8
Da ly Nebraskan
Wednesday, March 2, 1933
A
u IL3 o:
entertainment
Album
I Reviews
f
Gayle solo album
an awful 'dud'
Vs .... .
Some albums courtesy of
Pickles Records and Tapes
True Love
Crystal Gayle
Elektra
If one accepts the premises that Crys
tal Gayle is a capable singer (I accept that
premise - 1 find her voice quite special),
has a good ear for a song (her past albums
prove this is true) and has a smart pro
ducer (AUen Reynolds has produced some
of Nashville's best works in the last dec
ade), then a schlocky album like True Love
becomes totally unacceptable.
Gayle has been plagued by inconsistent
records for years. This album, for example,
follows a delightful joint venture with sing
er Tom Wails entitled One from the Heart.
BefoTe tViat, she released the feeble Holly
wood, Tennessee LP, which followed the
moving These Days, which was preceded
by (he incompetent Miss the Mississippi
and so on and so forth. The pattern is
clear, Every time Gayle releases a brilliant
album, she and Reynolds seem to feel ob
liged to follow it up with a dud.
True Love is Crystal Gayle's latest dud. ,
Although not as bad as some of her worst
efforts, it is, nonetheless, a disappointing
departure fro n the artistry we saw devel
oping on Oik from the Heart. Some truly
awful materia is featured here, such as Da
vid Gates bar-band standard, "Everything
I Own," which Gayle should have known
better than to record. Other disappoint
ments included "He is Beautiful to Me,"
and "Our Love is on the Fault Line,"
which fails with the use of some horren
dous metaphors.
Rodney CrowelTs " Till I Gain Control
Again" is here (surprisingly, featuring Cro
well on harmony vocals). However, it's
been recorded so well so often (Emmylou
Harris, Jerry Jeff Walker, Willie Nelson and
Waylon Jennings, most notably) that
Gayle's plebian reading of it pales in com
parison. Additionally, the title song, "True
Love," is as silly a song as the name im
plies. However, there are moments here where
Gayle manages to maintain a modicum of
musical integrity. "Deeper in the Fire" is a
fine song, for which the singer's unique
voice is well suited. "Easier Said than
Done," "Baby What About You" and
"You Bring out the Lover in Me" are all
poorly written songs, yet Gayle's ability as
a singer overcomes them and turns them
into solid pieces of music. However, one
wonders why she just didn't save herself
the effort and pick out decent songs to be
gin with.
Gayle shows moments of both crossover
absurdity and genuine feeling on True
Love. Why does she suffer from this kind
of frustrating inconsistency? Several possi
ble explanations exist. One is that she isn't
as talented a performer as she sometimes
appears (as a Crystal Gayle fan, I reject
this hypothesis outright). Another is that
these poor showings, often recorded at ca
reer high points (this,. for example, comes
on the heels of Gayle's first charting pop
single for several years, "You and I," a
duet with Eddie Rabbitt), just reflect a
kind of laziness that is as much producer
Reynolds' fault as her own. Another pos
sible explanation is that Gayle, who has
been on three diiierent labels in the last
five years, has allowed her legal hassles to
overshadow her recordings.
Whatever the explanation, the bottom
line is Crystal Gayle is capable of record
ing fine albums and has failed to do so on
True Love. However, there is some consola
tion. She will probably release another al
bum in nine months or so, and, if her pat
tern continues, it should be an eilective
LP, highlighting Gayle's talent and musical
sensibility. I suggest you wait until then
before buying a Crystal Gayle album.
-Mike Frost
ACQ Fine tunes
for dance fans
The Lexicon of Love
ABC
Mercury
The past nine months or so have shown
an amazing growth in the acceptance of
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new British music. Ne3rlv every tvoe of
music Irs been represented in the flood
of new musicians and groups making big
things out of British ideas.
One of the classes of music that hasn't
been overdone by the English immigrants
has been that of the "funk"-type dance
music. Until now, most of the attempts
have been poor copies of American dance
groups. The relatively new group ABC
has come up with a serious counterpart
to those groups with Pie Lexicon of
Love.
Vie Lexicon of Lovesums up a lot of
what this debut album is about. It is a
fresh sound for the basic theme of rela
tionship songs that dominate the disc.
Lead vocalist Martin Fry provides an ener
getic approach to each cut, and gives it
the feeling of a winner through and
through. All the songs on the album were
written by the group as a whole, and all
arc interesting enough to keep your atten
tion for the length of the track.
The most outstanding part of Tfie
Lexicon of Love would be the sound of
each song on its own. Every cut has a
different approach that seems to be well
thought out. The album is consistent with
its clever lyrics, decent melodies and near
perfect production. The same factors
that make this an enjoyable album pro
vide the reason ABC has had three singles
in the British Top 20, as well as a gold
debut album. Much of this sudden success
can be attributed to the production of the
disc.
The. Lexicon of Love was produced by
Trevor Horn, who was once with the Bug
gies. Horn has had past success with his
production techniques exhibited with
another popular British group, Dollar.
Horn's hand in this album has a lot do
with the listenability you will find here.
ABC's lack of experience is virtually non
existent with Horn at the helm.
