Posted on Fri, May. 14, 2004
TONY HICKS: MUSIC CRITIC
Finally! Cover bands, tribute albums worth praise
I’d just like to point something out in my own chickenly way before we get started. And that is: I’m not sure “chickenly” is a real word.
I’d like to whine like a wet puppy and say to all of you berserk Barry Manilow and Clay Aiken fans that it wasn’t my idea to include either of those fine gentlemen in the “Bad Songs” piece we ran earlier this week.
I usually can aptly pretend I have a spine, but I’ve dealt with these people before. Just to put this into perspective: In Tahoe a few weeks back, I saw Ted Nugent sitting a few tables over, wearing a camouflage hunting hat. I would have been more comfortable walking over and whacking him in the mouth with a vegetarian cookbook than dealing with these Manilow/Aiken people again.
You write something pretty nice about either one of those fellows and, unless you promise to construct a 35-foot statue of them on your lawn by the end of the weekend, it’s still not good enough.
And please — it’s been weeks since I reviewed him. Please, no more Internet-savvy grandmas e-mailing to graphically describe how you want to mate with Clay Aiken. Please. I’ve just started sleeping through the night again.
Now we can get on to real business, on a day when my attention span and judgment is as sound as a Major League Baseball advertising executive.
• Do we need any more evidence that the music biz is a tad disjointed and confused when it comes to new music? Witness this year’s astounding array of comebacks and tributes. But I do have great news:
Finally, the long-awaited Wilson Phillips comeback record will be out later this month.
We can all breathe again.
I hate tribute albums, mostly because they’re terrible excuses for mediocre musicians to align themselves with great artists, as in “Hey, look at this great influence of mine. I must be worthy of your respect.”
However, Sting aside, there was no such problem on the new Jimi Hendrix tribute record “Power of Soul,” which has a few clear advantages over all the other garbage in the bargain bins of tribute records.
First off, Hendrix is such a big deal among established artists that … well, they got established people whom we already know are influenced by Hendrix. Some of them were even Hendrix’s peers — it’s not easy to convince iconic musicians to show up for a tribute record.
The second great thing about this record is that, to play on a Hendrix tribute record, one had better be able to play like mad. So ask me how wonderful it was to hear Carlos Santana absolutely cut loose on “Spanish Castle Magic,” abandoning the same old Santana scales to tackle Hendrix with a depth of tone he hasn’t attempted … wait, I’m thinking … maybe ever. Yes. It was quite wonderful. So was Prince on his version of “Red House” — obnoxiously titled “Purple House.” Title aside, it’s pure unconscious pleasure listening to him rip over Larry Graham’s bass-playing. Eric Clapton was indeed a Hendrix peer and it’s good he can play the role of guitar god in his sleep on “Burning of the Midnight Lamp,” because he can’t stop sounding like a beer commercial when he sings.
• The new Loretta Lynn record “Van Lear Rose” really is as good as advertised.
• The Bay Area’s great Neil Diamond cover band, Super Diamond, just released “Live on the Rocks,” an outstanding record from a show at Bimbo’s in S.F. back in February 2001. It’s just like listening to a big 20-song Neil Diamond record, only cheaper. And if you don’t mist up just a little during their version of “Hello Again,” I challenge your humanity. Buy it at the band’s Web site (www.superdiamond.com). Super Diamond comes to Great American Music Hall in S.F. on May 21 and 22. If you can wait some, they also play Echo (formerly Abernathy’s) in Walnut Creek on June 24 and the Shops at Blackhawk on July 16.
• Local band Simon Stinger has the free song of the week (well, until Monday anyway) at the iTunes Music Store. Go to www.itunes.com and download the software, if you don’t already have it, and check out the SS song “Some Kinda Voodoo,” off their latest CD.
And for all the local bands patiently waiting for me to get off my duff and check out their work, I diligently promise to devote the next local column to you guys. Unless, of course, I don’t. But I’ll try.
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Tony Hicks is the Times pop music critic. Reach him at 925-952-2678 or thicks@cctimes.com.