I didn’t know what tags were.
I’d been to concerts of some greats--Frank Sinatra, Tom Jones, Harry Belefonte, the Righteous Brothers. They sang their songs from start to finish. The music was good, and there may have been back up singers who did their backing up and choreographed dance moves. That was a show.
Taylor calls them “songs within a song,” and they may be “ab lib” –tags. He is making it up as he goes along? What? On stage without a script? What kind of musician does that?
A very good one, like Taylor Hicks.
Tags take a song on twists and turns you never would have imagined. They are the tool of an artist weaving a unique and fun musical experience…
Songs on steroids!
I was astonished and impressed when I read the long set list with tags from the Las Vegas shows.
One of the tag-infested songs in the Las Vegas show is “What’s Right is Right,” the first single release from Taylor’s current album, The Distance.
What's Right is Right
- Mystic Church
- Tupelo Honey
- Summertime in England
- Nottinghill Gate (Gospel Music with Mahalia Jackson)
- Crazy Love (Van Morrison)
- Grease Is the Word
- No Method No Teacher
- Let's Get It On
- Thank You for Letting Me Be Myself Again
- Sweet Home Alabama (7/19/12)
- Polk Salad Annie (8/12/12)
All of these do not appear with each performance and not necessarily on a regular basis. It’s all up to the Titan of the Tags, Taylor Hicks!
“Seven Mile Breakdown” is another popular tag treasure trove:
- Get Back
- Chicken Pickin' Duel
- Running on Empty
- Grits Ain't Groceries
- Movin’ on Up
- Jo Jo was a man
- Can't Trust Your Neighbor
- Who Are You (The Who)
“In The Ghetto,” the popular Elvis classic, in a not-so-Elvis-classic version, has its share of tags:
- guitar solo (Jamie McLean)
- sax solo (Brian Gallagher)
- Harlem/Cold Baloney (Bill Withers)
- Don't trust your neighbor
- All Right
- Movin on Up
- It's Your Thing
Other tags are tucked into an extensive and impressive set list as Taylor Hicks headlines at Bally’s Indigo Room in Las Vegas. The TTHC Connections’ archive has kept this collection of the songs and songs within the songs:
From Taylor's first Bally’s run starting in June:
Livin' For the City
- On and On
The Deal
In The Ghetto
- Guitar solo (Jamie McLean)
- Sax solo (Brian Gallagher)
- Harlem/Cold Baloney (Bill Withers)
- Don't trust your neighbor
Love the One You're With
- Big Boss Man (Elvis)
That's Life (Frank Sinatra )
- Woodstock
- Fire, Fire, Fire
Maybe You Should
Nineteen
Seven Mile Breakdown
- Get Back
- Chicken Pickin' Duel
- Running on Empty
- Grits Ain't Groceries
- Movin’ on Up
I Live on a Battlefield
- Woody Woodpecker sounds while scatting
Back to Louisiana
Country Livin’ (Jamie McLean)
Takin' It to the Streets
What's Right is Right
- Summertime in England
- Nottinghill Gate (Gospel Music with Mahalia Jackson)
- Crazy Love (Van Morrison )
- Grease Is the Word
- No Method No Teacher
- Let's Get It On
- Tupelo Honey
- Thank You for Letting Me Be Myself Again
- Sweet Home Alabama (7/19/12)
- Polk Salad Annie (8/12/12)
Minute by Minute
- Arc of a Diver
- Can't Trust Your Neighbor
- Quartz Clock
Gonna Move
On and On (either Stephen Bishop or Erykah Badu)
Encore:
Viva Las Vegas
Returning to Bally’s in October, there were old favorites and new gems on the set list:
Doctor My Eyes (Jackson Browne)
Living for the City
The Deal
Back to Louisiana
In the Ghetto
- All Right
- Movin’ on Up
- It's Your Thing
Maybe You Should
Country Livin' (Jamie McLean)
19
That's Life
Don't Let Me Down
What's Right is Right
- Mystic Church
- Tupelo Honey
7 Mile Breakdown
- Running on Empty
- Jo Jo was a man..
