BOBBY BLAND: MEMPHIS MONDAY MORNING
(1998)
1) I'm Bobby B; 2) I Don't
Want No Kickin' In My Stall; 3) There's A Rat Loose In My House; 4) The Truth
Will Set You Free; 5) Memphis Monday Morning; 6) I'm Glad; 7) My Baby Is The
Only One; 8) I Hate Missin' You; 9) You Left Me With The Blues; 10) Lookin' For
Some Tush.
Very little unpredictable stuff here, either.
The punch is in Bobby's age — he cut this at the age of 69, and he still snorts
it out the same way he did thirty years ago. In fact, at this point he even
allows himself a bit of straightforward swagger, opening the album with the
uptempo cut ʽI'm Bobby Bʼ, written and performed in the
been-there-done-that-licked-'em-all manner that is so typical of old school R&B
artists, but, let us admit that honestly, had rarely, if ever, appeared previously
on a Bobby B record. So if, at 69, he finally yields to the temptation of
calling himself the greatest, let him. Anybody who does not turn to liquid shit
at that age deserves a little self-flattery, and Memphis Monday Morning has the man going as strong as ever.
The songs do tend to drag — particularly the
title track, creeping at a snail's pace for almost nine minutes, not to mention
that its late evening vibe, lounge piano and sunset trumpet romanticism
included, does not particularly well agree with the word «morning» in the
title. Some of the generic blues-de-luxe numbers, like ʽThere's A Rat Loose In
My Houseʼ, also go on for absurdly long time periods, although it could be said
that Bobby's band, after all these years, simply gels together so well that it
makes them reluctant to stop.
But on the positive side, the whole album has
but one blues ballad (ʽTruth Will Set You Freeʼ), and it is a good one, with sparse,
but clever brass arrangements and an atmosphere that seems totally lifted off
from some early Solomon Burke torch song. In fact, if possible, the entirety of
Memphis Monday Morning sounds more
retro and oblivious to «modern blues standards» than any previously released
Malaco recording — which is great news for Bobby, even if it does surmise surreptitiously
rewriting old classics: ʽMy Baby Is The Only Oneʼ, for instance, lifts its main
vocal / instrumental melody directly from Sam Cooke's ʽTwistin' The Night
Awayʼ. But there is no way we could use this a pretext for incrimination: at
this point, Bobby B. has nothing left to prove, nor do his resident
songwriters.
That said, the last two tracks of the album
seem like last-minute additions that do
try to prove something new. ʽYou Left Me With The Bluesʼ switches the mood from
«old school R&B» to «new school R&B», with programmed beats, looped
funky leads, synthesizers (which were previously dormant), and even a few
forced «ughs!» from the man. It isn't nauseatingly bad, but it does spoil the
overall feeling a bit. But the real
surprise is the short and surprisingly kick-ass (hard rock riffage and all)
cover of ZZ Top's ʽTushʼ — a style that Bobby B. had never before approached in
his whole life, and for a 69-year old guy, he tackles it with more gusto than
could be expected. So why didn't this guy try on some authentic rock'n'roll
shoes decades ago? Or, at the very least, offered his services as lead vocalist
for Grand Funk Railroad?..
Check "Memphis Monday Morning" (MP3) on Amazon
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