Black 47 - Elvis Murphy's Green Suede Shoes (2005)

With Elvis Murphy's Green Suede Shoes Black 47 has flied out to the warning track. Their last two wonderful studio CDs, 2000's Trouble In The Land and last year's New York Town, were grand slam home runs so it is unfortunate that the band's latest falls short. Yet we shouldn't complain. Even Joe Dimaggios's hitting streak had to come to an end.

The problems are two-fold. Larry Kirwan's voice, which is often far from pleasant, was less troublesome on this disc's two predecessors because he compensated for it nicely. The second, and even bigger problem, is musically the band seems to have run out of ideas. While Kirwan is once again lyrically great, (The man can spin a yarn as well as Bob Dylan) the arrangements have become stale and repetitive. This CD's "Uncle Jim" is a dead ringer for their earlier "Czechoslovakia," and at certain points, "The Day They Set Jim Larkin Free" could be mistaken for their classic "James Connelly."

Another questionable Black 47 trait is the recycling of old songs on new releases. In the past the band re-recorded their old songs, updating the arrangements. This time out they didn't even bother to do that. Instead they lifted three songs wholesale off of Kirwan's solo CD Kilroy Was Here.

Not only is Black 47 retreading songs, the band is now retreading album titles. This CD's title, which is a companion to the memoir that Larry Kirwan wrote of the same name, is too close to their 1996 CD Green Suede Shoes.

I was hoping once again that Elvis Murphy's Green Suede Shoes would follow in the footsteps of their other recent releases and become my favorite CD of the year. Unfortunately, as one might say to a hitter chasing Dimaggio's record, "Wait until next year."

Comments

  1. William Kates9:22 PM, July 10, 2005

    I'm not that surprised with your Black 47 review. I tried hard to like that record while listening to it, but found the songs (as you did), musically unremarkable. I could forgive the recycling aspect, in that this is supposed to be a companion to his book which is autobiographical so the rehash seems to at least have a purpose. I too was hoping for something a little more musically memorable, so I'll have to agree with your assessment. Cheers.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

WHAT'S HOT TODAY!

Slower Than Slow: 16 RPM Records

Image
Have you ever heard of a long forgotten vinyl format, the 16 2/3 RPM record? They were half the speed of the 33 1/3 RPM albums that were the traditional standard for recorded music. Most record players in the 1950s and 1960s came with a speed setting to play these long forgotten discs that were considered novelties even during the years they were available. Because most, but not all, 16s had big holes and were 7" in diameter many of them were mistaken for 45 RPMs and at that size the speed allowed for up to 20 minutes of playing time per side. However, there was no true standard size and they were also manufactured to be 9, 10, or 12 inches in diameter, and these larger records played even longer. Just like the other speeds and formats 16s could be played one record at a time or stacked on a changer for continuous play. Radio stations often used the discs for pre-recorded radio shows containing interviews, dramas, and documentaries. More frequen...
Read more

The Band - Christmas Must Be Tonight (1977)

Image
In 2006 Hall and Oates released Home For Christmas , their one and only holiday album, an extremely good set of music that immediately became one of my favorite seasonal listens. I wrote then that I was stunned at how many overtly religious songs the famous duo put on the the disc considering the very politically correct climate of the new millennium. One of them was a cover version of a song that alluded me for almost thirty years, "Christmas Must Be Tonight." I liked the new, upbeat track sung by Daryl Hall and it made me go out and search for Robbie Robertson's never-to-be classic. Sung by Rick Danko, it appears on the great American band's last album, Islands (1977). It's a surprise that a group whose members were not known to have any specific or powerfully strong religious beliefs would release a song that tackled the subject of Jesus's birth as blatantly as our most loved Christmas carols. It's not about a reckless reinde...
Read more

Chicago: An Album By Album Analysis Of The Terry Kath Era (1969 - 1977)

Image
The original lineup of Chicago has always been one of my all time favorite bands. My affection for this great horn band is such that I want to discuss all of the albums they recorded before Terry Kath's unfortunate and accidental passing. Their debut album is now forty years old, and it's followup is not far behind, yet their music endures to this day. * * * * * Everyone Must Own * * * * Excellent * * * Good * * Fair * Poor * * * * * Chicago Transit Authority (1969) - Whether they were playing screaming psychedelic hard rock, jazz, blues, or love songs, everyone in the band proved they were worthy of the huge mass success that followed CTA 's release. The band's ability to play anything and play it well is the hallmark of their debut album. The stars are Robert Lamm, Terry Kath, and the horns, and even Peter Cetera demonstrates he can be a rock and roll animal when he wants to be. The standout tracks are Lamm's "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It...
Read more

The Chieftains With Jackson Browne - The Rebel Jesus (1991)

Image
"The Rebel Jesus" is a Christmas song composed by Jackson Browne and performed with The Chieftains, the eclectic, veteran Irish folk band on  The Bells of Dublin,  their 1991 holiday album. Browne wrote the song specifically for his guest appearance on this record. The singer-songwriter, who is deservedly in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, can be a bit preachy when he wants to be, and he is again here, but no one can dispute what the man is saying.  The last two verses are the key to the song. Browne points out that people often feel more generous at Christmas so they'll give to those who were less fortunate than themselves during the holidays. But, if anyone tries to dig deeper and root out the poverty that envelops the downtrodden they are often scorned like Jesus was. This message is coming from a man who is admittedly a "heathen and a pagan," but on this occasion he is "on the side of the rebel Jesus." At the same time Browne doesn't want to sp...
Read more

The Beatles - Christmas Messages (1963 - 1969)

Image
For seven straight years beginning in 1963 - even before they were famous in America - The Beatles recorded annual Christmas messages exclusively for their fan club members as a holiday thank you. They were issued on seven-inch, vinyl records that were very thin, very bendable, and easily damaged. These flexi-discs, as they were called, could not be stacked on record changers. Over the years the tracks have been bootlegged in countless ways, and until a few years ago the only legal release was sent to fan club members in 1970 on 33 RPM vinyl records after the boys from Liverpool went their separate ways. The LP cover shown here is from that album. Finally, in 2017, a limited edition box set  on colored vinyl was released and is now an expensive collector's item. Many Beatles fans managed to hear these records over the years, and with the Internet being what it is, there are several websites where anyone can easily listen to all of them.  Archive.org ...
Read more