- Get Back
- Can't Trust Your Neighbor
- Who Are You (The Who)
Minute by Minute
- Can't Trust Your Neighbor (Freddy King)
Sneaking Sally Through the Alley (Robert Palmer)
Takin' It to the Streets
Encore:
Viva Las Vegas
This should be posted with: “Subject to Change.” Taylor Hicks always “changes up things.” It is what keeps his shows fresh and vibrant. Special guests share the stage like John Popper of Blues Traveler. On a recent Saturday night, Jennifer Lynn, violinist with the Frankie Moreno band, sat in with Taylor for a portion of the show. Be prepared to be surprised with guests or a new twist (or tag) from Taylor Hicks and his amazing Vegas band.
You haven’t seen him if you’ve only seen him once!
Taylor Hicks continues to rock the set list and the tags at Bally’s Indigo Room nightly at 7:00 p.m. through December 16th and into 2013. Future dates TBA.
Catch the twists, turns, and tags of the roadhouse soul of Taylor Hicks at Bally’s Vegas while you can!
Tickets:
http://www.ballyslasvegas.com/casinos/ballys-las-vegas/casino-entertainment/taylor-hicks-detail.html
~~~
A favorite tag, Jackson Browne’s “Running on Empty” was shared by venue host, Bally’s:
*Thanks to all who share their Vegas experience and contribute to our archives of the music and shows. We would be glad to know if you have additions or corrections to our information.
**A special thanks to Cath_tthc who diligently researches, collects, organizes and posts the Taylor Hicks anthology. For more, visit:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/connections/index/
Showing posts with label soul music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label soul music. Show all posts
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Taylor Hicks ~ "Somehow"
“Tough times don’t last. Tough people do.”
Taylor Hicks via Twitter.
“Somehow”
by Taylor Rueben Hicks
There’s too many things
Left to be unsaid
Some live in a dark hole
Sometimes in my head
But I’m all right
I’ll get by
Somehow
You want to feel their emotion
Sometimes even hold their hand
But they’re giving nothing in return
To suit their own demands
But I’m tired
And I’ll get by
Somehow
Look at the people around you
Stabbing at your heart
But you still smile in kindness
For not knowing who they are
And their stories have ended
And they’ve lit up the town
And it’s time to go home
As they go and lay their bodies back down
There’s too many things
Left to be unsaid
So I live in a dark hole
Sometimes in my head
But I’m all right
I’ll get by
Somehow
Taylor Hicks via Twitter.
“Somehow”
by Taylor Rueben Hicks
There’s too many things
Left to be unsaid
Some live in a dark hole
Sometimes in my head
But I’m all right
I’ll get by
Somehow
You want to feel their emotion
Sometimes even hold their hand
But they’re giving nothing in return
To suit their own demands
But I’m tired
And I’ll get by
Somehow
Look at the people around you
Stabbing at your heart
But you still smile in kindness
For not knowing who they are
And their stories have ended
And they’ve lit up the town
And it’s time to go home
As they go and lay their bodies back down
There’s too many things
Left to be unsaid
So I live in a dark hole
Sometimes in my head
But I’m all right
I’ll get by
Somehow
“I’ll get by…somehow.”
Classic country lyrics—cryin’ words. The first time I heard this I thought this is the country connection in Taylor’s music. This must have been written during Taylor’s Nashville stay…a Nashville sound.
When I look at Taylor’s music and try to “get inside” it, I don’t try to “get it right”—what he meant, what he was thinking, or what the situation was as he wrote it. That would seem like an intrusion. I look for what it means to me and how it may foster a dialogue.
I don’t think “Somehow” is a country song. I can hear Ray Charles singing this song, and I know he did country crossover. Taylor’s signature delivery is more soulful than country in spite of an easy rhythm and instruments that says country.
