Who the hell is Robert Gordon?
By H. Joseph Johnson
 
Once upon a time, a very long time ago, I had a job. Because of circumstances that prohibited me from being close to where I worked, I had a hellish commute. At the time, I was married with two children, going to college, and holding down a full time job. Life was hectic, but because I was young enough not to know any better, I was able to maintain a steady course.
 
I lived in rural, Northern Virginia and worked in Washington, D.C., so I was on the road a lot in my 1976 Honda Civic (gas crisis, you know). This was a "basic" mode of transportation, to say the least, but I did afford myself one luxury item: an AM/FM radio.
 
Since my commute was over an hour (one way), I'd listen to the radio quite a bit. One of my favorite FM channels played "oldies" exclusively. One day, their format changed and they began to play Country. Now, please don't get me wrong, I was brought up on Country Music and it's part of fondest memories of my parents, as the jukebox in their road house was filled with nothing but what was then known as "Hillbilly Music". The music coming out of Nashville in the late 70's was about as appealing to me as the music coming out of Nashville now, so I went in search of another radio station.
 
I happened upon a college station from American University (WHFS), that played what would later be called "Progressive Rock" or "Alternative Rock". This included music from the emerging Punk scene. The DJ (a very savvy young man with the moniker "Weasel") would play a record, say by the Stray Cats and then play a record from the '40s, '50's, or early '60's that would show a variation on a theme that the new artists "borrowed" from the original. I found this absolutely fascinating.
 
During one of my trips, Weasel played Sanford Clark's "The Fool" (which happened to be written by the late Lee Hazelwood). Now, Clark had an unusual voice and the song was kind of a narrative. You know, "a good beat and I like to dance to it" kind of a song. After Clark's version was done, Weasel said something to the effect, "And here's a cut off of a new album by DC's own Robert Gordon, doin' 'The Fool'". After a few seconds of Gordon's version, the only thing I could think of is "Who in the hell is Robert Gordon? And, where can I find this album!!!!!!!".
 
Since the music of the day was the damnable and intellect numbing "disco" and because I lived in a rural area, Gordon's album was impossible to find. One day, Weasel came to my rescue and after playing another cut (Red Hot) off Gordon's album, he said that another local boy, Link Wray, was on guitar and you could buy this and many other records heard on his show at your local Penguin Feather record stores located around the area. He gave the address and phone number to one that was located in Fairfax. Since I was attending college in Fairfax, I searched this store out and lo and behold, it was RIGHT ON MY WAY TO SCHOOL AND IT STAYED OPENED UNTIL 9PM ON WEEKDAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Many purchases were made by me at the Penguin Feather and I soon became a life long fan of not only Robert Gordon, but Dave Edmunds, Los Straightjackets, Billy Hancock, and others. But, whenever these artists would come to the Washington, DC area to perform, I was either working, going to school, or raising children.
 
Well, by the time I retired (February 2001), my children were adults and on their own, I was divorced, I had a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Business Administration, a government pension, and a bevy of co-dependent girlfriends who liked to go to concerts.
 
Through the years, I looked for Robert Gordon to perform in the area, but I was out of luck. That was before October 7th, 2007 when I went to FINALLY see Robert Gordon perform live. The venue was at The State Theater in Falls Church, Virginia and it was a very intimate and cozy place to sit and enjoy live music. On the same bill were Billy Hancock and Eddie Angel. I had asked one of my co-dependent girlfriends to join me, but she thought it was a better idea to go horseback riding the day before the concert and get bucked off, breaking both feet and ankles. I was heartbroken, but I wasn't foot broken, so I rounded up a friend of mine to use my co-dependent girlfriend's ticket, that I, so generously, bought for her.
 
Now, I'm not going to go into how the concert went because anyone reading this on Robert Gordon's website KNOWS how the concert went! It made me a memory that I will never forget. What I want to write about is Gordon's talent and professionalism.
 
Going to see a concert at a stadium or coliseum, in my humble opinion, NOT live music. If you are not among the first 12 rows of screaming and jumping people you are NOT going to see anything except the "Jumbotron" and there are too many ways that the music can be "electronically enhanced", you know, like LIP-SINCING!!
 
Robert Gordon, like others of his talent and generation, want to share what they can give or convey to an audience and want the audience to have the experience of being a part of the live performance. That's what a talent like Robert Gordon does. Yes, he gets paid for what he does and yes, that is the way he makes his living, but he's working very cheap for what passion he gives in a performance, what he gives up for his time in traveling, and what time he can never get back with his friends and family.
 
Gordon may be categorized as a "retro-act" or "nostalgia act" by the main stream media. This is not the case, at all. Gordon, like Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Solomon Burke, and Patsy Cline are music interpretors. In other words, they can take a song, even one that has become a commercial hit by another artist, and interpret it in a way that makes the song stand out due to the talent, vocalization, and artistry of the singer. As an example, Conway Twitty did "It's Only Make Believe", one of the most UNDERAPPRECIATED records in popular music. Robert Gordon did his version is this song, as well. Twitty's version was a teen-age lament to unrequited love (there was a lot of that going around back then). Gordon's version is an apocalyptic, heart breaking, emotional tragedy set to music. The two records are the same, but there is NO comparison to the two different versions. There's the Twitty version and the Gordon version; they're separate and distinct.
 
Gordon's DVD "Rockin' the Paradiso" is a good example of one of his recent performances. He goes through a veritable list of songs from the past that should have been number one hits and should have been HIS number one hits! "Sea of Heartbreak", "Little Boy Sad", "Dreamin'", these were all great songs when they were first released almost 50 years ago, but Gordon sets fire to them, bringing them up to date and as fresh as a Frenchman riding a bus full of schoolgirls.
 
Why Robert Gordon is not as popular as a hundred other lesser talents is a wonderment. His voice is on the same plain as Tom Jones. His vocal style can be as smooth as 25 year old single malt Scotch and as rough as the explosion inside a dual-quad Chrysler hemi-head engine. So, what gives? Business decisions, luck, location, location, location? That's all in the past and if you look back long enough, your chin will get stuck between your shoulder blades.
 
As a music appreciator, a live concert goer, and record buyer, I just want to say "thank you" to Robert Gordon for keeping popular music alive and new. As long as Robert Gordon performs, this music will never become old, never become antiquated, and will never, ever die.