjoyable ones on the
record
While his love for intricacy
may once again keep him off
Billboard charts. “Future
Shock" does turn out to be a
pretty tasteful jazz album
Daniels’ Decade disappoints
A revit*u> nf "A rionstHo nf ^ ^
The Elvises play pop/tripe
A fpvipw of “Movin' Upby
thf Efvi* Brothers Produc
ed by Lennie Pretze. Tony
Bo igioviand LanceQumn A
CBS Records release
B> GEORGE DEM AS
HM and HUik 9 nlrruinmeni Milur
How to descrihe this band
Pop Everly Brothers' 1
Rockabilly Jan and Dean -1
Party Elvis' 1 Early Beatles
i God forbid i -1
Let's say they are a non
raunchy resurrection of The
Knack This is the kind of
band your Mom wished was
around when you were play
ing music at home
Danceable and clean-cut. the
music is as vaccuous as can
be
Silly lyrics like. "My baby
wears a red dress and I ain’t
gettin no rest." and "It s
hidden in a heartbeat for me
and for you-oo-oo" abound
on this album
The music is of the ever-
popular 1950s 1960s
beach rhythm and blues
variety that has had a series
of resurgences in the past
ten years, and these guys
can play it pretty well
Rob Elvis does some very
good guitar work on "Here
We Go Again" and "Santa
Fe " Nothing spectacular,
mind you. just very profos
sional.
Brad Elvis, also, does
some very professional play
ing — this time the drums —
on Fire in the City" — very
professional
Graham Elvis on bass,
does nothing professionally
remarkable, but he does
have one of those fresh,
pretty-boy laces ever the
rage with the 14 to 17 year
old set
The songs themselves are
also very professional All
written by the band
members (a point in their
favor), the songs show in
fluences from the artists
mentioned plus Ix-s Paul and
Mary Ford, the Beach Boys
and Buddy Holly The Elvis
Brothers really know how to
mix the sounds of the great
masters ol early pop music
Even the production has a
very steady handed, profes
sional sound to it The songs
are well-paced, the sounds
come out clean and open
No risks are taken on this
album No rules are broken
Nothing is added to the jrasl
music, it is just mixed and
presenter! without modern
innovation It's all very safe
and catchy, generally happy
music that in the end leaves
the listener pretty bored
Promotion and money are
Give to Easter Seals
important to this group, it
seems, not art I-et's face it,
do you really believe Elvis is
their real last name?
The dust jacket has a very
revealing picture of this trio
The three of them have
drawn self-portraits under
the logo of Elvis Brothers
with the 'S' turned into a
dollar sign A Sloo.tMMi bill
and a $26.1X10 ring are also
featured in the picture
Money is what this group
is all about Artists have a
right to make money, yes,
but who can consider these
guys artists' 1
The music is toe-lapping,
danceable and utterly
forgettable The Elvises
have done absolutely nothing
to challenge their talents
They seem to be very good
musicians, but if they don't
start striving for something
more than this uninspired
tripe, they'll soon fall quick
ly by the wayside
A review of "A Decade of
Hits” by the Charlie Daniels f
Band, produced by John
Boylan. Charlie Daniels and
Paul Hornsby An Epic
Records release.
By BOB KEYES
Hrd and Blurt, stall Writer
Charlie Daniels has done
his fans and band a disser
vice by releasing "A Decade
of Hits," a new compilation
album sprinkled with three
new tunes
A song or two on past
records about his Southern
redneck ways was accep
table, but 40 minutes of it is
simply too much to handle in
one sitting
All the people who have
chastised the Charlie
Daniels Band for its short
sighted political and social
views need point only to this
album to support their argu
ment.
But if those same people
were to take time to listen to
the CDB's music form the
mid-1970s — seven of the 10
songs on "Decade" were
recorded from 1979 on —
they would see Daniels is a
lot more than a Skoal dippin'
good ole boy from Ten
nessee.
What they would see. or
hear, arc some of the finest
Southern songs to never
grace the airwaves of Top 40
radio
Paul Hornsby, who pro
duced the CDB between 1974
and 1977, recently observed
that the band has become too
concerned with hit singles
and is paying too little atten
tion to the overall album
quality
That becomes obvious on
this record.
Every song on the record,
with the exception of the new
material, has been a radio
hit for the band. That would
be fine if those songs were
among the band's best, but
they are not.
They arc, granted, the
band's most popular songs,
but they are not the band's
greatest songs They fail to
show the genuine talents
Daniels and company
possess They fail to ac
eurately reflect the band's
13-year, 16-record career,
something a greatest hits
record should do.
Believe il or not. Charlie
Daniels has recorded a
strong anti-llnited States
song P'Land of Opportune
ty” from the “Honey in the
j r»i*
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Daniels
Hock” album of 1972), but on
"Decade” what we gel is
Daniels spouting anti-Soviet
rhetoric that would do
Ronald Reagan proud
The peace songs Daniels
recorded from the Nixon
period are also missing, as
are the soft, country-laden
love tunes he's recorded
about his friends and family.
mure than Skoal-dippin 1 good ole boy
And that’s fine — the CDB
rocks well. Bui that's about
all the band has done since
1979, when John Boylan took
over production duties and
the country woke up and look
to the band kindly
Understandably, the band
cashed in on success and the
hits have been rolling in
since then.
The problem is that many
songs from 1979's "Million
Mile Reflections," "Full
Moon" in I960 and last year's
"Windows" sound the same,
and the records provide a
bulk of the material for
"Decade 11
ft's time for the band to
revamp its direction and try
something fresh.
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