Concrete Blonde & Shemekia Copeland

My person tells me that "Concrete Blonde" is a derogatory term for heavily-lacquered big blonde hair, but it's used ironically on this album, because Johnette Napolitano, the singer-songwriter-bassist, doesn't look anything like that. It's a mystery to cats why humans mess around with their hair so much. Just lick it clean and leave it alone!

Anyway. I hear that after forming and reforming, the group is now permanently disbanded, which is too bad. Concrete Blonde's Bloodletting is the best of their albums. Napolitano's voice--especially on "Caroline," is throaty but pure, and "Joey," their most widely-known song, is their anthem to empathy ("Joey, if you're hurtin' so am I."). The only song on the album that seems out of step with the others is "I Don't Need a Hero." It just doesn't have the same punch as the rest. The first cut, "Bloodletting" (AKA "The Vampire Song"), is my favorite, because I'm interested in vampires and bats. I caught one once (a bat, not a vampire), and it was fun to play with, but its wings were a bit too chewy.
If you've read my other reviews, you know that I'm a fan of a hard-working drummer. Apparently, Concrete Blonde had drummer problems in the past, and kept trading out percussionists. On Bloodletting, the drummer is Paul Thompson, who gives his sticks a fine workout, especially on "The Sky is a Poisonous Garden." I'm not even going to try to figure out what that song title means; I just enjoyed Thompson's giving his skins a good, hard thrashing.
Here's a link to the "Bloodletting" video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOn1037ZLwA

Speaking of hair, on Talking to Strangers, Shemekia Copeland sings about the joys of getting her hair done at "Sholanda's" (House of Beau-tay). Sounds like so much fun, I might actually consider going for a pedi-pedi sometime. Termed an electric blues vocalist, Copeland has been officially crowned the new "Queen of the Blues," an honor previously held by Koko Taylor. Copeland does sound a bit like Taylor, although I thought more of Thelma Houston while I was listening to Talking to Strangers. Whoever her influences are, Copeland has a wide repertoire of blues stylings, and she's been singing professionally since age 16. Another of her albums, Wicked, won Shemekia three different blues music awards, and she's obviously just getting started.
Shemekia turns the heat up at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65nDprifGek&feature=related
Here's to turning the heat up on better hairball control. Peace out!