Published on May 11, 2000
You have to wonder why any band these days would want to follow
the path of big band music — and I’m not talking about swing music
repopularized by Cherry Poppin’ Daddies or Brian Setzer. I
personally have nothing against this kind of music; I grew up
occasionally hearing it, and I happen to enjoy a spot of it from
time to time, if only to clear out the pipes.
But commercially, big band music probably will never experience
the same kind of rennaissance that other genres have. Bands who
follow this path have to be absolutely in love with the music —
and I’ll give Lavay Smith And Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers credit
there, in that it sounds like all the band members truly are
devotees of big band.
Their latest release,
Everybody’s Talkin’ ‘Bout Miss Thing!, is an occasionally
interesting mixture of songs from the past and new compositions
from Smith and her bandmates, combined in a package that is one
part big band and one part sex appeal. If only it didn’t sound
listless from time to time.
To Smith’s credit, the originals (all co-written by Smith and
bandmate Chris Siebert, among others) have the feeling and sound as
if they could have been penned in the 1940s, making sure that the
atmosphere that the band wanted to create is kept alive throughout
the recording. “The Busy Woman’s Blues” almost sounds like it could
have come from Saffire – The Uppity Blues Women (if you know blues
music, you’ll know who I’m referring to… we’ll get to them one of
these days here), and is pretty entertaining.
The same can be said for the title track, another song which,
had I not read the liner notes, sounded like it was a remnant from
the World War II era. Well written and well executed, these two
songs set a good pace for the album.
But something goes wrong over the course of
Everybody’s Talkin’ ‘Bout Miss Thing! – and it’s a little
hard to pin down in words. It’s almost as if the energy level of
the music drops – and with it goes the interest level. On one
point, it’s almost as if the fire in the musicians has had some
sand thrown on it; on another hand, it’s almost as if Smith doesn’t
quite have the vocal range and power to pull off the show-stopping
performance. Tracks like “I’ve Got A Feelin’,” “I Want A Little
Boy” and “Big Fine Daddy” all suffer from this fate.
Only two other tracks really don’t work with this style. One is
the “bonus Christmas” track, “Winter Wonderland” — fine, talk to
me when it isn’t 90 degrees outside, gang. Maybe I’d be more
receptive to this closer to the holidays, but I’m sure not ready to
hear it in the middle of May. The other one, “Blow Me A Fat Note”
— I’m sorry, but this track just doesn’t work for me, and is the
only original that falls flat.
Things do improve for Smith and the band as the album
progresses. Tracks like “He Beeped When He Should Have Bopped”
(written by Dizzy Gillespie), “Sent For You Yesterday” and “Do You
Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans?” all prove that Smith and
company have the chops and talent to pull off this style of music.
“Do You Know…” is one track that was going to be difficult to top
in my mind; I still remember hearing Marilyn Maxwell singing it on
an Abbott & Costello radio show (no, I’m not
that old; I had an audio tape), but Smith helps to put a
different spin on the track, and it works.
The talent is obviously there – so what can Smith And Her Red
Hot Skillet Lickers do to improve things? They might want to inject
a little more life in some of their performances; on the tracks
where the energy level dips, it almost sounds like the band is
going through the motions. And Smith herself should try to take
some more vocal challenges the next time around – not necessarily
meaning she has to try to shatter glass with her voice. Some of
these tracks almost suggest a “down-and-dirty” approach; she might
want to try to use her voice to capture that.
Until then,
Everybody’s Talkin’ ‘Bout Miss Thing! is a decent, though
flawed, portrayal of big band music in the 21st Century, and it
often shows kids of today why their grandparents loved this kind of
music. Face it: there’s still a lot to love about it today.