Records

Rip It Up, Issue 64, 1 November 1982, Page 16

Records

Willie Dayson Blues Band Rogues and Fools Festival All the promise of the Dayson band's Live at the Globe first album pays off in this, their, first studio album. And what an r albumiit|islJPom Studio techniques have enhanced the subtleties without losing the vigour of live performance. The album sounds "live in the studio," but that's immaterial. What is important - is that the feeling is .'.raHpHjflpß The Dayson band is clearly influenced by the hard-edged rhythm sound of Chicago's Alligator label, but its new album shows a firm, group identity based around,Willie Dayson and Brian Glamuzina. That is not in any way to undervalue the fine contributions of keyboards man Malcolm Smith, drummer Brian Mitchener and bassist Neil Edwards who,. as an Underdog, was one of the first , to play Chicago-style blues in New Zealand. But it is Dayson's often brilliant guitar and - Glamuzina's fine harmonica " and everimproving (he was good, he's a lot better now) vocals and songwriting which. dominate. Glamuzina's originals are strong, especially 'Livin’ On Borrowed Time', the remake of 'lvan’s' and the - moody 'John’s Diner Blues'. Dayson shows flashes of Django Reinhardt's Hot Club of Paris days on the instrumental 'Rick's Blues', although more in the mood than the ‘ playing. The covers are handled brilliantly. Detroit Junior's 'Gall My Job' is nicely

wry and Dayson's flat battery effect no doubt makes it a crowdpleaser; the oft-recorded 'Kidman Blues' gets a rollicking treatment and 'Every Night and Every Day' has the intensity of the man with whom it is associated, the late great Magic Sam. Rogues and Fools is a great album by any standards. Ken Williams Donald Fagen The Nightfly Warner Bros Every year from 1972 to 1977' the annual Steely Dan album appeared in virtually all the critics' best albums lists. Then Steely Dan simply ceased. (Not being a band, they hadn't been touring anyway.) But in 1980, when Walter Becker and Donald Fagen reassembled their studio sidemen to record Gaucho, the album only partially recaptured their once enormous audience. Pop music had changed and the Dan's immaculate craft was now sounding just a little too slick. ■Now Fagen returns alone and, as one hears immediately how exactly like a Steely Dan album this is, the question arises: apart from playing bass, just how much did co-writer Becker really contribute last time?^HHßH| On first listening, this former fan felt the same reservations that tl'd had about Gaucho. Were those smooth, mellow performances calculated to complement the lyrics, or were the words merely an arty justification of increasingly enervated music? But what's so striking beyond the arrangements and production is how very strong Fagen's solo writing is. Nightfly's music is enormously catchy. Secondly, the lyrics, while discarding most of the old intentional obscurity and some of the scabrous tone, have lost none of their, finely honed wit. •

Every lyric is a minor gem and wi musical styles masterfully varying from traditional shuffle, through Latin to the shrewdly swinging reinterpretation of Dion and and the Belmonts' 60s 'Ruby Baby', Donald Fagen is likely to win his . way . on to at least this reviewer's year's best list. ' Peter Thomson John . Lee Hooker Tantalizing With The Blues MCA John Lee Hooker, has had -an uncommonly high number of records released in New Zealand. This probably results from Hooker's label hopping. Compare Hooker with such giants as Muddy Waters and Howling Wolf, whose lengthy ties to the Chess label have left them sadly under-represented in NZ. This surprisingly good Hooker compilation comes from the period 1965-1971 when he was associated with the American

ABC . labels Bluesway . and Impulse. Some of the tracks, from. 1967/68 have been previously released in NZ, but make a welcome reappearance. While this is not regarded as Hooker's peak period, he did make some outstanding recordings. 'lt Serve You Right To Suffer^one [of J his best, sees him in the company, of jazzmen Barry ; Galbraith • and Milt Hinton. Elsewhere, the Hook is accompanied by such blues stalwarts as Wayne Bennett, Eddie Taylor and Louis Myers. ... What gives the album extra interest (or lack of it, if you're a purist) is the then-fashionable combining of Hooker and rock musicians. Steve Miller is the rocker, on 'Kick Hit 4 Hit Kix U (Blues for and Janis)' say it a couple of times which is almost . grotesque verbally (an exhortation to "drug addicts', to give it up), but has a superb, brooding musical atmosphere. One of . Hooker's greatest students, Van Morrison, gets most of the vocal on 'l'll Never Get Out of These Blues Alive', an edited version 7 of a much longer track. Excellent performance from Morrisonb^HlßHHHHl A good album all Ground, but much will depend on. your attitude, to, the rock players. TjjggS Ken Williams . ' D.A.F. ' Fur Immer :» /.«**. i j.ii j w Virgin I only heard Gold Und Liebe once and was put off (shame!) by its discosity and by how it seemed much safer than early stuff I'd heard - on tape. This is harder, edgier and I wish I knew.what the fuck they were singing about. It's all very frustrating. I'm pretty sure I like this, no, I mean I do, but what if they're talking about ripping the toenails off negro women or advocating that a vegetarianonly nuclear deterrent is the only answer? My knowledge of German comes' from war comics and there's not an .'Achtung!' on the album. It's difficult to relate to, but the sounds are . t7^^gPjH£p| Conny Plank is much more at home with ;this.stuff than with

Killing Joke (he is a very famous and much-revered producer/ engineer who's worked with wonderful . people like Can - and PiL). This is moronic synth lines that my 18-month-old daughter can sing to, .wedded with acoustic percussion (including charming xylophone playing) and monoslab vocals. At' first this' all sounds very professional, but after a few hearings it becomes clear how inept these people are (by those queer standards that so many pub bands cling to, anyway). The British synth groups bubble and squeak with much more virtuosity than these two, but D.A.F. are content with their hunks of electronic noise and quite rightly so. . * Chris Knox ■ . P.S. Someone just translated the titles for me. The album's called 1 Forever, and • songs include A : Little Bit Of War, 'The Gods Are White' and 'Shorten Your Haircut'. Now we can all get some sleep. . The Crusaders Royal Jam c d MCA Guesting with the Crusaders on this live album (Royal Festival Hall, London, September 1981) are 8.8. King, his band and a fair sampling of the. Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Bigger than Ben Hur? Wrong. In fact, the feeling throughout is of a small group with occasional added underpinning. Not unlike the Band's Last, Waltz. It's a good and occasionally great concert. Best are Sides Three and Four when 8.8. King gets into a relaxed groove. He reworks The Thrill Is Gone' to good effect before getting’into some of the songs.with which the Crusaders gave him a new direction. And while 8.8. can't match the wonderful Randy Crawford on 'Street Life', he has a damn good try. Sadly, the same can't be said for vocalist Josie James. On her own showcase, 'Burnin'. Up The Carnival', James, sounds merely shrill and in danger of being left behind by the band. The Crusaders themselves are, generally, in immaculate form, although their opener, 'One Day I'll Fly Away', is rather leaden. It is the appearance of the onetime Memphis Blues Boy which lifts . the performance beyond merely sustaining, rather than surpassing, their reputation. King and the Crusaders remain a magical combination. Ken Williams