JEFFREY MORGAN’S MEDIA BLACKOUT #585.218!

The Black Crowes – Warpaint Live (Eagle Rock) :: I’d never heard these guys before but after listening to this one, I’m in no hurry to hear them caw again. The first track, “Goodbye Daughters Of The Revolution,” is a great Exile On Main St. meets the Allman Brothers pastiche, but that’s exactly why I ended up nodding off halfway through. Whereas Exile served up a surfeit of creative variety, this brash rehash is nothing but a monotonous one-trick phony that takes fawning sycophantic fanboyism and then shamefully runs it into the ground—and the fact that they actually stoop to cover “Torn And Frayed” only proves my point. It also makes me want to play Exile again and forget about this fraud on the run.

Zac Harmon – From The Root (Northern Blues) :: Avid octogenarian eaters like myself will be able to relate to a smooth snatch-suckin’ song like “The Older Woman” because it’s mmm-mmm, finger-licking good. And although Zac will no doubt declare that his song ain’t about gettin’ down and rootin’ around in the underground, he’d be wrong because the cumstomer is always right!

SIZZLING PLATTER OF THE WEEK: Gary Lewis & The Playboys – The Complete Liberty Singles (Collectors’ Choice) :: How cool is Gary Lewis? He’s the son of Jerry Lewis. He looks like Supercar’s Mike Mercury. An unreasonable chunk of the songs that he cut were co-written with producer Snuff Garrett and arranger Leon “Holy Trinity” Russell. He recorded a Kellogg’s Corn Flakes song called “Doin’ The Flake” that out-milks the Rolling Stones’ Kellogg’s Rice Krispies song, “Wake Up In The Morning.” But coolest of all is the uncanny spot-on impersonation that Gary does of his dad when he savages the grisly ballad “Time Stands Still” by singing it in a nasally spastic-retardo voice that out-Jers Jer. Two discs? Forty-five tracks? All in mono? La la la, nice record!

Jerry Lewis – Jerry Lewis Just Sings (Decca) :: He’s no Gary Lewis, but who is?

Be seeing you!