Music for Grownups Reviews: Dr. John, Sam Phillips
By: Richard Gehr | Source: AARP.org | 2008-06-03
Richard Gehr is a veteran music critic based in New York City.
Dr. John and the Lower 911
"City That Care Forgot"
429 Records
Although he currently resides in Long Island, N.Y., few musicians have been as closely identified with New Orleans as Dr. John (aka Mac Rebennack) has. On "City That Care Forgot," the gravel-voiced singer- pianist blends angry observations on Katrina and its aftermath with a rich, soulful sound. The result may be the funkiest protest album since Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On." Dr. John condemns bureaucratic ineptitude in "Promises, Promises" (alongside Willie Nelson), questions the new fees associated with traditional funeral marches in "My People Need a Second Line," and reassumes his voodoo “Night Tripper” persona for "Dream Warrior." Anyone still mystified by how a city of such historical and cultural importance as New Orleans could be allowed to die may be surprised by some of Dr. John's uneasy answers.
Sam Phillips
"Don't Do Anything"
Nonesuch
The title track praises a lover for just being. That same simplicity pervades much of this former Christian pop singer's seventh secular album. Phillips is married to producer T Bone Burnett, who borrowed one of the album's best songs, the beautiful and brokenhearted "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us," for Robert Plant and Alison Krauss's recent hit album, “Raising Sand.” Partners never quite get together in imagistic songs such as "Under the Night" and "Watching Out of This World," which she fragments further with surprisingly unfinished arrangements. Electric guitars rumble, drums thud, and strings wind around Phillips's dry, unadorned vocals. Call it music for the new austerity.
"City That Care Forgot"
429 Records
Although he currently resides in Long Island, N.Y., few musicians have been as closely identified with New Orleans as Dr. John (aka Mac Rebennack) has. On "City That Care Forgot," the gravel-voiced singer- pianist blends angry observations on Katrina and its aftermath with a rich, soulful sound. The result may be the funkiest protest album since Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On." Dr. John condemns bureaucratic ineptitude in "Promises, Promises" (alongside Willie Nelson), questions the new fees associated with traditional funeral marches in "My People Need a Second Line," and reassumes his voodoo “Night Tripper” persona for "Dream Warrior." Anyone still mystified by how a city of such historical and cultural importance as New Orleans could be allowed to die may be surprised by some of Dr. John's uneasy answers.
Sam Phillips
"Don't Do Anything"
Nonesuch
The title track praises a lover for just being. That same simplicity pervades much of this former Christian pop singer's seventh secular album. Phillips is married to producer T Bone Burnett, who borrowed one of the album's best songs, the beautiful and brokenhearted "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us," for Robert Plant and Alison Krauss's recent hit album, “Raising Sand.” Partners never quite get together in imagistic songs such as "Under the Night" and "Watching Out of This World," which she fragments further with surprisingly unfinished arrangements. Electric guitars rumble, drums thud, and strings wind around Phillips's dry, unadorned vocals. Call it music for the new austerity.
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