Reviews

"Sonny Boy §f
Williamson

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tkkekk Sonny Boy
Williamson — His Best
MCA Records 1997

Sonny Boy is The Man for
the blue many.

For the British blues wave

— Yardbirds, Animals and
Jimmy Page and other pop
artists who defined much of
the scene in England circa
1960s — Sonny Boy
Williamson’s juke joint pedi-
grec, Tallahatchee County,
Mississippi roots and status as
one of Chess Record’s Blues
Rig Four (Muddy, Wolf, Little
Walter and Sonny Boy) was a
natural appeal.

Guitarist Robert = Jr.
Lockwood was on the road
with Williamson from 1936
on. He most succinctly states
Sonny’s appeal: “That bigfoot
motherf..... could play that
harp, man. There wasn’t no
comparison to Sonny Boy then. And there ain’t
no comparison to Sonny Boy today.”

Amen Mr. Lockwood. The deep spirit
shines in the harmonica, the warmth of the
voice and the simple dignity of the words.

This compilation spans tracks from the
rough and ready carly recording days of 1955
(All My Love In Vain, Don’t Start Me Talkin’)
to the later and more studio-slick classic
grooves of the 1960s, (Bring Ir On Home, One
Way Ont).

This digitally remastered installment of The
Chess 50th Anniversary Collection is « disc to
be cherished.

kkk k.d. lang — drag, Warner Bros.
Records 1997

Immortalized in song by Stompin’ Tom,
vilified in the press by meat cating radicals, the

CRITICS
AVERAGE

love object of boys and girls
all across this great nation,

smoldering packet of slow-
burning torch songs.

The Voice is brilliant as ever, a
miracle of sorts given the link-
ing metaphorical thread of
cigarettes and smoke that
informs her choice of materi-
al: Don’t Smoke In Bed, Smoke
Dreams, My Last Cigerette,
Lave Is Like A Cigarette... you
get the hazy picture.

It’s a smooth and even drag,
rife with rich orchestration
and inspired lyrical interprera-
tion.

One can only hope the ciga-
rette burns are not too deeply
branded into the massive
sheepskin rug k.d. is shown to
be reclining upon as she casts
ember eyes toward the lens of
the camera beyond.

kkk k Madeleine Peyroux —
Dreamland, Atlantic Recording
Corporation, 1996

Her idols are well-chosen: Edith Piaf, Patsy
Cline, Bessie Smith, Fats Waller. Peyroux (pro-
nounced like Peru) is white and in her early 20s
yet she sounds so spookily close to being a
dead-ringer for Lady Day — Billie Holiday that
it truly thrills the heart.

Peroux’s debut — she shot from a busking
career in the streets of Paris to a major label
deal lickety-split — shows a maturity beyond
her years and an ear for a good song. Her cov-
ers of La Vie En Rose, Walkin’ After Midnight
and Muddy Water are exceptional.

Peyroux plays Vancouver tonight at
Richard’s On Richard’s as part of the du
Maurier International Jazz Festival.

— Michael Becker

MPAA THEME VIOLENCE COARSE SEX &
RATING

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