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robert gordon |
| Reviewed
by DC Larson |
| Of
the 3 limited-issue live CDs recently released by Robert and
Climate Control, "Lotta Lovin'" covers the earliest years, 1977 --
1983. The disc features two of the guitar celebrities who've joined
with the singer, Link Wray and Danny Gatton. During the mid-70s, new punk savages stormily renounced the overblown and painstakingly-placid "rock" product relentlessly streaming from the corporate studio contrivance. Throwing off status quo bondage, they purposefully sifted valuable influences from dreck, eagerly producing a new creature. (Which in many ways turned out to be the same basic and rudely rebellious rock'n'roll previously practiced by Elvis, Jagger, et al.) Robert's evocation of the originals, his at-once reverent and contemporary rephrasing of classics, fit neatly the punk era's return to three-minute songs. "Lotta Lovin's" first 15 cuts (with Wray) include covers Robert would make his own -- "Flying Saucer Rock'n'Roll," and "Red Cadillac And A Black Moustache" -- plus the smoldering slow-burn, "Fire." (That tune, of course, had been penned specifically for Robert by fan Bruce Springsteen.) Classics "Boppin' The Blues," "My Baby Left Me," and "Lonesome Train On A Lonesome Track" were transformed by Robert and Link into modern powerhouses, easily the audio equals of spiky-haired contemporaries. Two band line-ups appear in the Wray tracks. Bassists Jon Paris and Wild Buffalo Bill share duty. Guitarist Jerry Matthews fills out several tracks. And drummers Howie Wyeth and Anton Fig are here, too. The atmosphere was electric, as the topical air of musical revolution combined with the lasting vitality of vintage rock'n'roll. It was stormy and it was bracing; it was both old and new. And it mattered. By 1980, the Robert Gordon Band had made key personnel changes. "Lotta Lovin's" cuts 16-29 capture the singer in action with the crew from his final RCA LP, "Are You Gonna Be The One?" |
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This roster was more innovatively
country-jazz in its interpretations. Whereas the earlier group had
favored engagingly-boisterous rocking, this combo allowed Robert yet
another opportunity for artistic bloom. Chestnuts "Ubangi Stomp," "Cruisin'," and "Lotta Lovin'" left the gate with ears laid back, tearing over the heads of flabbergasted audience members. Also on the setlist were several tracks from the new LP. "Look Who's Blue," "Are You Gonna Be The One," "Drivin' Wheel," "Lover Boy," and radio sensation, "Someday Someway" all soar high with grit. Often stepping to the fore, of course, was Telecaster legend Danny Gatton. Spinning leads of shimmering gold from raw influential materials, he alternated breath-stealing note flurries with elegant and tasteful ruminations. Like Danny, the other players maintained cool precision, bringing to each song an intuitive grasp allowing for free-range sampling of moods, bents, and dialects. Guitarist Lance Quinn, bassist Tony Garnier, and drummer Shannon Ford acquitted themselves admirably; their force and directness made for a presentation up to any competitor's challenge. "We were never a 50s act," Robert told interviewer Bruce Pilato, in 1996. "We were always a contemporary band. It was never designed to be a retro act. We just played off that rockabilly sound." Robert's music has always rung with the joyous abandon of youth everlasting, an intoxication that spurns the sobriety of maturation. Which, come to think of it, was rock'n'roll's charm from the start. |
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David "DC" Larson is the CD Review Editor for Rockabilly Magazine. His freelance pieces on music have appeared in Goldmine, Rock&Rap Confidential, No Depression, and Blue Suede News. |
