BRIEFS

Rip It Up, Issue 62, 1 September 1982, Page 25

BRIEFS

Various artists: Lovin' Spoonful, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Eric Clapton & Powerhouse, A 1 Kooper, Tom Rush What's Shakin' (Elektra) Reissue of an early 60s compilation album, featuring tracks unavailable on other recordings. Four Lovin' Spoonful, more bluesy than their later Kama Sutra material, and four by Paul Butterfield playing magical . harp. Eric Clapton and band perform three. prototypes for material later recorded by Cream, A 1 Kooper's superb 'Can't Keep From. Crying Sometimes' is superior to the Blues Project version and Tom Rush contributes 'l'm In Love Again'. Essential for R&B afficionados and 60s collectors. DP 8.8. King, Love Me Tender (MCA) Despite an over-sweetening of strings and horns, King's foray into country music has its share of fine moments, especially the dovetailing of Willie Nelson's 'Nightlife' and Percy Mayfield's 'Please Send Me Someone to Love', easily the standout performance. With a powerful Nashville rhythm section in tow, 8.8. (and too infrequently Lucille,' his guitar) works his way through songs by such middle-of-the-roadies as Conway Twitty, Mickey Newbury, Troy Seals and Don Gibson. The over-exposed title song is treated well. 8.8. feels the song and 'Fathead' Newman .blows a nice sax break. KW Mondo Rock Nuovo Mondo (WEA) These people are enormous in Oz by all accounts, and having caught their set at Sweetwaters it's easy to see why they should be a popular live act. On record however it is all a bit of a non event an ingress by one auditory receptor and egress via the other situation as Alexander Haig might say. While the polish of their musicianship is beyond question, it’s all a bit of a. waste when the material is so lacking in point,. passion or personality. With the exceptions of 'Mondomania' and 'Up and Down' which lodge in the brain chant-a-long fashion, the songs are . all sadly forgettable. Without the energy they generate on stage, there's not a lot left. Maybe they should make a live album.' . . ' D.Mck Judie Tzuke, Shoot The Moon (Chrysalis) At her best, Judie Tzuke is a great atmosphere artist, the richer the sound texture, the better. The lushness of Welcome To The Cruise still forms an excellent backdrop to my late night senti-

mentality. This album, Tzuke's fourth and her debut for Chrysalis, doesn't make it on the atmosphere score, the beauty of her voice being too often drowned by aggressive arrangements. Some of the lyrics also descend to high school imagery of the worst kind. DC The Steve Miller Band, Abracadabra (Mercury) Although the hit title song sounds like 'Steve Miller stock song number three', it's a catchy, if undemanding, little opus. After a spell out of the spotlight, broken only by the patchy Circle of Love album, Miller seems to have hit the motherlode again. The album has that degree of polish one has come to expect of the one-time Space Cowboy. However, pleasant as it is, there is nothing to compare with Miller's previous best and his once irrepressible sense of humour seems to be one of the victims of time. KW Rory Gallagher, Jinx (Chrysalis) New drummer Brendan O'Neill adds a lot of push to Gallagher's tight little trio and with Rory rattling off some of his best guitar lines, Jinx is highly recommended to those looking for a bit of virtuoso head-banging. That's not to suggest that this is for the thickeared, just that it's not music to sit still to. Gallagher shines on the title song and plays some searing slide on the uptempo blues, 'Ride on Red, Ride On'. Nothing new, but a fine reworking of old territory. KW Marshall Crenshaw (Warner Bros) Marshall Crenshaw is a man with a knock-kneed pose, glasses, a Fender guitar and a bag full of snappy pop tunes. It's an image with a good history. After all, the last couple of guys who came on like this proved to have more than their share of talent. But whereas Elvis Costello used the image as a launching point for his own concerns, Marshall Crenshaw uses it to take on the standard teen concerns of the US male girls, cars and fun “And if he brings no new melodic twists to these well-worn themes, any of the songs here would currently make appealing radio fare they're bright, light and enjoyable three-minute packages. An album of stuff this calculated and toothless is, however, just plain hard listening. AD Crossfire Hysterical Rochords (WEA) Jazz fusion from the now disbanded Sydneyside sextet that supported Michael Franks on his tour downunder. What Crossfire may lack in soulful roots is compensated for by exemplary musicianship and interesting arrangements. Ace basswork from Auckland's own Phil Scorgie.PT