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Women stake claim in rhythm 'n' blues
Cowboy Junkies, Antone's Women releases tackle female issues in rock's roots
By Rob Newberry
The Battalion
Cowboy Junkies
"Black Eyed Man"
RCA
Antone's Women
"Bringing You the Best in Blues"
Antone's
Rock 'n' roll music has often
tried to bring important issues out
into the spotlight. But it isn't so
often that rock focuses on wom
en's issues. On two new releases.
Cowboy Junkies' "Black Eyed
Man" and Antone's Women
"Bringing You the Best in Blues,"
some of the best female perform
ers put women's issues back on
the agenda in two of rock's great
est influences, folk and blues.
With their second album, "The
Trinity Session," the Cowboy-
Junkies established themselves as
a band that knew how to do jus
tice to their many influences. That
album capitalized on Margo Tim
mins' haunting voice with covers
from a diversity of artists, from
Hank Williams to Lou Reed. On
"The Caution Horses," Timmins'
voice was just as blue, but the col
lection utilized more of brother
Michael's songwriting skills.
Songs like "Sun Comes Up, It's
Tuesday Morning" brought to life
the feelings of a woman with the
strength to end a sour love affair.
"Black Eyed Man" continues
along the same lines, but the part
nership between Michael and
Margo matures beyond all expec
tations set by the earlier works.
While Michael claims to write the
songs for his sister's voice, it's
amazing that his songs (he writes
all the material himself) seem to
capture her feelings as well. Part
of that is due to Margo's skill at
diving into the emotions of the
song, but Michael's lyrics and
melodies seem to make the perfor
mance an easier task.
"A Horse in the Country"
stands out from the other songs,
as far as women's issues go, with
its strict adherence to a familiar
theme in women's literature - the
problems women face when soci
ety makes all their choices for
them. Throughout the song, Tim
mins tells the story of a woman
who married too young, like all
her friends except for Cathy ("she
bought one-way subway ticket
and left us all behind"). Life loses
its value as the days of a life she
didn't choose drag on - her only
escape comes every other week,
when she gets to visit her horse in
the country, and experience con
trol of her life as she rides through
the countryside.
Next, Timmins questions the
roles of men and women, not in
society this time, but in love af
fairs. In "If You Were the Woman
and I Was the Man," she twists ro
mantic roles around, and after
asking the title question, continues
"Would I send you yellow roses,
would I dare to kiss your hand?"
Folk great John Prine provides the
male side of the twist, with both
realizing in the end that the im
portant thing in a relationship has
little to do with male and female
roles, but in the ability of both to
give up themselves.
The album isn't entirely devot
ed to women's issues, nor is the
lyrical content the only good thing
on the disc. Timmins' narrative
style shows more depth and
thought, as tunes like "Oregon
Hill" and "Black Eyed Man"
sound more like short stories than
songs. The bluesy, folksy style is
intact, with several improvements.
"If You Were the Woman..."
grooves along with a jazzy chord
structure, ending unexpectedly in
a soothing clarinet solo. On "Mur
der, Tonight, in the Trailer Park,"
Margo's voice comes across as
strong as it ever has, as she wails
through the chorus at the end of
the song. The rhythmic acoustic
guitar makes "A Horse in the
Country" move, but the piano ac
companiment makes the song
moving (not to forget the lyrics).
The album closes with folk-
blues master Townes Van Zandt's
"To Live is To Fly" (one of his two
contributions to the album). This
number in a lot of ways sums up
the feelings built up through Tim
mins' narrative realism. Many of
the songs don't offer a lot of hope,
but Van Zandt reminds us of the
beauty in simply experiencing as
much as life has to offer.
Antone's Women "Bringing
You the Best in Blues" is quite a
different treat. On this CD-only
release, Austin's first-name-in
blues label, Antone's, collects a
sampling of some of the label's
finest female talent. And while
the issues are a little different than
the Junkies', they're still there -
most of the difference can be at
tributed to the differences in the
styles; blues often lends itself to
different topics than folk.
"Dreams Come True," the 1990
collaboration of Angela Strehli,
Lou Ann Barton and Marcia Ball,
brought these three Texas blues
women a lot of recognition, even
though they all had been making
great music for a while. Included
on the sampler is "Something's
Got Ahold On Me" from that ef
fort, plus "Hurtback," an unre
leased collaboration of Strehli,
Barton and Ball with Sarah Brown.
