CARLA THOMAS: LIVE AT THE BOHEMIAN CAVERNS (1967; 2007)
1) Introduction (Al Bell); 2)
You're Gonna Hear From Me; 3) Medley: Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah / A Lovely Way To Spend
An Evening / It's A Lovely Day Today / On A Clear Day (You Can See Forever); 4)
Mas Que Nada; 5) Gee Whiz; 6) Evenin'; 7) A Lot Of Livin' To Do; 8) B-A-B-Y; 9)
Many, Many Thanks; 10) Never Be True; 11) Rufus Dialogue No. 1; 12) Fine And
Mellow; 13) Did You Ever Love A Woman; 14) Rufus Dialogue No. 2; 15) The Dog.
Queen of Soul or not, apparently, Carla's
status back in the day did not make her eligible for a live album. Her first
chance at this arrived as late as 2001, with Live In Memphis featuring a nearly 60-year old performer singing
ʽGee Whizʼ with the same teenage abandonment with which an old, bald, and
conservatively ribald Mike Love launches into ʽSurfin' U.S.A.ʼ in the 21st century
— but I do not have the complete album on hand, and I think I might be forgiven
for bypassing it altogether and briefly concentrating, instead, on this fun
archive release that unearthes a well-recorded show, played on May 25, 1967 at
the Bohemian Caverns in Washington, DC. It was still a pretty good time for
Carla — Aretha Franklin's star had only just begun to shine, and she could
still wield that «Queen of Soul» title with some limited credibility. To make
matters even more solidly royal, father Rufus also makes an appearance, sealing
the deal with a small after-set of two songs, one groove, two long rants, and a
number of sleazy, sexist jokes.
Three things speak in favor of the recording.
One, the quality — it is always nice to have a small-scale, intimate club show
recorded on a professional level, with the close rapport between the singer and
an appreciative audience well audible. Two, the backing band — a batch of
R&B and jazz professionals here, with a still little-known young man called
Donny Hathaway sitting at the piano and distinguishing himself as a fine,
lyrical player in his own right. And three, the setlist itself, which is
anything but predictable, and has Carla explore a whole range of styles: in
addition to some of her biggest hits (ʽGee Whizʼ, ʽB-A-B-Yʼ), she sings some
soul, some jazz, some blues, some pop standards, and even some Latin stuff.
This is just Carla Thomas, yes, and there is nothing exceptional, but it's all
done with style and grace, and the element of diversity is quite pleasing. A
minor quibble is the lack of backing vocalists (which pretty much annuls the main
hook of ʽB-A-B-Yʼ), but the supportive cheers and whoops of the audience
sometimes make up for that anyway.
Good as she is, though, once father Rufus gets
to replace her on that stage, it becomes painfully clear how much nepotism was
involved in Carla's career — the father has ten times more charm, power, and
brute subtlety than the daughter, as he even manages to reinvent Billie
Holiday's ʽFine And Mellowʼ for his own purposes, and proves himself the
ultimate master of contrastive vocal dynamics: as supportive as the listeners
were to Carla, it takes Rufus to really shake them up, and by the time that he
gets to his trademark ʽThe Dogʼ groove, everybody has been wound up and
rejuvenated. Not that there's anything criminal or immoral in that — just
stating the obvious: Rufus Thomas was a great R&B / blues howler, while
Carla was an elegant, pleasant mediocrity at best. Very nice lady, though, and
not entirely untalented — it's just that they never managed to find a properly
nurturing soil for these talents.
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