The career trajectory of Barlow, a former member of the defunct quintet Take That, could almost double as the George Michael Story: British lad gets rich quick with teeny-bop group before going seriously solo in his mid 20s. And the parallels don't stop there. Michael's footprints are all over Barlow's Open Road. Barlow, too, sings with slightly over-the-top ardor and gives in to a weakness for silly love songs. How else to explain his sticky-sweet cover of "So Help Me Girl," a 1995 country hit for Joe Diffie? Barlow is better off going a livelier route, caressing "My Commitment" with a sensual falsetto, turning up the funk with surprising confidence on "Lay Down for Love" and actually managing to utter the phrase "drowning in my autocratic ways" without sounding like a psychobabbling nut. (Arista)
Paul Robeson
Oh, what a difference a few decades can make. Just think of the seven-figure contracts, the endorsement deals, the merchandise tie-ins that would be Paul Robeson's if he'd had the good sense to be born now rather than then (in 1898). An All-American footballer, lawyer and Broadway star (Othello, The Emperor Jones), Robeson was also a mightily gifted vocalist for whom Jerome Kern wrote the classic "Ol' Man River." But Robeson's political activism—he fought tirelessly for racial equality, but also for Soviet-style socialism—proved a career killer. With his passport revoked in 1950 and his name high on showbiz blacklists, the Princeton, N.J.-born star was limited to performing in trade-union concerts like these, held on the U.S.-Canadian border in 1952 and 1953. Here his astounding bass-baritone resonates across four decades as he sings soaring spirituals and mournful songs of protest. Robeson died in 1976, but his legacy will get some much-deserved refurbishing when a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement is bestowed posthumously in New York City on Feb. 25. (Folk Era)
Hank Thompson with various artists
This felicitous tribute album celebrates the long career of the folksy Nashville singer-songwriter with the help of an impressive array of guest stars. Vince Gill, for instance, joins the old-timer, now 72, on the raucous Thompson hit "Six Pack to Go." Lyle Lovett insinuates himself into Thompson's clever "Total Stranger," and "I Picked a San Antonio Rose" benefits from the vocal of Bekka Bramlett, daughter of the '70s rock duo Delaney and Bonnie.
But the real highlights involve older stars. On "Hey George, Hey Hank," Thompson sings, "Can you sing about drinking, heartaches and misery?" and George Jones answers, "There ain't nobody, Hank, who knows it any better than me." And Thompson reprises his old hit "The Wild Side of Life/It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels," shrewdly inviting Tanya Tucker to join Kitty Wells, whose original version of "Angels" remains a Nashville classic. The package generates two immediate reactions: "They don't make 'em like Hank any more" and "Too bad." (Curb)
Richard Carpenter
It was 1969, the year that witnessed Woodstock, Altamont and Let It Bleed, when a brother-sister act called the Carpenters crept upon the scene with their gently melodic sound. While Karen's flowing vocals would help define the pop mainstream through the first half of the ensuing decade, older brother Richard, who wrote and produced many of their hits, became an architect of what is now known as Adult Contemporary music. Having kept a low profile since his sister died of heart failure resulting from anorexia nervosa 15 years ago, Richard returns here with instrumental versions of Carpenters tunes. Trouble is, without Karen's voice, they sound like songs best suited to elevator travel. This CD is bound to upset the people at Muzak: Carpenter has already done their work for them. (A&M)
Marcia Ball, Irma Thomas, Tracy Nelson
Last summer's well-intentioned Lilith Fair could have benefited from this funky, feisty trio's brand of sassy rhythm and leavening humor. Backed by a crack band of New Orleans and Memphis musicians, the three R&B stars assembled for this album are a supergroup unto themselves. Irma Thomas is the '60s soul great who gave us the wonderfully titled "You Can Have My Husband (But Please Don't Mess with My Man)." Tracy Nelson has belted blues on 18 albums, and the lesser-known Marcia Ball is a Louisiana fireball whose low-down and ribald lead vocal on "Love Maker" Lilith would have loved: "You say 'What you makin' for supper?'/I say 'Reservations.' " (Rounder)
Various artists
Here, in 16 mournful songs and giddy reels, Ireland's Chieftains, with stellar assists from Sinéad O'Connor, Van Morrison, Mary Black and Vince Gill, among others, capture the sad yearnings and hopeful dreams of a scattered people. With moaning uilleann pipes and trilling whistles, fiddles, harps and flutes, the Grammy-winning Dubliners, led by chief Chieftain Paddy Moloney, make this soundtrack a moving companion piece to The Irish in America: Long Journey Home, the six-hour film documentary airing this week on PBS. Opening with Van Morrison's sweet, aching "Shenandoah," the CD delivers one highlight after another, among them Mary Black's "Paddy's Lamentation," warning would-be émigrés not to leave home for Civil War-torn America, and Oklahoman Gill's "Bard of Armagh," sung like a true son of Erin. Elvis Costello (né Declan McManus) co-writes (with Moloney) and performs the title theme, but it is O'Connor's spare and lovely dirge "Skibbereen" that steals the show. (Unisphere/BMG Classics)
>Robert Bradley
CATCHING SIGHT OF SUCCESS
Blind since birth, singer-songwriter Robert Bradley earned a living for most of his life by playing guitar and singing on street corners. Since 1994, though, the divorced father of five has been lead vocalist for Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise, whose self-titled debut album from RCA Records is now in stores. The native Alabaman, 47, hooked up with guitarist Michael Nehra, bassist Andrew Nehra, drummer Jeff Fowlkes and keyboardist Tim Diaz after the guys heard him singing on the street in Detroit. When invited to join the group, Bradley accepted in part, he recalls, because "I just figured I wouldn't have to be outside in the cold."
Was it a hard transition to go from street singing to a band?
The biggest part was people telling me, "You got to be here on time. You got to stay here for so long." Before, I'd go where I wanted, and if I only needed $20, I just made $20 and went home.
How does it feel to be on MTV?
Videos is something I don't really get. But it's a great feeling that people want to see you. I just hope whatever they're seeing is all right with them.
What kind of music do you listen to?
I'm into Paula Cole, Babyface and R. Kelly. But years ago when I was coming along, it was Marvin Gaye, Hank Williams Sr. and Elvis; Otis Redding, Jimmy Reed and Sam Cooke.
Have you gotten any advice?
My old aunt was 101 when she died, and she said, "Robert, just keep singing." And that's what I'm going to do.
- Contributors:
- Jeremy Helligar,
- Steve Dougherty,
- Ralph Novak,
- Marisa Sandora.
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