26 — Sunday, October 16, 1994 — North Shore News

entectairwererst pg

i“ Wee:
Michael Becker
RECORD REVIEW

CLAPTON WAILS the blues
from the cradle; Jimmy
McCracklin tastes the blues
with friends; Preston
Shannon defines the
Memphis sound circa 1994.

Eric Clapton — From The Cradle,
Reprise Records/WEA 1994

Clapton wastes no time serving
notice with the massive, dirty guitar
slides opening the first track on the
disc, Blues Before Sunrise.

From The Cradle sees Clapton
coming full circle for a return to the
pure form of the music that inspired
him as a key player in the British
blues scene of the 1960s with the
Yardbirds and Cream.

He picks his spots, the fertile
blues territory defined by Wiitie
Dixon, Charles Brown, Elmore .
James , a few choice others, and
then he lets his guitar do the talking.
Basically recorded without edit or
overdub, the tracks have a timeless
feel to them. Jerry Portnoy stands
out on harmonica, framing
Clapton’s vocals and guitar riffs
with a steaming raunchiness.

By now Clapton’s voice is a
well-lived-in authentic vehicle with
which to express the uplifting and
despairful sentiments that co-exist
at the centre of all great blues songs.

For maximum blues guitar riff-
ing pig-out value, repeat track 3 as
necessary, the incendiary Sumeday
After A While.

Jimmy McCracklin — A Taste of
the Blues, Bullseye Blues/Rounder
Records 1994

In the service of the blues since
1945, this St. Louis native son
oddly enough surfaced to draw.
broader popular attention in 1958
with a rock ‘n’ roll dance single,
The Walk.

A Taste Of The Blues is the sec-
ond disc to come following a
lengthy time away from the record-
ing studio. In the interim
McCracklin’s songs were covered
by everybody from the Beatles and
Elvis to Prince and M.C. Hammer.
He’s the one who wrote The Thrill
Js Gone for B.B. King.

Friends joining McCracklin for
this urbane outing include guitarists
Lowell Fulson and Smokey Wilson,
bandleader Johnny Otis and Bobby
Forte on sax. ;

It’s a relaxed, playful platter of
soul and jump blues with a hint of
gospel.

The Preston Shannen Band —

See Band page 27

FEATURING ... Jane Lockhart
Head of Benjamin Moore’s Design Department

NORTH SHORE DECORATING
AND HOWARDS PAINT
present
Fantasy Finish Night
A Stroke of Brilliance

with Jane Lockhart

Tugspay Oct. 18 7:00p. M.
St. Pius X Halll
1150 Mount Seymour Road
North Vancouver
Tickets $10 plus GST available at these two stores only:

NORTH SHORE DECORATING
1420 Lonsdale Ave., North Van. 986-1420

HOWARD'S PAINT
- 1491 Marine Dr., W. Van. 922-2841

Life expectancy of average outdoor cat: 2-3 years
Life expectancy of average indoor cat: 15 years
Indoor spayed and neutered cats lead long, happy and heaithy lives.
Cats that have experienced the outdoors

will need time to adapt to inside life but

will soon enjoy the comforts of a safe indoor home.
A message from your local S.P.C.A,

So Don't Miss Hearing The World’
Most Valuable Player.

Pianist Yefim Bronfman October 22 & 24

He may be the finest classical pianist alive. In fact, Isaac Stern has called
him “one of the two or three greatest talents of our times.” And you can
hear him live at the Orpheum. Join Vancouver’s own Conductor Laureate
Kazuyoshi Akiyama and the VSO when they welcome Yefim Bronfman.
He'll perform Bartok’s powerful Piano Concerto No. 1. Also featured is
Richard Strauss’ apocalyptic tone poem Death and Transfiguration.
Performances are 8:00 pm at the Orpheum on both Satutday and Monday
nights. Don’t miss this extraordinary performer. Call for tickets today.

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