THE CHRISTGAU CONSUMER GUIDE
Paul Anka: “Anka” (United Artists). Sure it’s a cute little single, but the rest of the album is the usual abortion. C minus. Bobby Bland: “Dreamer” (Dunhill). A pop blues primer featuring refabricated intros worthy of Three Dog Night and prefabricated songs worthy of Bobby Bland.
THE CHRISTGAU CONSUMER GUIDE
Robert Christgau
by
Paul Anka: “Anka” (United Artists). Sure it’s a cute little single, but the rest of the album is the usual abortion. C minus.
Bobby Bland: “Dreamer” (Dunhill). A pop blues primer featuring refabricated intros worthy of Three Dog Night and prefabricated songs worthy of Bobby Bland. Highlight: “Yolanda,” by the same guy who wrote “My Maria” and “Shambala” — only this one’s about a red Cadillac woman in Charleston, S.C. A minus.
Joe Cocker: “I Can Stand a Little Rain” (A&M). If Jim Price were a producer worthy of the artist, or even of the artist’s memory, he would have asked Jerry Lee Lewis to play piano instead of Nicky Hopkins. Not that Jerry Lee could replace Chris Stainton, who on Cocker’s previous lp, supposedly a piece of stop-gap, not only defined the man’s rock and roll but combined with him to write more good songs than all of Hollywood’s finest produced for this make-work project. C plus.