98 lines
4.9 KiB
Plaintext
98 lines
4.9 KiB
Plaintext
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-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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SPIRITUAL MUSIC ADVICE 'N' STUFF
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by Rev. Richard Visage
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Ever wonder why there's so many music dinosaurs out there? It
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seems to me like, back in the bad old days, a band would get a hit or
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two, then deservedly fade into obscurity. Say, for instance, Freddy and
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the Dreamers -- I think they had one horrid hit with "Do the Freddy",
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and maybe a backup hit with a loathsome ballad, and then were never
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heard of again. Freddy probably became an insurance salesman dressed
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in doubleknits, and yeah, he's the guy that came to your front door,
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smoking a cheap cigar.
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He deserves it, too. But then there's others that just never seem to
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go away. The first time I saw Eric Clapton play, he was with Cream, and
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he was generating serious guitar magic at the time. He played wildman
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blues and psychedelia, did amazing improvisations, and enunciated his
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guitar work like no one in the business. He was a certified guitar god,
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and deserved the title.
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Things changed. Eric joined the super-ego super-group Blind Faith
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and was still brilliant. After the one and only album that Blind Faith
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produced, he joined the musical debacle called Delaney and Bonnie and
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Friends. Worse, he sang. Worse, as his career continued, he didn't stop
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singing. Ugh. Let's spin a CD, kids.
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Back to the Cradle,
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Eric Clapton
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Who could possibly disapprove of Eric Clapton doing a back to the
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roots pure blues album? I just know all the critics are going to rave
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over this one just out of purity of concept.
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And it is a good idea. Hell, he's put together some extra-fine blues
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musicians for this album and done all the recordings on a single take.
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Is this great or what?
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Well, first of all, Slowhand can still pick. Bigtime. There's some
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absolutely technically brilliant guitar work on this album. The band
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is relentlessly professional. And the whole thing is tired, tired,
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tired. There's so rarely a trace of emotion, or real blues feeling on
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this album, that it could be made into one of those New Age sleep-
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inducing tapes. Ms. LaBamba steals the remote control from me when I
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listen to this album, and quickly changes the disc. Can you argue with
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a woman who wears spandex and garters?
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Oh, and the vocals deserve mention. With the exception of a
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small bit of backup vocals, it's all Eric. Eric, his nasal whine, and
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twenty years of failed vocal training. It's so laboured at times as to
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be downright hilarious. To really enjoy this album, you need one of
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those karioke machines that can tune out the original vocals on the
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track. The only song that really works on this album is an acoustic blues
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track, "Driftin'", which is reminiscent of the pathos-ridden Tears in
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Heaven, and doesn't require much in the way of vocal gymnastics. Again,
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absolutely wonderful guitar work on the acoustic box.
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Well, I'm sure that you're going to buy this one, despite my ranting
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about it. But, let's make a bet. In a year from now, you'll find this CD
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second from the bottom in your pile, look at it, and think about putting
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in on. But, you'll just stick it back on the bottom of the pile. Delete
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bin, here it comes.
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As your spiritual advisor, might I suggest that you pick up J.J.
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Cale's new release, Closer to You, instead? J.J. is the author of some
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of Clapton's bigger hits, "Cocaine" among them, and is held in godlike
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esteem in the UK and in parts of Canada. He's also the gentleman whose
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guitar style is most imitated by the likes of Clapton and Mark Knoffler.
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This is real Okie pop/blues, it doesn't to pander roots purists, and it
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has the feel of musicians who love, and are lost in, the music. The
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album starts with the blues/rocker "Long Way Home" and winds through the
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hypnotic vibe-powered "Slower Baby" and winds up with "Steve's Song",
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an absolutely sparkling instrumental. One could criticize some of the
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lyrics as being a little to simplistic or Okie, but they don't detract
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from the music.
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I'd mention that Ms. LaBamba gets naked every time I play it, but
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that'd probably encourage folks to buy the album for all the wrong
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reasons. Or, maybe not.
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# # #
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Religiously yours,
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Copyright 1994 Rev. Richard Visage
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---------------------------------------------------------------------
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Rev. Richard Visage is the official Spiritual Advisor to Fidonet and
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is listed on the masthead of the Fidonews, where his correspondence
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with the infamous Doc Logger is published regularly. The Rev. operates
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163/409 on a laptop from various hotel rooms, and is bankrolled by
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expense accounts from unsuspecting publications who showed the poor
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judgement of hiring him. Canadian Government officials list him and
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his semi-clad secretary, Ms. LaBamba, as officially being "at large"
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somewhere in North America.
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======================================================================
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