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Lizard King himself. Who else but burton or yean, and they shouldn t be written off just established by his Ant two. taking the con -
cause they opted for a boob tube slot and the
Jimbo would have the nerve to actually begin
a song with the line " WTiatehew gonru do. ichlock- hunpy dinnerxhow denizen * of the cept of a studio-created experience (Words
and M U M ) and backing away toward the
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mama, now that the roast beefs gone? " (Eat Sahara and CICUI ' I Palace. Lotsa rock- type simple components of a supportive band. The
pork. dork 9 Ed.) Then he actually has the itan have to take that route when they run primary difference, however, is hts singing,
gall in the course of hts rant to list every last out of riffs. Dann d»d it. Darren did it. even which now features a confidence and control
way that the American Woman just totally Anka Shmanka did it. and Sonny Bono had the Ant two records lacked. On those albums ,
wibmits to and serves him. and proceeds to deeper RAR roots than all of them. Hadn ' t he he tended to concentrate on his established
dump on her for " messing your mind ’ Man. co- authored the flipside of "Bony Moronic. " areas of expertise - songwnting and arranging
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that ts true punk ( You thould knowf - Ed. )I and wasn ' t he. along with Jack " Specs * ' - and Letters becomes the Arst expression of
that 1 } so fucked up it's got class up the ass. Nitriche and Julius "Baja Marimba Band " a complete performer.
knd on lop of all that, he 's getting into some Wechter. listed as a percussionist on the back This album, paradoxically. Is both Webb ’s
great, lazy, uncontrolled scat singing and he of all those Specter albums * ' must commercial and in some ways his least
If nothing else. Sonny Bono ought to go
plays harmonica hettci than anybody ibct down as a premier mid- accessable. It is uperfictally hts least
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Keith Relf. (’SOSHWW - E f X ) Sixties pop showman complex, partially attributable to the fact
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In case you wondered ahout the drug in the pand style. His ’ 65 6R hits, neatly dttt for the Ant time production
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commercial , it ' s in a song called " T ruckin ' Off repackaged in this ciever twofer. represented coordiantion was given oxer to outside hands.
Across the Sky. the mam character of which an era when some of the shiniest candy rock But what the presence of Larry * Mirkshw//y
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is the Grim Reaper. There he is. head ansi gems ever spun coancd through the transistor all about is convenience , freeing Webb from
shoulders looming over yonder MuA ( Thti soul of teenage America. Outside of Bob the burden of playing at performer and
one* - EJJ , grinning, arms outstretched Crewe 's l-our Seasons and the Walker Bros , producer simultaneously, allowing him to
holding bags of you know- what. (So. what?- and maybe Apnl A Nino ' s "AU Strung Out, " channel his fullest energies into himself. Con-
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Ed.) Positively the best drug song of 1972. who else was carrying the sweet Spector torch sequently this b an intensely personal album,
And this may well be the best live album of in those days if it wasn ' t Mr. A Mrs. Bono and and demands time and energy from the
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the year. Tuck all them old dudes wearing " I Got You Babe," "Why Don ' t They Let Us listener. As the title indicates, it ' s as if he s
speaking on a one to one level.
their hip tastes on their sJeevex: get this and Fal in Lose. " and "Baby Don ' t Go " ?
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play it loud and be the first on your Mock to Mott the Hoople prosed conclusively how Though the central instrument b hb
become a puMic nuisance. vital his pioneer ego rock protest in "Laugh
One WTK> Knows At Me" was to the whole fantastic canon of
Dylaruzed rock. And Sonny was right there
where he evidently belonged, setting preteen
fashions with the supercool Cher, mixing the
Crystals with McGuinn and Dylan, churning
out highly imaginative AM folk- rock bulk
alongside P.K Sloan. Barry * McGuire and the
Turtles , even making the covers of Time.
Sewtweek and Hit Parader next to Bob
Dylan. So he musl ' vc mattered. In the minds
of lots of kids, he probably wi equally as
important as Dylan and Lennon.
n
And if his rock ' ' roll life is ended. Sonny
Bono al least had the good taste to remove hts
rotting corpse from plain view, which is far
more than can be said for either the tam-
bourine man or the Intellectual Beatle.
Most of the hits, and some lesser known
dandies, are here: " I Got You Babe. " The
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Beat Goes On. " "You Don ' t Love Me. " * The
Letter. " "Little Man. " Just what you always piano, Webb gets fine support from a band
wanted, relevant history and fun. consisting of Treddle Tackett (a guitarist
Gene Sculatti whose name youII all know within a year ),
bassist Skip Mosher and drummer Ray Rich.
THE TWO OF US
SONNY ft CHER His biggest asset may be his sister Sunn, who
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ATCO LETTERS has one of the purest voices you 11 ever hear
JIMMY WEBB and could probaMy charm even the gruffest
"Like Sotmy Bono will nerer know HHET REPRISE New York cab dmer just by humming a few
happened when i/ ’ r oil orer. He U nerer know bare Fvcrything is designed to bring out the
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best in Webb, and he delivers with a con-
why it happened, hrroute he didn ' t know Over the last four years. I’ve suffered some
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what happened to moke It happen. So he of the worst abuse and harassment imaginable sistency which could only be the result of a
won 't know whot happened to moke It foil. ” simply because of my insistence that Jimmy PCJTER self knowledge.
Phil Spector. Rolling Stone interview Webb is the best songwriter in the W ' estern " Simile " is Indicative of his expanded
Hemisphere. At parties - the few I ’ d get approach to the love songs he ' s long been a
How come nobody ever got around to invited to - the room would get silent and master of: the melodies are drawn out to
debating the pros and cons of Sonny Bono nervous every time I made a move toward the accomodate more exploratory emotion, the
being a genius? Lots of people have enjoyed stereo. High energy zombies would sneer lyrical roads have more curves , but always
writing him off all down the Une. Spector s through their pentagrams and recite ominous lead home. Though his vehicles might now be
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interpretation of him as a has-been rock star passages from Black Sabbath. Tven the more varied the sentiments they convey never
who got lucky once, came in 1969 and has laid-back set offered Utile sympathy: l ‘ d get fail to strike the most responsive human
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since been joined by a chorus of lesvflattenng treated Uke a member of the chess team at chords. ' Hurt Me Well. for example, sounds
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derisions as the years pile up. Sonny ' s stock football practice. Well, the time has come at tunes almost Uke a parody of the kind of
has peaked and dipped sevcial times since he again for all you non bclseven to load your Mind hurt song it succeeds so well at being.
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and his child bride burst onto the bellbottOftM big guns Letters has given me all the Some songs * Xamp de Fncino " and
and bearskin scene in 1965 on the coattails of ammunition 1 11 need to make similar claims “Once in the Morning " - give off a satirical
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something termed "folk- rock. " for Jimmy Webb as a performer, and this time glow ( though Otcy ' ve as much to do with Just
Which is to say. Sonny A Cher have been you ' re going to And it exceptionally hard to plain fun as satire ) and act as an effective
responsible for some thoroughly likeable pop disapee with me. change of pace. It says a lot that Webb now
presentations , period classics even, over the Letters continues the de- escalation pattern has the confidence to go back and do a song
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