Beyond the deceivingly, simple lyrics of “I’ll Get by… somehow,” this is about that complicated place of hurt inside us all and about the resolve to survive and “get by.” The straightforward words are deceptive of their depth.
There’s too many things
Left to be unsaid
Some live in a dark hole
Sometimes in my head
There’s no country twang or room for it in Taylor’s performance of this. Because of the chorus lyrics, we want to give it a country vibe. But I hear a lament that is pure soul—Taylor Hicks channeling Ray Charles.
You want to feel their emotion
Sometimes even hold their hand
But they’re giving nothing in return
To suit their own demands
Taylor has sung this song in the rain. He sang it in New Orleans. I haven’t seen a stage version of it that I feel captures its essence. To me, it is a listen to stick in your ears—the recorded version from In Your Time or Early Works. It is an easy rhythm that takes you along on a pensive journey inside the mind.
Until a cryin’ saxophone breaks out with a wail that suggests getting by is not acceptable forever. Maybe there’s more. And with his signature growling passion, Taylor’s voice matches the emotion of the words:
Look at the people around you
Stabbing at your heart
But you will smile in kindness
For not knowing who they are
In the end, Taylor’s voice fades to almost a whisper. It is as if that moment of “living in a dark hole sometimes in my head” is over and he returns to a peaceful resolve:
But I’m all right
I’ll get by
Somehow
I see “Somehow” on stage like “The Fall”—pure Taylor voice and minimum production with the beautiful lyrics of resolve and resiliency that come when we have no where to go but up. We know of the black hole sometimes in our head and we determine to go on in spite of all that we hold there.
This song leaves us with challenges. Our lives are full of too many things left that will remain unsaid and undone—what we should have said, what we never had a chance to say or what we couldn’t say—when there are no words.
Music not written, songs not sung, places not seen, lives not touched.
I heard a line recently that inspired me:
“I want to leave this life exhausted.”
Leave as little as possible unsaid and undone.
It also leaves us with the challenge of getting by, no matter how tired or how beaten down.
But I’m all right
I’ll get by
Somehow
We can’t help but take this chorus out of context and make it an anthem for our times. Tough times have come to everyone even those with good jobs still making their mortgage payments. These times have forestalled retirements, cancelled or cut back on college plans, forced families to fight for just the basics.
Today is all about getting by.
It isn’t about waiting for a bailout. It’s not about what others can do for you. It’s about what you must do for yourself.
Most of us have experienced the failing economy; it is so far reaching now. I recently found out most of the value in my home from the last ten years is gone. And I am so lucky. I am not underwater, and I have a job. So many people have suffered far greater losses than equity in a home.
So we carpool, collect coupons, and carefully calculate consumer spending. We refinance, rethink priorities, and restructure resumes. We do what we must.
I return so often to a staunch belief that we are stronger than we know.
“Tough times don’t last. Tough people do.”
We are tougher than we think. It starts with believing in ourselves and never giving up.
A favorite passage of mine from Taylor’s autobiography, Heart Full of Soul, is just after he leaves Nashville after no success there and returns to Birmingham, not beaten, but as reenergized as he is every time he takes the stage. He writes:
“Anyone expecting Taylor Hicks to return to Birmingham from Nashville as a broken man with a cowboy hat in hand would have been sorely disappointed. I’ve never been one to remain flat on the canvas for long, so I returned with my head still held high, a little bloodied but unbowed, ready to get right down to work.”
Tough times will not keep us on the canvas for very long.
Yes, tough times are that. But the human spirit will always prevail. It always has.
So, I will see you on the other side of these tough times.
Meanwhile,
We WILL get by…
Somehow.
~~~
"Taylor Hicks - Somehow" 2007 Montage by rugratnat14 on YouTube:
"Somehow" by Taylor Hicks was originally recorded on his first album, In Your Time, and in 2008 on Early Works:
~~~
Blogger’s Note: This piece has been in the works for some time. I have always wanted to take a look at this song and its country connection…or not.
