If anybody's got it—family spirit, that is—Cecil and Linda Womack do. The husband-wife team, who live on a Virginia farm, is responsible for a brood of children and a series of beautiful, organic soul albums—music made without the electronic claptrap that so often marks modern R&B.
The brother of soul star Bobby Womack and the daughter of venerable vocalist Sam Cooke got married in 1975. Both established songwriters, they began collaborating for Gamble and Huffs Philadelphia soul stable before becoming performers with the acclaimed Love Wars in 1984.
Their composing talent and low-tech production have made each release since then stand out. If their writing doesn't shine as steadily here as in the past (they apparently spent more time on lyrics than on melodies—an odd strategy in the pop arena), a few songs are as catchy as poison ivy, such as the lilting title track, the rhythmically insinuating "Living in a Different World" and the snappy ramble of "Blue Jean Baby." All the tunes are presented with enthusiastic, disarming simplicity. (RCA)
Various Artists
Garfield getting his own album? Great, you say, 40 minutes devoted to sounds of a jaded feline scarfing lasagna or of Odie being bounced off the walls. But no, mousekin breath.
You wouldn't think the fat-and-sassy cartoon cat would have any friends. Yet a top-shelf roster of R&B artists turns out for this snappy musical celebration of Garfield's philosophy.
Two tracks capture his character best. For the tabby who makes George Foreman look thin, there's "Fat Is Where It's At" sung by Carl Anderson. A noted postweekend depressive, Gar gets B.B. King to sympathize on "Monday Morning Blues (Blues for Mr. G.)"
Other highlights include the Pointer Sisters causing a meltdown on the jumpy "Nine Lives," the Temptations harmonizing on the doo-woppy dance flash, "Shake Your Paw," and the funky instrumental "Spare Time," featuring David Benoit, Marcel and Nathan East, Tom Scott and Sal Marquez.
The person who clearly had the best time on this project is Patti LaBelle, who vamps her way through "I Love It When I'm Naughty." There are also three songs from Garfield TV specials, including his spunky theme song, "Here Comes Garfield," sung by Lou Rawls. (GRP)
Michael Bolton
Batten the hatches. Hurricane Bolton, gale-force soul singer, is back. Oops, belay that order. False alarm.
The Storm King takes a new, restrained tack on this album. The emphasis is on material, not vocal intensity. And with these radio-ready songs that's a wise decision, particularly on "Love Is a Wonderful Thing" and the ballad "Now That I Found You."
Oh, he still cranks it up. His trademark strained-to-the-max tone is well suited to "Forever Isn't Long Enough." But the Bolton blunderbuss misfires at times, as at the end of the title track and sporadically in the otherwise gentle ballad "Missing You Now," which is caramelized by Kenny G's wispy sweet soprano sax.
He still insists too on inviting comparison to the great soul singers, covering that old Percy Sledge hit "When a Man Loves a Woman." The result? No contest. Notch another one up in the win column for ol' Percifal.
That Bolton at times drifts, however, doesn't detract from the fact that this is a solid, if a tad overproduced, collection of pretty pop. It certainly helps that he's downgraded himself to a tropical storm. (Columbia)
Barbara Dennerleln
Pianist Fats Waller, who loved the organ's grandiose sound, introduced the instrument to jazz. He played pipe organs in churches and theaters in the '20s and took an early Hammond electric on tour a decade later. But for Waller and others used to a piano's percussive action, the organ has always had a serious drawback: Playing complex rhythms on it is a bit like trying to dance with an elephant.
Dennerlein, a 26-year-old German from Munich, is still determined to turn her Hammond B-3 into a rhythm machine. On Straight Ahead (Enja), her 1990 debut album, she played in a soulful groove reminiscent of the reigning master of jazz organ, Jimmy Smith. She ventures into more varied rhythmic terrain on Hot Stuff, with a mix of standards and originals that includes bop, blues, rock and funk.
Drummer Mark Mondesir, guitarist Mitch Watkins and tenor sax man Andy Sheppard offer sturdy support. And by connecting a MIDI synthesizer to her organ, Dennerlein makes the band sound even larger. She uses sampled acoustic-bass sounds for her pedals and plays remarkable walking rhythms with her feet. She at times plays three musical lines at once, using both her hands and feet. And she stacks sustaining notes upon each other in swelling harmonic waves. Other musicians get such effects by over-dubbing. Dennerlein won't record anything she can't reproduce live.
This is honest contemporary jazz and, yes, it is hot stuff. (Enja)
>MARIAH CAREY: THE FIRST VISION
CAREY TALKS Appealingly about how thrilled she was the first time she looked out into an audience, saw people singing along and realized they knew the words to her song. The interview clips in this 42-minute tape aren't the point though. The pleasure comes in videos of four songs from Carey's debut album and two previously unreleased live performances. Her version of the old Aretha Franklin hit "Don't Play That Song" is a special treat, showing what a surpassingly powerful singer Carey can be when she applies that laser of a voice to material more interesting than her own generally nondescript tunes. (Sony, $19.98)
- Contributors:
- David Hiltbrand,
- David Grogan,
- Ralph Novak.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
