Juke Box Jury

Juke Box Jury

BY GREG SHAW

The Next Soul Giant? Meet Jimmy Cliff

March 21

It’s been so long since an R&B record of any kind really knocked me out that I’d almost forgotten the feeling. I don’t know if purists would class reggae with soul music, but when I hear Jimmy Cliff all I can think of is early Curtis Mayfield, Smokey Robinson and Sam Cooke; and that’s good enough for me. I think we are witnessing in Cliff the emergence of a truly great black singer, clearly in a league with the above-named. Soul, before it meant slick singing and vapid production (with obvious exceptions like the O’Jays I’m thinking here mainly of A1 Green and his ilk) had something to do with feeling, and that’s one commodity Jimmy Cliff has in abundance.

Alert readers will remember Jimmy from “Wonderful World, Beautiful People” (A&M 1146) in 1969 and those fortunate enough to have picked up on “Viet Nam” (A&M 1167) don’t need to be told how expressive Cliff’s singing can be, nor how his records seem to have a vitality, a certain bounce and fullness of sound, that few reggae singers can match. Why do you think Johnny Nash tries harder?

Jimmy Cliff’s new single is “The Harder They Come” / “You Can Get It If You Really Want” (Mango 7500), the two theme songs from his astonishing film The Harder They Come. This record ought to be number one, immediately. And stay there for three months. Then it should be flipped and go through the whole thing again. I don’t care how many records the Move, Bowie and Mott the Hoople put out; this is what people should be hearing, right now. It would be an insult to try and describe this music in the limited space I have, and you can’t get at it with’ words anyway; it’s a feeling and I’m hooked.

Three or four months ago I raved on at some length about a record called “Natural Man” / “Boogalooing Is For Wooing” by the Marcus Hook Roll Barld. The record has finally come out in the U.S. (on Capitol P-3505) but although it was a cover pick in Record World, nothing happened, of course. It’s still a magnificent record, though, and you should get it now while it’s available, if you like Angloid pop-rock and the Move/ Who/Mott the Hoople in particular.

Got some other British gems that aren’t out here as yet. A group by the name of F.B.I. has remade Boyce & Hart’s 1967 hit “I Wonder What She’s Doing Tonight” (not the Barry & the Tamerlanes song) and backed it with “The Boogaloo Boo-Boo” (A&M 7050). What’s this with boogaloo B-sides, anyway? A new trend? Not as frantic as the original, this is a nice heavy English bubblegum arrangement reminiscent of Daniel Boone but better orchestrated. Worth looking for.

Ditto goes for anything by the Sweet. I’ve been haunting my local import shop, and found half a dozen off things you can’t get in this country. You like Deep Purple at their rare best? That’s what the Sweet sounds like lately, only vastly more commercial. “Little Willy” (Bell 45,251) is no indication of what they can do, but since it’s still rising on the charts, their subsequent English hits haven’t come out here yet. Just give a listen to “Blockbuster” (RCA 2305) which is like “Jean Genie” reincarnated. And the fuzztonc police sirens add a lot. Bottom deck is even neater, a distillation of what made “Highway Star” great, called “Need A Lot of Lovin’.” Led Zeppelin should do this song, although they couldn’t do it aswell. It would be like the Raiders trying to outdo the Monkees, which I coulda told ’em wouldn’t work, but that’s all forgotten now, just as this will be in a few years.

While there’s time>, you should latch onto a copy of “Roll Over Beethoven” by the Electric Light Orchestra (UA 173), which is severely edited from the album version, coming out a much tighter, less redundant, more kinetic song that’s great for parties or mobile discos. What, no mobile disco in your town? Just hook a 2000 watt stereo up to a flatbed truck and you’re in business, playing all those marvelous sounds for the grateful pubes of your very own exurb. I’ll even sell you the records!

The first American Pennyfarthing release was great. The second, “Take Off” by Kentucky Freeway (55,001) is also good, sorta like a Sailcat with balls. It’s a long record, over four mintues, and the last half really rocks, with an electro-phased kazoo solo to top things off. Then there’s “Hey Lawdy Lawdy” by the Wackers (Elektra 45841) which has a B-side “I’m In Love” that’s not on any album. Quite good too. Flo & Eddie are off to a hot start with “Afterglow” (Reprise 1142), the old Small Faces song. A real fine pop record. Some weird bullfight music on the rear end, too.

If you ever see an album by the Rattles on Mercury, you should get it. One of the best albums of the English Invasion, and the Rattles did “Hippy Hippy Shake’ better than almost anyone. They’re still around too; had a single a couple of years ago that sounded like Uriah Heep. Now they’ve added a girl singer and sound like the Joy of Cooking jamming with Deep Purple and Amon Duul. Yeah, a lot of weird Germanic avant-rock is to be heard on “Devil’s Rock” (London 1947) but it’s a good rocking record. Stay around. Rattles.

Pagliaro’s latest is Lennon’s “Revolution” (Much 1015V. Canadian) and it ain’t much. Stick to Revolver stuff, Pag. My other fave Canadian group, Thundermug, also has a new platter out. “Orbit” (Axe 8) is not on their album and it’s much better than “Africa” and previous efforts. Somewhat startlingly, it strikes me that this is obviously what the Who ought to be sounding like these days. Remarkable resemblance.

Shocking Blue is back, and they haven’t changed. “Eve and The Apple” (MGM 14481) sounds just like “Venus.” Which is great of course . . . Robin Trower makes his 7-inch solo debut with “Man of the World” (Chrysalis 2008) and it’s a good start, a powerful Kongos-like record with fine guitar work. John Fogerty should be so lucky, although I haven’t heard “Hearts of Stone” yet. Kim Fowley is also back. He went to England to “do it again,” found a grthip called Atlas, honed up his Dylan/Ian Hunter voice and cut a fine album, from which “International Heroes” (Capitol P-3534) is the first single and an infinite improvement over “I’m Bad;” even if it does allude to “the teenage blues.”

Bobby Womack has reformed the Valentinos, his original group, and nowadays they sound kinda like the O’Jays, a rough but well-produced sound that I like. First release is “I Can Understand It, Pts. 1 & 2” (Clean 60005). The J. Geils Band,.those kooks, have put out a reggae single. And 1 ain’t kiddin’ this time the way I was with Gary Glitter (with whom Jimmy Page once played, by the way). “Give It To Me” (Atlantic 2953) is from the new album, and it’s just plain weird/

Jonathan King may fancy Himself the Mike Curb of England, but he’s got a lot to learn. Ricky Wilde is his Little Jimmy Osmond, and “April Love” (UK 49013) is a pretty pisspoor follow-up to “1 Am An Astronaut.” Which brings to mind Gary Glitter, who as of his latest, “Do You Wanna Touch Me?” (Bell 45,326) is also beginning to bore me. Oh well, he had his fifteen minutes.

A couple of good female vocal R&B records in Betty Lavette’s “Your Turn to Cry” (Atco 6913) and Honey Cone’s “If I Can’t Fly” (Hot Wax 7301). Nice revival of “A Thousand Miles Away” by the Kmprees (Produce 1810). Inez Andrews, longtime gospel/R&B singer, has another good one with I’m Free (Song Bird 1203). Irma Thomas is back after too long an absence with “She’ll Never Be Your Wife” (Fungus 15119) produced by Jerry Williams. Fenton Robinson’s got the blues again as he sings “Somebody Loan Me A Dime” (Seventy-Seven 122) and it sure beats Boz Scaggs. But then what wouldn’t?