Yesterday, @TaylorRHicks tweeted the quote at the beginning and I was writing about this tough economy and “getting by.” We find ourselves in a “dark hole” sometimes especially now, and it may become a “deep hole.” It doesn’t help to dwell in that place. It does help to work at getting out of it, especially mentally and emotionally.
When I saw Taylor’s quote and a tweet shortly after that which said, “That reminds me of your song, ‘Somehow,’” its time had come.
~~~ Photo: From @TaylorRHicks via Twitter; Taylor Hicks, Lake Mission Viejo, CA, August, 2011; edited by San.
Quote: Heart Full of Soul, by Taylor Hicks for Random House, 2007.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Soul Music...
singing with the ugly face...
“Soul is singing with the ugly face.” Sharon Jones, a gospel-trained singer who started performing soul in the ‘70s can sing with sweetness and grace, but she says there’s more to it than that. “I think when you go soul, you got to get the ugly face.”
A newcomer to soul music is a young Eli “Paperboy” Reed who “knows how to sing ugly.” “My music sounds the way it does ‘cause everybody wears their influences on their sleeve...” he says. It is “marked by a passionate precision and raw intensity.”
According to National Public Radio writer, Ashley Kahn, “If you’re talking about music, soul is easy to define. It’s a gritty, vocal style, filled with a feeling straight out of the black church. Soul music was born in the ‘50s, took over the charts in the ‘60s, and remains alive and well today. Soul often has horn sections and sometimes strings, but it doesn’t like to be too dressed up with polished production: Soul is more about naked emotion and personal testimony.
“Soul music was born thanks to the innovations of a generation of post-war musicians who, essentially, turned gospel music into a secular form of art.” Ray Charles and Sam Cooke were two of the founding fathers, but there were many soul singers and groups who fostered the evolution of the mainstream black music into mainstream American music.
A stepchild of soul music was the “blue-eyed soul” singer—a white artist who performed the black music. Singers in the 60s like the The Righteous Brothers took soul music to the top of the charts. The ride for soul continues with music from a plethora of artists such as Michael McDonald, Joss Stone, Amy Winehouse and Taylor Hicks.
Blue-eyed-soul singer, Taylor Hicks, told NPR Tapestry in a radio interview in 2005, “My music is derived from the old soul artists of back in the day…the high energy live performers like Sam Cooke and Marvin Gay, Otis Redding and a lot of the Stax soul review—energy that you would have if you saw those play back in the day.” He writes in his autobiography, “Heart Full of Soul,” of his early attachment to soul music growing up in an imperfect world…”....And all the while, I was listening to soul music - music where you can actually hear a man’s heart break. So it just really made sense to me - even at such a young age.”
Taylor Hicks has the voice…a gravely, whiskey tenor with the “passionate precision and raw intensity” described by Paperboy Reed. He performs his music with the intensity of a tent revival testimony. Taylor can sing with the ugly face…the face he wears when he “takes us to church”!
The new sound of soul by Taylor Hicks will take us to church on March 10 when “The Distance,” is being released on his own label, Modern Whomp Records.
Soul music—emotions set down in music inspiring the ugly face!
Sources: Ashley Kahn, National Public Radio, and NPR Tapestry; Heart Full of Soul, by Taylor Hicks.
“Soul is singing with the ugly face.” Sharon Jones, a gospel-trained singer who started performing soul in the ‘70s can sing with sweetness and grace, but she says there’s more to it than that. “I think when you go soul, you got to get the ugly face.”
A newcomer to soul music is a young Eli “Paperboy” Reed who “knows how to sing ugly.” “My music sounds the way it does ‘cause everybody wears their influences on their sleeve...” he says. It is “marked by a passionate precision and raw intensity.”