In addition, the disc samples some
of the best songs off each per
former's solo efforts, as well as
previously unreleased material.
Included with these proven
names is newcomer Sue Foley,
with three songs from her upcom
ing release, "Young Girl Blues."
"Queen Bee" rocks with some of
the best distortion-laden guitar
licks on the record, and "Cuban
Getaway" is an instrumental jam
with some nifty guitar and piano
riffs set against an island melody.
Her collaboration with Strehli,
"But I Forgive You," pokes a little
fun at women who continue to
take abuse in relationships, hop
ing to inspire them to get tough.
"You put poison in my whiskey,
poison in my bread. You had the
nerve to tell me, you wish that I
was dead... But I forgive you, be
cause I love you." The piano
rhythm helps the sarcasm come
across, making the whole thing
kind of funny.
Also on the album is Toni
Price, another young artist. One
of her contributions, "Twelve Bar
Blues" is another humorous num
ber on the disc. She takes the
name of her music's genre and
turns it into a healing pastime - af
ter being mistreated by her lover,
she's ready to do some drinkin' :
"Twelve bars, twelve drinks,
twelve stools where I can sit and
think." Her other song, "Richest
One," features nifty guitar work,
credited on the back cover to
David Grissom, the guitar master
behind John Mellencamp's new
sound (in addition to the rocking
sound he gave to Joe Ely).
Traditionally, the blues draws
on the rich history of black music,
and Antone's didn't leave out a
couple of great black women mu
sicians. Barbara Lynn and Lavelle
White have both been around for
a while; Lynn's first work came
out in the sixties, while White be
gan wailing the blues in Houston
in the mid '50s. Their experience
shows dfi their two dontributions;
in fact, their songs come across
with more emotion and sass than
any of the others. In "I'm a Good
Woman," Lynn states her case
concisely, and demands to be
treated better by her man. With
"Wrapping Up Our Love," White
takes it a step further, taking a
stand by leaving the man who's
taking her for granted.
In a lot of ways, the Brown-
Strehli-Barton-Ball number "Hurt-
back" sums up the sassy lessons
taught by these blues women.
"When you lose your first lover,
you sometimes easily bruise. Find
yourself waitin' on another, just to
suffer the same abuse." From
there, the ladies describe how
they've learned to retaliate, with
"a nasty little turn of tongue," or
"just a scratch, a little sting."
So watch out. With these two
releases, women rockers have tak
en a firm stance and taken a
stronghold in rock music. If you
want a collection of sad folk songs,
passionately delivered, try the
Cowboy Junkies' "Black Eyed
Man." If you're looking for a col
lection of some of the finest blues
talent, and a lot of sass from An
tone's toughest women, get
"Bringing You the Best in Blues."
r
1
ices-
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I
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f DEPRESSION STUDY
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Want a FREE pass to
Pr <3 (5 I ECON Q3
TAMU's own science fiction/fantasy convention?
Come to the
WORKERS MEETING
Tuesday March 10 at 8:30pm
Room 410 Rudder
or
Thursday March 12 at 8:00pm
Room 216AB MSC
nfr
EUROPE IN TRANSITION
A Summer Program on Europe West and East
June 10-July 29, 1992
Enhance Your Future This Summer
DiS
Denmark’s
International
Study Program
• • •
Affiliated with
the University of
Copenhagen
"The curriculum is really geared to current events. There is a lot of history and
background, but the main emphasis in the courses, especially the EC '92, is on
what is happening right now. And when you go on the study tours and field
studies, you have the background to ask intelligent questions. You can make
the analytical link between what you are seeing and what you have studied."
Kevin Hawkins, Texas A&M University, DiS student 1990-91
STUDY EUROPE IN COPENHAGEN!
DIS also offers fall and spring semesters in Humanities & Social Sciences,
International Business, and Architecture & Design. See your Study Abroad
Office, 161 Bizzell West, 845-0544 for the special Summer Brochure and the
DIS Study Guide, or call 1-800-247-3477 for these materials.
1102 Harvey (409) 764-0466
College Station, Texas 77840
*Everyone knows the importance of getting good value, but not everyone
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ALL YOU CAN
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Luncheon and Dinner §>
7 days a week ^ ^
« 5
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Luncheon 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Unjv Dr
Dinner 5 p.m.-9 p.m.
presents
Recovery
or
Recession
an examination of the American Economy
Dr. Morgan Reynolds
Professor of Economics
Tues., March 10, 1992
7:00 PM
Rudder 501
free admission