ROCK-A-RAMA

ROCK-A-RAMA

JOHN DENVER - Greatest HRs (RCA):: Ah Johnny, you've done the country proud. Toe head boy with cheeks of tan. John’s beeming bespectacled face with spacious white gleemles covers the album like a smiling tushie. Meanwhile, besides being a collection of everything you’ve heard, it's an enjoyable album. Professionally so. The album is definitely structured John Denver. Try listening to the B side first. The first cut on that side, "The Eagle and The Hawk," is an attack on Neal Livingston Diamond. From there on it's serious John, pondering John, romping John and goodbyeing John. His music has been the hottest thing for Denver since tuberculous. So just lay back, put some straw in your mouth and breathe through your teeth until you produce a whistle.

THE CAPTAIN MATCHBOX WHOOPEE BAND || Smoke Dreams (ESP)::' Captain Matchbox, you Ought a sit right down and Witte /yourskf a.better. 1 suggest that any movement in time with the music is an indication of tremors. Nevertheless, a fine collection of 30s — 40$ music and a poor way for seven people to support themselves.

BABE RUTH A mar Caballero (Harvest):: At last, old Sergio Mendez and Rotary Connection tans can find a common meeting the most litcial sense. 11 you don’t like Dan Hicks, then for sure you won't like this, but Amo* Caballero does entertain a similarity. So nett time You’re entertaining similarities, by all means, play this. Amazingly, the first cut on the second side is "Cool Jerk," totally out of place in relation to the entire album, but a c«»od reminder of where to keep the record itself in relation to your collection. : '• • /

DARIN r 1936 - 1973 (Motown);: i never really liked Bobby Darin 'when he was alive. 1 And I dislike even J Wlut’s His Name albums. I’m surprised a portion of the coffin isn’t enclosed in each copy. When "Mack The Knife” was popular 11 think most of the world was suffering fiom deep emotional problems. But to paraph)ase the greedv album notes. Bobby, thank you for being. *. (and not being). .

AtLEE WILLIS - Ch&btar (Epic);; Thanks to Bette Midler, tlie targe-tit ted young ] whincy syndrome has struck otherwise overw ight quasi-yiddish songstresses Mice Willis ■ from Detroit, the home qf the Wonder and ihe Gaye and the Willis, both Ghildst.u and Jeep. The album initially asks you to like It* ^Judy Garland kind of drool and finally begs you to like it cause Allee is so lily and her hair is so curly and growing up

DAVID. WERNER - Whizz KM (RCA);; Remember in Clockwork Orange where they watch and kept giving him electric shocl^s? Well, the san^^i^mg'JmP1pened in reverse to Davio Werner, except the films they showed him were reruns of The mfcady Bunch. Music for noxiou s pleasure. '"

CSJARliB RIGH - iv$& Reaped (Mercury):: Well, before he rose to the top of the country charts. Charlie Rich had one of the most devoted cult followings amend* Those 1 fans that don’t date back to "Lonely Weekends’* on Sun discovered him through "Mo^h&i? Sam??'end" New Sides -o/ ] ! Charlie Rich in the mid-60s. That and his other smash album make up this reissue ■; package, and it’s amazing music, sort of ; country rhythm and blues, but really defying j ;' categorization. Two of his ba$t vocal performj anees ever. "You Can Have Her" and "1 Can't Go On." Even Charlie hkex these ret oids, and *; ' 15

BARRY GOLDBERG (Atco):: A pleasant surprise from mm of the white blues pioneers, Barry’s been collaborating with Gerry Got tin lately, and his songs me mostly mainstream j pop and uptown rhythm and blues. Bob Dylan co-produced and smgs background on a j few cuts. A warm, solid album that you may find giowing on you the way onh such unassuming music can.

g||l JKETTES - Gold and Artists):: Do you suppose that suwe hna started turning into such a grotesque parody Of her former seif Ike baa been intentionally ' hiring inferior Ikettes just so there wouldn’t be ' ;*, any chance -of upstaging her?

THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP - Living in a Bad Street (Vertigo):: Journeyman loik from the bloke who brought you Stevie Winwood and has spent the rest of lux career ] trying to establish an identity as something ,other than “ the Stevie Winwood." Nothing here to match the ; surging power of the original Davis group, but I j it done ! recently. You cam 14 do worse than to give

MERLE HAGGARD X.0/WeV Makr It |||^trough December (Capitol):: Uh oh, now I |f he's* really gone and done it. Merle sounds just | H like any of a dozen hack singer-songwriters on this one - no small feat considering what a rough edge some of these Bongs bad in theq? I original versions.

LUMUMBA (A&M):: This is to Nigerian i? High-Life music what i|erb T^uaa Brass — no, Julius WechterVBaja Marimba Band — was to mariachi. Nice* The liner notes include "special thanks to the late Dr. Kwame Nkiumah"7 Who's pimping who'?

MIKE VERNON - Moment of Madness (Sire) :: MICHAEL FENNELLY - Lane Changer (Epic):: Just a short while back, anytime somebody made a nitty song (album's worth) that had an appropriate mixture ol \ ocal swell and actual care in the accompanying music thereof (without it hurting a bit that the moolah noteha foundouus rocked it on out a emerge too), all the Seeis would run to make their shouts heaid about - TUP. NLW BEATLES - (historical note: The focus Oft search tor the new Beatles came alter the search for the -new Dylan discovered its* several known* and nobody gave a big hairy shit - likewise. I’m sure),. Neither of these tW'o mickiex is the new Beatles ’cause there is only one of each of them and besides that, they don’t want to be the now Beatles, anyway. What you got here-is (wo prospective sfeepeis to fuel 74\ already more than prospective joys. .Vernon has the edge on grit*, l-ennelly has the edee on production wonderfuls.

JAMES VINCENT - Culmination (Columbia):: Nobody is likely to believe it because of James Vincent has something really new to say with his guitar that makes for « jarrbo hump, that though different than same, is at excellent as Gil Lvanx* recent Seengati on Atlantic. Maybe even better ’cause Vincent is. like ice cream. .1 - -

BADFINGER - Warner Boys):: OH .pity’s the of being Mst out jn the run, when the your brain, and y ou think that you’re insane, but you’re really not to blame, because you farted. In other words, just like the man said, the xerox approach is dead this year. Nobody’s lookim: foi the new Beatles this year, just as nobody was looking for the new Dylan last year (see above). Still, friends, this is a damned good Badfinger albqnt in the selfsame spirit of its past. »f you sfiU care,

. ID; JO GUNNE - Jumpin’ The Gratae (Asylum):: Solid, solid rode in the true sense. And Jo Jo Gunne could easily become the American Mott if Jay Ferguson begins to appreciate, lathci than run from, the fact that he was in SpMt fr^cellence from the pa$0/

SPINNERS— Mighty Love (Atlantic);; The question isn’t why this ex-Mo town’s group's second Atlantic album is so lacklustre, it’s why their first was so good. The answer hinges on producer Thom Be8, treated them as an ensemble, shoring them up with dense arrangements (and backup singers) they had hits. Here, he gives them sparser wrangenaents, and the songs rely on solo lyoicei As with the O’Jays, whose second Bell-production suffered from many of the same fiaws, the material isn’t veiy good, ei ther, and mediocrity is the penalty* '

THE DiLL^XVk.''' flffi ' (C^det);: This is a great Mea: two five-'malt; squads, back-to-back, with a basketball motif. (The music’s ail right too.) Next, why not have Crowbar play Guess Who for the rock ’ft* re® Si.mley Cup? Only five persons each? Easy,, add Jam Mitchell, and Nall Young as goalies. - X, -!v - ‘ , i