According to National Public Radio writer, Ashley Kahn, “If you’re talking about music, soul is easy to define. It’s a gritty, vocal style, filled with a feeling straight out of the black church. Soul music was born in the ‘50s, took over the charts in the ‘60s, and remains alive and well today. Soul often has horn sections and sometimes strings, but it doesn’t like to be too dressed up with polished production: Soul is more about naked emotion and personal testimony.
“Soul music was born thanks to the innovations of a generation of post-war musicians who, essentially, turned gospel music into a secular form of art.” Ray Charles and Sam Cooke were two of the founding fathers, but there were many soul singers and groups who fostered the evolution of the mainstream black music into mainstream American music.
A stepchild of soul music was the “blue-eyed soul” singer—a white artist who performed the black music. Singers in the 60s like the The Righteous Brothers took soul music to the top of the charts. The ride for soul continues with music from a plethora of artists such as Michael McDonald, Joss Stone, Amy Winehouse and Taylor Hicks.
Blue-eyed-soul singer, Taylor Hicks, told NPR Tapestry in a radio interview in 2005, “My music is derived from the old soul artists of back in the day…the high energy live performers like Sam Cooke and Marvin Gay, Otis Redding and a lot of the Stax soul review—energy that you would have if you saw those play back in the day.” He writes in his autobiography, “Heart Full of Soul,” of his early attachment to soul music growing up in an imperfect world…”....And all the while, I was listening to soul music - music where you can actually hear a man’s heart break. So it just really made sense to me - even at such a young age.”
Taylor Hicks has the voice…a gravely, whiskey tenor with the “passionate precision and raw intensity” described by Paperboy Reed. He performs his music with the intensity of a tent revival testimony. Taylor can sing with the ugly face…the face he wears when he “takes us to church”!
The new sound of soul by Taylor Hicks will take us to church on March 10 when “The Distance,” is being released on his own label, Modern Whomp Records.
Soul music—emotions set down in music inspiring the ugly face!
Sources: Ashley Kahn, National Public Radio, and NPR Tapestry; Heart Full of Soul, by Taylor Hicks.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Grease~sweet home, Chicago!
Taylor Hicks warms up this town…
Chicago loves Grease and Taylor Hicks!
Chicago has loved this show for years. It’s loving it again—the music, the young cast (Danny and Sandy leads, Eric Schneider and Emily Padgett, are from Illinois), and Taylor Hicks as Teen Angel. The original tale of life at Taft High was told by Jim Jacobs in the musical that opened at Chicago’s Kingston Mines Theater in 1971. It hasn’t been the same since, evolving to a hit movie starring John Travolta and Oliver Newton-John, the original Broadway show, and the recent 2007 Broadway revival production.
Grease is still Chicago’s baby. Jacobs sat in the audience on opening night and spoke to the media about his original memoir of life in the 50s at Taft High as edgy and racy. “There would be a sign in the window, ‘If this were a movie, it would be R rated.’” There was even an appeal in the press last week for the return of the original, more realistic Grease.
While the show and cast have been well received in the Windy City, the star billing was undeniably for Taylor Hicks. He was everywhere—appearing on early morning news shows, talking with media, and looking for the ultimate cheeseburger.
Take a look at some of the press, as modern whomp meets Northern soul and produces pure entertainment.
From Andy Argyrakis at hearsay.cc:
“Of course before anyone could dig too deep into the storyline, all eyes locked on Hicks, who descended from the ceiling as Teen Angel (aptly following in the footsteps of Frankie Avalon and even Chubby Checker) for a short but sweet rendition of “Beauty School Dropout.” The 2006 “American Idol” winner added some soulful flourishes to the number thanks to a short harmonica solo at the end and had no problem hamming it up with his campy flair burning brightly, despite no prior acting experience.
“After all the actors bowed, fans were treated to a concert-like encore featuring a medley of the show’s greatest hits led by Hicks. He broke out the harmonica yet again for the title track, while reprisals of “Born To Hand-Jive” and “You’re the One That I Want” had so much pep they matched the dynamism of Less Than Jake’s unconventional covers collection chronicling the same soundtrack.”
