Sunday, September 12, 1999
'Skyline Time' adds spice to oldies
Local musicians recast classic hits
BY LARRY NAGER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Forget Riverfest, summer's not done yet. For proof, here's a blue-ribbon batch of summertime tunes. For its 50th anniversary, Skyline Chili has produced a 19-track CD of classic rock, soul, rhythm & blues and even some country-jazz fusion.
But instead of taking the easy way out, licensing oldies from national labels, the Skyline folks gambled on the home team. Skyline's Tom Allen, executive producer for the project, chose to exclusively use local musicians to re-create some of the most memorable songs of the past 50 years.
Cincinnati's J Curve Records oversaw the production, with jazz pianist Pat Kelly working directly with the musicians. The disc will be available beginning Friday exclusively at Skyline outlets. CDs include a chance at a $50,000 prize drawing
For anyone unfamiliar with the richness and diversity of the Tristate music scene, this CD should be even more of an eye-opener than a late-night coney with extra hot sauce.
The set opens with P. Ann Everson-Price & the Chozen issuing a call for “Dancing in the Street.” With the Skyline Horns (Blue Wisp Big Band vets Joe Gaudio and Paul Pillar with young trumpet whiz Brian Schwab), the song rocks, as Ms. Everson-Price tosses in a bit of Sly Stone's “Dance to the Music.”
The Blue Birds add welcome funk to Steve Miller's lightweight “Fly Like an Eagle.” Guitar ace Scotty Anderson is next with a hyperdrive “Orange Blossom Special” that leaves no lick unpicked. Then Latin X-Posure slinks into the Tito Puente/Santana salsa hit, “Oye Como Va.” Toss in Prospect Hill's fine version of “Don't Be Cruel” and Eugene Goss' soulful “Georgia on My Mind,” and that's a lot of variety you can pack into a half-dozen songs.
But you're not even a third of the way through. The usually dependable Soul Pocket seems to have had a bit too much caffeine on a too-fast “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.” But it does make Kelly Richey's slow and sultry “Something to Talk About” even more satisfying, a perfect balance of her beautifully restrained vocal and guitarist Marcos Sastre's slow-burn slide.
While most people will be surprised by the uniformly high quality of the local scene, the more one knows about that scene, the more fun the disc is.
There's jazz guitar great Cal Collins getting down and dirty on the R&B chestnut “Honky Tonk”; Kenny Poole playing Lonnie Mack's guitar lick on “Memphis,” as jazz balladeer Larry Kinley chucks his tux to sing the rock classic.
Circus of the Sun tackles the Stones' “Start Me Up,” but it sounds a bit too thought out, needing more grit, less pop. The hitherto unknown Haze do a “Wouldn't It Be Nice” that Brian Wilson would be proud of, while the Goshorn Brothers make the Beatles' “Get Back” their own, managing to sneak that reference to “California grass” past the corporate censors. Piano pounder Ricky Nye proves a more genteel Killer than Jerry Lee Lewis on “Breathless” with some fine lead guitar by Ted Karas.
Even the usually laid-back Modu lators tighten up for the finale, James Brown's “I Got You (I Feel Good),” with ex-Mod Mandy Gaines trading vocals with former Brown bandsman Rufus Allen Jr.
Originally recorded at King Records in Evanston, it's one of several songs here with a local connection. “Honky Tonk” was also cut for King, and Mr. Mack's version of "Memphis” was made for local Fraternity Records.
“Twist and Shout,” by Lincoln Heights' favorite sons, the Isley Brothers, is redone in down-home style by Sweet Alice Hoskins & Unfinished Business.
But as anyone who's been to a concert at Riverbend knows, the show's not over until the chili company sings. The disc's hidden track is a very familiar local theme song.
The disc is filled out with an extensive booklet of photos and complete musician credits, rare for compilation CDs.
That's just one more thing here that sets a new standard for local compilations. With plenty of other talented musicians out there, I hope this will become an annual tradition.
Right now, there's still plenty of summer left. Put the top down and crank it up!
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TRISTATE DIGEST
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