The lack of experience is not neces
sarily a factor one should consider with
this album. As I mentioned, the production
covers absolutely every possible chance
for a mistake, and the talent ABC seems
to have is an element that provides even
more for entertainment.
This album could be termed "slick"
for m3ny reasons. One is the method ABC
uses to project their ideas of music.
Another is the fast-paced music they have
had fine-tuned for every listener looking
for a dance-oriented album. In any case,
ABC has made a disc that succeeds in its
attempt to make the listener enjoy the
sund of nearly every cut. This isn't Duran
Duran, and it isn't Flock of Seagulls. It
may just be the British counterpart to
Earth, Wind and Fire.
- Todd R. Tystad
'Cow Jazz' verifies
Walker's demise
CowJazz
Jerry Jeff Walker
MCASouthcoast
The so-called "hippies" from the
1960s received a number of shocking
jolts in the late '70s. Heroes (or perhaps
more appropriately anti-heroes) from the
anti-war era like Tom Hayden, Abbie
Hoffman and Jerry Rubin had grown
old. But only did they now trust people
over 30, but often, they hired them as
their personal agents to peddle their
latest book to the corporate giants' pub
lishing houses.
Well, the '70s' redneckcowboy con
tigent area now in store for the same
shock. CowJazz proves what many have
suspected for the last few years: Jerry
Jeff Walker has grown old. Now, with
Willie Nelson singing old Elvis Presley
love ballads, Waylon Jennings doing the
"Dukes of Hazard," Tompall Glaser re
united with his brothers and Ray Wylie
Hubbard opening for Porter Waggoner,
it appears the so-called "outlaw" (a better
term might be progressive country mucic
is now just a piece of nostalgia. A oitv.
A pity becuase these musical rebels
with a cause were an interesting lot.
Bucking musical norms, they lived on
the fringes of giant labels' artist rosters.
Their music embodied the traditional
elements of country, while at the same
time, exposing it to a certain frankness
it had never experienced before. Occas
ionally, they would place a record on
the pop or country music charts, but usual
ly they just sort of hung around, playing
bars and waiting for a label to be naive
enough to think their music might have
commercial potential.
Jerry Jeff Walker seemed the titular
leader of the movement. Walker, with
the assistance of his Lost Gonzo-Band,
turned in a sparkling collection of LPS
in the '70s r starting with Viva Terlingua
and culminating with A Man Must Carry
On - that let the world in on what was
happening in Austin, Texas. The albums
were fun to listen to, yet at the same
time, you knew these were musicians -professional
and capable, especially when
sober.
But then, in 1977, the Gonzos deserted
Walker in favor of obscurity. Walker
floundered, making sadly dispirited albums
while experiencing marital woes, alcohol
rehabilitation and uninterested record com
panies. In short, Walker disappeared.
In 1981, Walker recorded Reunion
on long-time friend Michael Brovsky's
tiny Southcoast Records. The album was
a hopeful sign - perhaps Walker wasn't
really finished yet. However, CowJazz
is sad confirmation that indeed, Jerry
Jeff Walker is quite finished.
Even on Too Old To Ownge, Walker's
worst LP of the late 70s, there seemed to
lurk some semblance of enthusiasm, vigor
and will to survive. CowJazz has none of
that determination. Walker has given up.
He has lapsed into a second childhood
(witness the cover art) and plays his music
as if it were just something to do between
naps.
None of that old spirit is there. The
best songs are ones that others have done
better before: Bob Dylan's "Don't Think
Twice, It's Ail Right" and lioyt Axton's
"Greenback Dollar." But the rest are
just sort of an illustration of what "burn
out" means. It is hard to remember that
such incomplete thoughts as "Tangee,"
"Wind" and "Loving of the Game" were
written by the same guy who wrote "Mr.
Bojangles." To be fair, Walker didn't
write all the material, but still, the basic
impression prevails: Walker is tired. He
wants to go home.
Even more than Willie Nelson or Waylon
Jennings (the media's favorite "outlaws")
Jerry Jeff Walker was the true king of
progressive country music. Lis great
albums like Riding High, or It's a Good
Night for Singing come the closest to
capturing the true spirit of the entire
movement, if it can be called that. These
LPs are classics, but now, at least on vinyl,
the king is dead.
Long live the king.
Mike Frost
Adams' 'Knife'
has sharp edge
Cuts Like A Knife
Bryan Adams
A&M
If Canadian rockers who are hitting it
big in the United States could be used as
an alternate energy source, James Watt
and Saudi Arabia would be out of their
jobs.
Enter Bryan Adams.
With his second album - Cuts Like
A Knife - Adams has burst onto the
scene in the same breath as groups like
Loverboy, Triumph, April Wine and
Chilliwack, to name a few.
Don't get me wrong - Adams' only
similarity with the other bands men
tioned is the common homeland. His
music is much better. The tracks on
this album have a well defined edge to
them. The gravelly voiced Adams is backed
by a tight band that belts out the 10 songs
presented here.
The title song is the best on the re
cord. .
Drivin'home this evening
I coulda sworn we had it all worked
out
You had this boy believin '
Way beyond a shadow of a doubt
Then I heard it on the street
J heard you mighta found somebody
new
Well who is he baby - who is he
And tell me what he means to you
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