From Steven Oxman at “Variety”…
“While ‘Grease,’ the touring version of the recently closed Broadway revival, lacks the inspiration and emotional sincerity needed to be more than merely peppy and puerile, it does come alive from a sheer kitsch perspective when Taylor Hicks of "American Idol" fame emerges from a giant ice cream cone to sing "Beauty School Dropout." In fact, the biggest laugh of the evening comes when the flirtatious Frenchy twirls Mr. Hicks' exposed chest hair and purrs, ‘I voooted for you.’
“The line, delivered deliciously by standout Kate Morgan Chadwick, has layers of significance beyond a single moment of self-conscious humor, since this "Grease," directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall, was originally birthed on the NBC reality show "Grease: You're the One That I Want," in which the television audience selected the previously unknown Max Crumm and Laura Osnes to become Rialto headliners in the revival.
“The ensemble boasts plenty of chops, particularly an ability to capture the melodic elements of the songs. And they do their best to amp up the comedy. But, the little love stories that drive the plot have no dramatic force whatsoever. All the scenes have the same energy, the emotions are all plastic, and the characterizations, purely generic.
“This is where Hicks separates himself, creating his own little show-within-a-show, lifting us out of the manufactured quality of the production to enjoy a few moments of an over-the-top oddness that's decidedly individual. Yes, he delivers on pre-ordained expectations -- he even plays the harmonica and dances …like he's a father at a party trying to embarrass his kids.
“But, to his credit and to the audience's enjoyment, nobody else could be this Teen Angel, and there's no point in even trying to compare him to Frankie Avalon.”
Weekend media included a Sunday morning interview on WGN Radio with Dean Richards who earlier in the week gave Grease and Taylor’s performance an “A” and raved about the production. He and Taylor chatted about Grease, Taylor’s new music, his admiration for Buddy Guy, a childhood memory of Bozo the Clown from WGN, and Taylor’s quest to find the ultimate cheeseburger. Taylor even expressed his appreciation for the Chicago snowfall, a novelty for the Alabama native.
Come blizzard or heat wave, Grease continues its Chicago stay through Sunday, January 18.
As Chicago embraces the soulful, “campy” Teen Angel, Taylor is giving back the love…he is doing a video shoot while in Chicago for his new single, “What’s Right is Right,” which impacts radio play and is released to iTunes January 20. The album, “The Distance” is out March 10. He takes his modern whomp soul music to the Lincoln Park club, Martyr’s, for a late show on January 17 where it is reported that he will “try out new music.”
As Taylor has said, “either you entertain people, or you go home.” At this rate, Taylor won’t be going home any time soon!
After Dean Richards reiterated some of Taylor’s current projects, Taylor ended the interview with what struck me as a profound and prophetic comment: “I’m around.” Well said.
Goodbye, Alabama…
Chicago loves Grease and Taylor Hicks!
Chicago has loved this show for years. It’s loving it again—the music, the young cast (Danny and Sandy leads, Eric Schneider and Emily Padgett, are from Illinois), and Taylor Hicks as Teen Angel. The original tale of life at Taft High was told by Jim Jacobs in the musical that opened at Chicago’s Kingston Mines Theater in 1971. It hasn’t been the same since, evolving to a hit movie starring John Travolta and Oliver Newton-John, the original Broadway show, and the recent 2007 Broadway revival production.
Grease is still Chicago’s baby. Jacobs sat in the audience on opening night and spoke to the media about his original memoir of life in the 50s at Taft High as edgy and racy. “There would be a sign in the window, ‘If this were a movie, it would be R rated.’” There was even an appeal in the press last week for the return of the original, more realistic Grease.
While the show and cast have been well received in the Windy City, the star billing was undeniably for Taylor Hicks. He was everywhere—appearing on early morning news shows, talking with media, and looking for the ultimate cheeseburger.
