ROCK · A · RAMA
GRAHAM PARKER AND THE RUMOUR —Stick To Me (Mercury)::Graham Parker's enshrined status as rock critics' teacher's pet of 1976 is wearing a bit thin now that punk-plunk is rapidly replacing those tarnished old (recent?) Springsteen ikons, but this is still a solid, rewarding album, whatever fashion's going down.
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ROCK · A · RAMA
GRAHAM PARKER AND THE RUMOUR —Stick To Me (Mercury)::Graham Parker's enshrined status as rock critics' teacher's pet of 1976 is wearing a bit thin now that punk-plunk is rapidly replacing those tarnished old (recent?) Springsteen ikons, but this is still a solid, rewarding album, whatever fashion's going down. Parker's exposition of modern urban romanticism, without the automatic validation of an enclosed lyric sheet, is some kind of achievement in itself, these post-literate days. Besides, everybody tells me that this sounds almost interchangeable with Elvis Costello (and so it does!), so Graham's ride on the New Wave hasn't wiped out yet.
R.R.
PAUL NICHOLAS (RSO)::The success of Leo Sayer's simper-rock really started something,' didn't it? Now we've got Paul Nicholas, another adenoidal Anglo, whose hit 45, "Heaven On The 7th Floor", aspires to the lofty profundity of the Sylvers. Hey, you could've written this bio yourself, kidsy hasn't every other gratuitous solo-singer debut of the past season been by an alumnus of "the London productions of Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar"? How many thousand versions of those clunkers did the bloody Limeys put on, anyhow?
R.R.
STEVE GIBBONS BAND—Caught In The Act (MCA):: Because he's something of a grizzled veteran and because his band plays pre-metal rock 'n' roll, Gibbons has been touted as an English Bob Seger but shoved up against Live Bullet, this concert set kinda wilts. The playing is OK but Gibbons has trouble establishing an identity, despite a few first-rate originals. His chameleon-like vocal abilities make his covers competent but adding nothing of note to his own tunes. Side two gets rollin' after a slow start but Gibbons never rises above the level of, in his own words, "one of the boys."
M.D.
BOZ SCAGGS—Down Two Then Left (Columbia)::Sat. nite, 8:00, Channel 2—Sea Hunt (Adventure). Boz develops water-on-thebrain, and the doc tells him he's all washed up. Boz: Regis Philbin.
R.H.
CHICK COREA^A.R.C. (ECM)::This trio (Corea, bassist Dave Holland, percussionist Barry Altschul) recording is a newly released Jan. '71 session which places it nine months after the Blue Note Song of Singing session by the same trio and one month before the famous Circle recording (same trio plus Anthony Braxton), also on ECM. The playing, then, is predictable in its singularity but the album is still up and overwhelming. As more of these preReturn To Forever albums surface, it becomes clearer why Corea abandoned this acoustic free form approach. Anyone this 'good can't be expected to play in the same context for any length of time without growing bored and restless. So there's hope yet that Corea will become interesting to listen to once again.
R.C.W.
KENNY AND THE KASUALS—Live At The Studio Club (Mark)::The insatiable craze for punk has gradually created a demand for the more obscure Sixties trash items. The recent re-releases of albums by the Stooges, the Dolls, MC5, and the Seeds (and even Nuggets) is evidence oi a trend in response to the New Wave fanaticism. Certainly, more unforeseeable goodies are being dusted off in preparation, primarily for the diets of young squirts who view pre-Black Sabbath as the Outer Limits. The re pressing of Kenny's & the K's LP, tho, is a landmark in punque nostalgia. The original is possibly the most sought after esoteric punk album in existence (only 500 copies were pressed). Why? When you hear it, the reason is obvious. Kenny's Kasuals literally rip apart songs like "G loria," "All Day And All The Night," and "I'm Not Talking" with the enthusiasm of speedfreaks bent upon total destruction. IMPACT is the word for a band so legendary that their mystique has only been matched by the fabulous Trashmen.
R.H.
KEITH JARRETT—The Survivor's Suite (ECM)::This is, quite/ simply, Jarrett's best album since Fort Yawuh. It's the first ECM recording by this his Impulse quartet—Dewey Redman, tenor sax; Charlie Haden, bass; Paul Motian, percussion—and, as the title implies, it's one long composition (50 mins.) with several engaging motifs, a lot of passion and ECM's impeccable production values. If you've been put off by Jarrett's more ambitious projects, or better yet, if you've only heard of Jarrett and wonder what all the fuss is about, then this is definitely the album to get.
R.C.W.
BABY GRAND (Arista)::These guys claim the Rascals as an influence, but they must have been an oblique one—I can't find any evidence of the Rascals' Ragu-rock anywhere on this LP. No, wait, I've got it now, Baby Grand are to contemporary black pop what the Rascals were to the real black soul of their day: upfront white interpreters. Trouble is, Gamble & Huff don't begin to approach the stature of the transcendent role-models Wilson Pickett and Smokey Robinson used to furnish to us breathless honkies. So if synthesized, neosoul pleasures of the mind, and facile romanticism a la BillyJoel are your "bag" (q.v.), feel free to pick up on Baby Grand. Softrock for swinging singles, for Chrtssake!
R.R.
PAT TRAVERS—Putting It Straight (Polydor):: This ain't quite the rowdy rampage that Makin' Magic was, but it doesn't fall far short. Travers tosses in a couple of ballads here, a sure-shot sax man there, but it's still his frantic fretflash that makes the album move. Guitar heroes may be a dime a dozen these days but Pat is one brat who deserves his place in the pack.
M.D.
This month's Rock-a-ramas were written by Richard Riegel, Robot Hull, Michael Davis and Richard C. Walls.
