Records

Rip It Up, Issue 101, 1 December 1985, Page 28

Records

George Jones First Time LiveTßl Ladies Choice Epic Merle Haggard Kern River Epic George Jones and Merle Haggard are both at the apex of country music tradition: Jones is the music's most soulful singer, while Haggard is its premier songwriter and a subtlety effective presenter of i his songs.4SßßßjfVmH For Jones, First Time Live! is just that, his first live album in a near-30 year career. As such, it’s a disappointment. \ Filler here ineludes a comic duet with a mock Merle Haggard, a dull feature from his backing band and - some throwaways in the fast songs. But you also get a series of stunning performances on the tearjerkers (well, actually George describes them as "more sadder than that").

Ladies' Choice, Jones' album of duets with nine women country singers, also has its ups and downs, but, as Robert Christgau noted about Jones' last duet album (My Very Special Guests ), its quality has more to do with what’s being sung than who's singing it where. Brenda Lee sounds chirpy on Ray Charles' Hallelujah, I Love

Her So', Emmy Lou Harris' spirituality is nicely balanced by Jones' more earthy tones, while Lacy J. Dalton and Deborah Allen just sing strongly; elsewhere George sings strongly too. but is given less to work with.

Merle Haggard's latest is a further solid set in a very solid career. Only on 'Natural High' and Riding High' does he descend into West Coast romantic bathos (why is it the word "high" brings out the worst in songwriters?) but even these are redeemed by his quietly affecting singing. For the rest his low-key production neatly encapsulates several delightful Western swing songs and at least a couple of classics to add to Hagg’s extensive collection. Alastair Dougal

Chris Isaak Silvertone Warner Bros An interesting debut from Mr Isaak, who peers from the cover looking like the young Elvis Presley fresh from his first RCA sessions. It's an image that carries over onto his self-written songs, with Western Stars’ being a ghostly re vision of Elvis's Blue Hawaii', including steel guitar and moody monologue. The album is really a reworking of traditional styles, from the minimal Sun-sound of 'Tears', with a drum sound that lovingly recreates D.J. Fontana's brush work to Gene Vincent’s best guitarist Cliff Gallup on 'Gone Ridin'But most

of all Chris Isaak just loves Roy Orbison; on songs like 'Pretty Girls Don’t Cry’ he uses his high tenor voice just like the sublime Big 0. This all goes beyong revivalism, however like Alan Vega’s rockabilly albums, here Isaak has used the tradition to create something new and refreshing. Classical music for modern times. Kerry Buchanan

Every Great Motown Song: The First 25 Years Vol 1: The 1960 s Vol 2: The 1970 s Motown Two and a half decades of 'The Sound of Young America) born in industrial Detroit, as sleek and modern as the latest Ford rolling

off the assembly line. Former chrome trimmer for Ford, Mr Berry Gordy Jnr, had. like Martin Luther King, a dream. Mr Gordy’s dream was about a music that united the black rhythms of gospel with the white pop sound. He wanted to create crossover music, something that sold to both white and black.

These two albums offer a good introduction to Berry Gordy Jnr’s dream. They don’t perhaps include every great Motown song; in my opinion the Isley Brothers’ 'This Old Heart of Mine' and 'Behind A Painted Smile' represent perfect Motown, but alas the Isleys don't get even one track. But one mustn’t grumble, not when Vol 1 hits you with killer after killer, including Kim Weston’s oft-forgotten 'Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While)! The trouble starts on Vol 2, which goes a bit heavy on the schmaltz, with two of Diana Ross's worst songs, ‘Theme From Mahogany' and 'Touch Me In the Morning', and the Commodores going over the top on 'Three Times A Lady'. Motown in the 70s was still pumping out great dance tracks, like the Miracles' 'Love Machine' and the Commodores' Brick House; but these are sadly missing. But you do get Marvin Gaye's 'Got To Give It Up) an essential track. If you haven't sampled the joys of Motown before, this is the place to start.

Kerry Buchanan