4
/Yfoum tceviews
Katinas based on a five-star system.
Five — Excellent; One — Pathetic.
"Eye of the Zombie"
John Fogerty
Warner Bros. Records
★ ★
As leader of Creedence
Clearwater Revival, John
Fogerty was responsible
for tons of hits and about
a dozen great albums.
When the band split up in
1972, the music world be
came a darker place. But
Fogerty seemed ripe for
an incredible solo career.
In 1973, Fogerty re
leased an album of tradi-
tional country and
bluegrass songs under the
name of a fictional group
called the Blue Ridge
Rangers, when in fact he
played all the instruments
himself. “Blue Ridge
Rangers” was technically
good, but Fogerty’s ver
sions of the old songs
were too studious to really
jam.
Fogerty’s second solo
album, “John Fogerty”
(1975), was much better
and contained a couple of
excellent hits.
It took ten years before
Fogerty released his next
album, “Centerfield. ”
“Centerfield” was a killer
collection of songs that
brought the Creedence
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sound into the '80s. It’s
too bad that “Eye of the
Zombie,” Fogerty’s new
est album, isn’t so hot.
“Eye of the Zombie” is
the first album since Cree
dence’s “Mardi Gras” in
1972 on which Fogerty
works with a band. Drum
mer John Robinson and
bassist Neil Stubenhaus
are competent musicians
but there is no fire in their
playing. Fogerty’s guitar
and keyboard work is
mostly uninspired except
for a few brief moments.
The album starts off
with an instrumental,
“Goin’ Back Home.” The
song is unusually preten
tious for Fogerty but he
does some excellent work
on guitar.
“Coin’ Back Home”
leads into the title track.
The lyrics have the Cajun
rock usually associated
with Creedence but the
music isn’t much fun. The
same can be said for most
of the songs — they’re not
much fun.
Only two of the al
bum’s songs stand out
from the rest. “Violence is
Golden,” a satiric attack
on mercenaries who sell
weapons on the black
market, shows that Fo
gerty has a social con
scious. “Sail Away,” with
its reggae sound, is a nice,
slow tune.
After “Centerfield,” it
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looked like Fogerty was
going to become a musi
cal force for the ’80s, just
like the powerful force he
was during the ’60s. “Eye
of the Zombie” shows that
he is going to have to
work harder.
—Review by Karl
Pallmeyer
"Graceland"
Paul Simon
Warner Bros. Records
★★★★
What do Elvis Presley
and Nelson Mandela have
in common?
Not much, except that
Paul Simon has just re
leased an album that
combines the rock ’n’ roll
started by Presley with
musical styles of South Af
rica, Mandela’s home.
“Graceland” is Simon’s
strongest album in years.
Most of the album was re
corded with South African
musicians in Johannes
burg. The music incorpo
rates South African styles
and rhythms known as
“Mbaqanga” or
“township jive” with Si-,
men’s poetic lyrics.
Simon was inspired to
experiment with South
African music when he
heard a tape of songs by
the Boyoyo Boys, Tao Ea
Matsekha, General M.D.
Shirinda and the Gaza
Sisters and several other
South African bands. Si
mon rewrote “Gum-
boots,” a song by the
Boyoyo Boys, and used
some of the band’s mem
bers on his recording. Si
mon also collaborated
with General M.D. Shi
rinda and the Gaza Sisters
on “I Know What I
Know.” The lyrics are a
little weak, but the sound
is real cool.
Simon has rarely uses
political themes in his mu-
sic, “Scarbrough
Fair/Canticle” and “Silent
Night — Seven o’Clock
News” being two notable
exceptions, and the South
African polictical situation
is only mentioned in a
couple of songs on this al
bum. “The Boy in the
Bubble,” written by Si
mon and Forere Motlohe-
loa, leader of Tao Ea Mat
sekha, asks the musicial
question: since we live in
a world where science has
made all things possible,
why do we have apart
heid?
“Homeless,” an a ca-
pella number written by
Simon and Joseph Sha-
balala, is a touching por
trait of the life of black
South Africans who are
not considered to be legal
citizens of their own coun
try. The song features ly
rics in Zulu sung by La
dysmith Black Mambazo,
one of the first South Afri
can vocal groups to be
recognized internation
ally.
A few Americans guest
star on “Graceland” as
well. The Everly Brothers
harmonize with Simon on
the title track, an interest
ing combination of the
rockabilly sound of the
early Sun recordings and
the rhythms of Africa.
Linda Ronstadt is guest
vocalist on “Under Afri
can Skies.”
The Louisana zydeco
band Good Rockin’ Dop-
sie and the Twisters is fea
tured on “That Was Your
Mother.” The California
mariachi rock band Los
Lobos is featured on “All
Around the World or the
Myth of Fingerprints. ”
Simon’s strength has
always been in bis lyrics
but the lyrics on “Grace-
land” leave a little to be
desired. But the music is
so outstanding that the
deficiency of the lyrics is
almost forgotten.
Review by Karl Pallmeyer
.ANDO