New Music Reviews - 11/15/2011 - John Lennon Tribute album, Betty Wright & The Roots, and The Color Bars

Various Artists  The 30th Annual John Lennon Tribute - This tribute to one of the Beatles was recorded live at the Beacon Theatre in New York City.  The songs given to us mostly cover Lennon's solo career but there are a few ditties from his Beatles years as well.  Some of the wide array of artists lending their talents to this album include The Kennedys, Keb' Mo', Joan Osborne, Patti Smith, and Aimee Mann.  There are fifteen tracks in total with no song and no artist being represented more than once.

The album opens well with strong and mostly faithful versions of "Power to the People" and "And Your Bird Can Sing" by Rich Pagano and The Kennedys, respectively.  Unfortunately what follows is a forgettable version of "God" by Meshell Ngedeocello and a slow and stripped down version of "Help!" by Alejandro Escovedo that loses both the fun and desperation of the original.  The tracks that really stood apart in a positive way are the slightly blues-y "Watching The Wheels" by Taj Mahal & Vusi Mahlaseli, Keb' Mo's synthesizer heavy and deeply sentimental "In My Life", Bettye LaVette's gospel interpretation of "The Word", and Aimee Mann's faithful cover of "Jealous Guy". 

Overall, it's an above average tribute album especially given that all the tracks were recorded from live performances.  There are a couple of covers that don't work well because of the funky arrangements by the covering artists but there's more good than bad to be found on the disc as a whole.  In fact, after an inconsistent start to the album, it really finds its legs by the middle of the album offering one delectable cover after another by the middle of the disc beginning with Joan Osborne's Hey Bulldog through Jackson Browne's You've Got To Hide Your Love Away before losing its way again, although to a lesser degree, towards the end of the album.  Those seven tracks in the middle are worth the price of admission, are a real treat to fans of John Lennon, and make a fine tribute to the man himself. 

Score: 8/10
Song(s) to Sample: Aimee Mann's "Jealous Guy" [sample a short recording from the concert below] and Bettye LaVette's "The Word"

Betty Wright and The Roots Betty Wright: The Movie - Betty Wright is the Grammy winning Soul/R&B singer and songwriter best known for her hits from the 70's, "Clean Up Woman" and "Tonight Is The Night", so don't confuse her with former Golden Girl Betty White like a friend of mine did!  ("Betty White is singing on an album with The Roots???  How cool!"  Uh, no.)  On this release the classic Soul diva teams up with modern hip-hop legends The Roots to give us a disc of new songs with funky throwback melodies behind Wright's soulful warbling.  The Roots once again does its job wringing out as much as they can from the simplified throwback melodies and Wright's vocals still sound good.  Wright also gets a handful of great guest vocalists to assist on individual tracks like Snoop Dogg, Lil' Wayne, and Joss Stone.  The thing that prevents this album from being a classic is the songwriting in general is nothing special with many credible jams on the album but no standout singles to attract casual listeners to the release.  Fans of Wright and of soul music in general won't regret picking up this album but it won't be a crossover hit for Wright, unfortunately.  Still, for an artist that hasn't released a solo album in about a decade, it's a decent album that will mainly appeal to her fans from times past.

Score: 7/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Real Woman (ft. Snoop Dogg)" and "Baby Come Back (ft. Lenny Williams)"

The Color Bars Prosopopoeia - The Color Bars is a quirky indie pop band from Brooklyn, NY.  How quirky are they?  Well, according to their bio on MySpace, the band began "as three mildly autistic doorknobs with nothing but a swimming pool full of pureed television sets and a petri dish full of bone cells from the spine of Joseph Stalin."  Okie-dokey then.  Their music features primarily guitar and synthesizer driven melodies with a male lead singer although some of the songs feature both male and female leads/vocal harmonies.  Prosopopoeia is a smart and sweet album in the vein of Matt & Kim and Apples in Stereo that I enjoyed a great deal from beginning to end.  The first single off the album, "Mustached Messiah", is a keyboard heavy song with a clever hook and cleverly worded lyrics that should find radio airplay hopefully in the near future.  While songs like "TripleSSS" show a funkier side with jive-heavy synthesizer work and disco era vocals.  It's a high quality album in a fun, jaunty indie pop style wherein the band smartly incorporates various indie genres to create an album that never seems tired or overly derivative of another band.  

Score: 9/10
Song(s) to Sample:  "Mustached Messiah", "TripleSSS", and "Mendax Cries Fowl"