Jimmie Dale Gilmore

IMMIE HEARS a lone-
some whippoorwill; Al
tas? milks pompous pop
cows; Frank comes out
_ swingin’ with a pack of
- duets,

' Michael Becher
RECORD REVIEW

_ Jimmie Dale Gilmore — Spinning
” Around The Sun, Elektra 1993

‘The opening track begins in
classic fashion with a ghostly Gib-
‘son tremolo. It hangs heavy,
portentous and doomed.

The nasal twang of Gilmore's
mournful, tremulous voice joins

‘the guitar — “I’ve seen crimson
roses growing through a chain link

“fence...” a ; 7

~The Rolling Stone critics poll

" labelled him country artist of the
year for 1991 and 1992. He’s not

: standard-issue phony hickory- _

smoked baloney Nashville by a

sfongshot... 000 ME.

° ‘There's plenty enough...
lachrymosity as‘he spins his tales,
butiit’s OK; they are all grounded

_c ivan engaging sublimity.and sin-

‘cerity of expression.2

‘The Flatlanders connection
holds firm’with this project. Past

«musical partner Butch Hancock

- supplies two ofthe best tunes ~-
Nothitig of the Kind and Just’a.,

Wavernn 6 fh, :

A big influence of Gilmore’s cre-
ative spitit makes‘itself known with

a glorious inevitability at the emo-
tional epicentre of the release,
“hear that.lonesome whippoor-: . -
will, he sounds too blue to fly..." ”
Hank Williams Sr. done proud.’

Weird Al Yankovic — Alapalooza,

. Scotti Bros. Records 1993
Court jester Alfred Yankovic
strikes again. The boy is prolific
and he fills an obvious need by
raiding classic schlock territory
and milking a few pompous pop
cows along the way for the

‘delicious pleasure of incisive par-

ody. -
It's a marvelous cartoony thing
when Al does his number on
Aerosmith's Livin’ on the Edge
(Livin’ in the Fridge), Richard Har-
tis’ MacArthur Park (Jurassic Park),
Billy Ray Cyrus’ Achy Break Heart
(Achy Breaky Song) and Queen's

Bohemian Rhapsody (Bohemian
Polka).

It’s an awfully stinky thing when
Al takes himself seriously by
foisting upon the unwary his own
silly songs. That stuff comes off as

- lame-but-irritating Pursuit Of Hap-

piness-They Might Be Giants
screwiness. ot

The mimicry and mugging are
on the money but when Al drops
the charade, the sniggering quickly
wears thin.

Frank Sinatra — Duets, Capitol
Records 1993 :

So how come Francis didn’t cut
a track with Iggy Pop? Frank's
swingin’ big band tones on radio
inspired him to enter the biz in the
first place.

Ig could have done a nice ‘n’
easy take of Chicago with Frank. It
would have been a boss duet and,
a neat marketing cross-over move
for Frank. The chicks would have
gone gaga.

But isn’t it amazing how long
The Chairman Of The Board has
been at it? — six decades and
counting,

This, his first studio release in
more than a decade, matches
Sinatra with Luther Vandross,
Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand,
Julio Iglesias, Gloria Estefan, Tony
Bennett, Natalie Cole, Charles Az-
novour, Carly Simon, Liza Min-
nelli, Anita Baker, Bono and Ken-
ny G.

The tracks are favorite standards.

Peter Paul Harnisch

PHOTOGRAPHER PETER Paul Harnisch examines the plight
of premature babies in his exhibition, On the Edge of Life, at
the Park Roya! Hotel, Sunday, Nov. 7, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

with mo

Photo Keith Carter

JIMMIE DALE Gilmore gets two more of Butch Hancock's songs.
on his latest recording, plus a duet with Lucinda Williams. |...”

His voice still sparks. Producer
Phil Ramone gets an awesome ses-
sion from the sharp orchestra.

Not all of the pairings work on
the same level. Barbra over-
powers. The phrasing is a tad
clumsy when Bono and Frank do
I’ve Got You Under My Skin,
much like the way David Bowie
and Bing ‘‘Der Bingle’’-Crosby
doing the Christmas thing all those
years ago didn’t quite work. ;

The show-stopping standouts:
The Lady is a Tramp with Luther
Vandross, New York, New York
with Tony Bennett and They Can’t
Take That Away From Me with -
Natalie Cole. Coty

For the better part, Duets is
loaded with classy grooves.

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