Listening to Alabama Shakes’ debut CD Boys & Girls reminded me of listening long ago to Big Brother and the Holding Company: Janis Joplin and a mediocre band backing her up. In this case, Brittany Howard’s powerful voice overwhelms the band behind her. Brittany used to be a postal worker. Her drummer, Steve Johnson, worked in a nuclear power plant. But now, the Alabama Shakes are a hot band. They were launched on Conan O’Brien’s show. If you like Sixties R&B and soul music, you’ll find a lot to like listening to the Alabama Shakes. GRADE: B+
TRACK LIST:
1 Hold On 3:46
2 I Found You 2:59
3 Hang Loose 2:24
4 Rise To the Sun 3:08
5 You Ain’t Alone 4:44
6 Goin’ To the Party 1:45
7 Heartbreaker 3:47
8 Boys & Girls 3:25
9 Be Mine 4:14
10 I Ain’t the Same 2:55
11 On Your Way 3:05

Totally commercial. That’s what Wilson Phillips’ Dedicated amounts to. Carnie and Wendy Wilson (daughters of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys) and Chynna Phillips (daughter of John Phillips and Michelle Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas) formed the Wilson Phillips group back in 1990s. The logic of Dedicated is that the children of those great singers would sing their favorite songs that their parents made famous. You can guess how this turns out: bland, bland, bland. They possess a mere scintilla of their parents’ talent. I’ll embed the Wilson Phillips video and the Real Deal video below. You be the judge. GRADE: F
TRACK LIST:
1 California Dreamin’ 2:50
2 Wouldn’t it Be Nice 2:46
3 Dedicated to the One I Love 3:08
4 Don’t Worry Baby 3:32
5 Twelve-Thirty 3:38
6 I Can Hear Music 3:08
7 Monday Monday 4:18
8 Do it Again 2:52
9 Got a Feelin’ 3:34
10 Fun, Fun, Fun 2:28
11 God Only Knows 3:50
12 Good Vibrations 3:45

Alexander McCall Smith, prolific writer of several series of books most notably The Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency, arrived in Buffalo to deliver a lecture as part of the Just Buffalo Literary Center’s “Babel” series. For those of you who’ve encountered Alexander McCall Smith, you know what transpired the next couple of hours: plenty of wit and laughter. About 1500 fans showed up at Kleinhans Music Hall to hear the lecture. Alexander McCall Smith delivered a succession of rambling soliloquies on his love of dogs, his multiple birthplaces, his love of Africa, and a progress report on several of his book series. “In our lives it’s the little things that are very important.” Many of the volumes Alexander McCall Smith referred to have been published in Britain, but not in the U.S. yet. Then it was Q&A time. Many questions concerned various TV or movie deals. Some in the audience wanted to know if HBO was going to continue their Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency movies. All Alexander McCall Smith could say was that Hollywood “moves slowly.” Diane and I enjoyed McCall Smith’s humorous presentation. If he appears in your neighborhood, Alexander McCall Smith is well worth spending an evening with.

John D. MacDonald’s The Price of Murder features a complex plot told in a multiple-character format. Published in 1957 as a paperback original, The Price of Murder begins with the troubled marriage of English college professor Lee Bronson and his vapid wife, Lucille. But quickly the novel changes gears as Lee’s brother, Danny, violates his parole. That plot element introduces a psychopathic killer. John D. MacDonald blends in a third sub-plot involving the payoff money from a kidnapping. For fans of the Travis McGee series, the signature convoluted plot shows up in The Price of Murder to maximum effect. Although this is an early Dell original, John D. MacDonald displays his classic story-telling powers in this powerful novel.

Flame-throwers, poison gas, barbed wire, zeppelins, tanks, submarines, and most deadly of all, machine guns butchered over 10 million men in World War I and caused 20 million wounded. Science and technology turned war into slaughter. Adam Hochschild’s powerful story of people who saw the horror of this new war and tried to stop it becomes the best book I’ve ever read about “the War to end all Wars.” Hochschild’s research shows that over 5000 merchant ships were sunk by German U-Boats during the war, something I didn’t know. Groups of college students would march together into deadly machine-gun fire. The students had no conception of the ferocity of machine guns that could mow a 1000 men down in minutes. The complete waste of lives, the horrors of senseless fighting in the trenches, and the callousness of generals willing to sacrifice thousands of lives for a few feet of ground will disturb you. General Sherman said, “War is Hell” but World War I was way beyond that. GRADE: A

I’m conflicted about Mark Levin’s Ameritopia. It analyzes Plato’s The Republic, Thomas Moore’s Utopia, and Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan with remarkable clarity. Levin thinks our 21st Century government is trying to turn the U.S. into a utopia. And Levin thinks that’s a Bad Idea. Individualism is always sacrificed by utopian movements, according to Levin. He uses the Soviet Union as an example. While I was enlightened by Levin’s writing on classics of political theory, I thought his paranoia of government power over the individual to be a bit overwrought. GRADE: B

Dr. John (aka Mac Rebennack) is best known for his late 1960s psychedelic-Creole masterpieces Gris Gris, Babylon, and his 1973 collaboration with Allen Toussaint, In the Right Place. Dr. John blended psychedelia and traditional New Orleans funk to create a sound uniquely his own. Dr. John became associated with New Orleans itself. He later released albums that varied in quality from good to very good. Dr. John’s concerts earned a reputation for being spirited affairs. However, despite this activity, it seem as if Dr. John’s best work was behind him.

Now, with the release of Locked Down, that judgment will have to be revised. Locked Down music sizzles with energy. In many ways, the music on this CD equals or exceeds Dr. John’s best work. Give this funky CD a listen! GRADE: A
TRACK LIST:
1. Locked Down 4:59
2. Revolution 3:25
3. Big Shot 3:48
4. Ice Age 4:23
5. Getaway 4:35
6. Kingdom Of Izzness 3:37
7. You Lie 4:45
8. Eleggua 2:53
9. My Children, My Angels 5:06
10. God’s Sure Good