Take a look at some of the press, as modern whomp meets Northern soul and produces pure entertainment.
From Andy Argyrakis at hearsay.cc:
“Of course before anyone could dig too deep into the storyline, all eyes locked on Hicks, who descended from the ceiling as Teen Angel (aptly following in the footsteps of Frankie Avalon and even Chubby Checker) for a short but sweet rendition of “Beauty School Dropout.” The 2006 “American Idol” winner added some soulful flourishes to the number thanks to a short harmonica solo at the end and had no problem hamming it up with his campy flair burning brightly, despite no prior acting experience.
“After all the actors bowed, fans were treated to a concert-like encore featuring a medley of the show’s greatest hits led by Hicks. He broke out the harmonica yet again for the title track, while reprisals of “Born To Hand-Jive” and “You’re the One That I Want” had so much pep they matched the dynamism of Less Than Jake’s unconventional covers collection chronicling the same soundtrack.”
From Steven Oxman at “Variety”…
“While ‘Grease,’ the touring version of the recently closed Broadway revival, lacks the inspiration and emotional sincerity needed to be more than merely peppy and puerile, it does come alive from a sheer kitsch perspective when Taylor Hicks of "American Idol" fame emerges from a giant ice cream cone to sing "Beauty School Dropout." In fact, the biggest laugh of the evening comes when the flirtatious Frenchy twirls Mr. Hicks' exposed chest hair and purrs, ‘I voooted for you.’
“The line, delivered deliciously by standout Kate Morgan Chadwick, has layers of significance beyond a single moment of self-conscious humor, since this "Grease," directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall, was originally birthed on the NBC reality show "Grease: You're the One That I Want," in which the television audience selected the previously unknown Max Crumm and Laura Osnes to become Rialto headliners in the revival.
“The ensemble boasts plenty of chops, particularly an ability to capture the melodic elements of the songs. And they do their best to amp up the comedy. But, the little love stories that drive the plot have no dramatic force whatsoever. All the scenes have the same energy, the emotions are all plastic, and the characterizations, purely generic.
“This is where Hicks separates himself, creating his own little show-within-a-show, lifting us out of the manufactured quality of the production to enjoy a few moments of an over-the-top oddness that's decidedly individual. Yes, he delivers on pre-ordained expectations -- he even plays the harmonica and dances …like he's a father at a party trying to embarrass his kids.
“But, to his credit and to the audience's enjoyment, nobody else could be this Teen Angel, and there's no point in even trying to compare him to Frankie Avalon.”
Weekend media included a Sunday morning interview on WGN Radio with Dean Richards who earlier in the week gave Grease and Taylor’s performance an “A” and raved about the production. He and Taylor chatted about Grease, Taylor’s new music, his admiration for Buddy Guy, a childhood memory of Bozo the Clown from WGN, and Taylor’s quest to find the ultimate cheeseburger. Taylor even expressed his appreciation for the Chicago snowfall, a novelty for the Alabama native.
Come blizzard or heat wave, Grease continues its Chicago stay through Sunday, January 18.
As Chicago embraces the soulful, “campy” Teen Angel, Taylor is giving back the love…he is doing a video shoot while in Chicago for his new single, “What’s Right is Right,” which impacts radio play and is released to iTunes January 20. The album, “The Distance” is out March 10. He takes his modern whomp soul music to the Lincoln Park club, Martyr’s, for a late show on January 17 where it is reported that he will “try out new music.”
As Taylor has said, “either you entertain people, or you go home.” At this rate, Taylor won’t be going home any time soon!
After Dean Richards reiterated some of Taylor’s current projects, Taylor ended the interview with what struck me as a profound and prophetic comment: “I’m around.” Well said.
Goodbye, Alabama…
(sources: hearsay.cc, variety.com, leisureblog.chicagotribune.com,nwitimes.com, WGN Radio)
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