Published on Oct 25, 1997
My wife has recently been watching reruns of the television show
“In Living Color,” mainly because she is a Jim Carrey fan. One skit
they did early in the show’s history was “Hey Mon,” a fictional
television series about a Jamaican family who hold down more jobs
in one day than I’ll ever hold in my lifetime.
I bring this up because today’s review subject, Candye Kane,
reminds me a bit of that show. She’s been, among other things, a
welfare recipient, an X-rated actress, a phone sex operator, a
gay-rights activist (she is an admitted bisexual), mother of two,
wife of a musician and, on top of all that, blues singer.
Let’s be frank here: when Antone’s sent me her latest release
Diva La Grande, I can’t say that I was particularly excited
about reviewing it. (No offense to anyone at Antone’s who may be
reading.) But the more I read, both in the press material and on
her “Mi Vida Loca” section on Discovery Records’ web site, the more
intrigued I became. So, off with the shrink wrapping and into the
CD player…and what I heard blew me away.
I’d be hard-pressed to say that Kane is on a level of other
famous female blues belters like Koko Taylor, Katie Webster or
Bessie Smith, but she holds her own remarkably well. If only she
would be willing to separate a little of her past from her music —
we’ll talk about that momentarily.
Kane’s vocal range is a tad limited – she doesn’t have the
whiskey-soured, gravel-tinged growl that I’m more accustomed to.
Instead, her vocal style is more laid back like the California
lifestyle she has enjoyed. This is not necessarily a bad thing;
instead, it gives the music a little more of a rockabilly texture
to it. And she does show from time to time that she has a powerful
set of pipes,and knows how to use ’em.
Acting as the anchor throughout the album is pianist Sue
“Beehive” Palmer, whose piano licks are often quite tasty (though I
would have preferred to hear her more in the foreground on the
instrumental number “Beehive”). Most of the other musicians backing
Kane and Palmer are quite talented – but I definitely found Eric
Hokkanen’s violin to be annoying. (For that matter, I’m not crzazy
when Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown whips out the fiddle.) The fact
that the use of instruments changes from track to track can be
exciting at times – from harmonica to banjo to piano, even to the
fiddle.
The songwriting is, for the most part, more mature than one
would expect reading the past history of Kane’s life. “Love ‘Em
& Forgive ‘Em” is a swinging track that has more than a touch
of gospel in it – but the showboating in the beginning of the song
and right near the end could have been cut. “The Lord Was A Woman,”
co-written by the album’s co-producer Dave Alvin is a slightly
irreverent (but not sacriligeous) view on religion, while “Gifted
In The Ways Of Love” is a song which could be taken in more than
one way, though I prefer to stick to a PG-rated version.
“Homewrecker,” “I Got A Feelin'” and “It Should Be Rainin'” also
stand out on
Diva La Grande.
That’s not to say there are no numbers here you shouldn’t play
with the kids clustered around the stereo. “All You Can Eat (And
You Can Eat It All Night Long)”… well, let’s just say this ain’t
about no diner. And I don’t blame Kane’s X-rated past on this; sex
has always been a part of the blues; at one point, I remember there
was an album out called
Copulatin’ Blues. ‘Nuff said.
The swinging number “I’m In Love With A Girl” easily could have
been written by a man and covered by Kane, even though she did
co-write the song. Despite the title, it is hardly an ode to
lesbianism, but is more of a humorous track that makes light of the
situation. Having just said that, I do kind of wish that Kane
wouldn’t feel like she has to rely on her lifestyle and her past
(moreso on her past) to craft a song or to promote herself.
Frankly, I think that her music speaks loudly enough about her
talents; she should be able to attract attention with this rather
with the fact she plays piano with her breasts in her live show. I
agree with what she says near the end of “You Need A Great Big
Woman” that you need to love who you are; it’s just that I think
she doesn’t need to rely on gimmicks to get her point across.
Assisting Kane on this one is her husband Thomas Yearsley, who
is also the bassist for The Paladins (check these guys out if you
get the chance – they’ve been criminally ignored for far too long)
and labelmate Toni Price, whose latest disc is also sitting in the
growing “to be reviewed” pile in the Pierce Archives (welcome back,
Dennis Rodman). One notable duet between Kane and Price is a cover
of Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’,” a song which
doesn’t grow on the listener until after a few listens.
If you were to pick this CD up without knowing anything about
Kane’s past, you would think that
Diva La Grande was a decent blues-swing album. Knowing her
past, it makes the success of this album all the more surprising —
this is hardly a fluke. With a little more time (and possibly a
hint of grit in her voice), Kane could seriously establish herself
as a prominent blues artist.
Diva La Grande is one that’s worth searching out and
listening to when you are in the mood for something a little more
raunchy than the Spice Girls.