Dance Around The Block

Tony Peyser
Mirror contributing writer

   My Dad used to read my column and say, “I love the writing but I don’t know any of the bands.” I explained a whole heap of them I’d only heard about recently. Nonetheless, I always kept an eye out for new recordings of old songs he liked. Oddly enough, a pair of albums arrived almost on the same day which both covered one of his favorites. “Rock Island Line” was written by Huddie Ledbetter a.k.a. Leadbelly, but my Dad preferred the version by the blues duo of Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry.  The song has been done over 150 times by folks like Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Harry Belafonte. Lonnie Donegan memorably recorded it in the 1950s and helped launched the skiffle band explosion in England. This may explain why The Beatles went into the studio and took their own whack at it.
   The two “Rock Island Line” takes here are impressive but very different. Dan Zanes, formerly of The Del Fuegos, is now making albums for kids under the name Dan Zanes and Friends. Family Dance serves up infectious music which moms and dads can actually enjoy and not just suffer through. (The same cannot be said for the wildly popular Raffi but I digress).
   Zanes’ “Rock Island Line” has a shuffling cajun feel and a sly zip to it. Blues gal Rory Block, who plays slide guitar with the skill of Ry Cooder, transforms “Rock Island Line” into a low-key but shimmering gospel tune.
   Aside from these tracks, both albums have a lot to offer. Zanes’ “Jump Up” will make you do just that and “The Good Night Waltz” would not be out of place on any adult roots rock album. “Thrift Shop” —- a duet with Sandra Bernhard —- is a melodic and amusing look at the simple joys of shopping for bargains. Zanes and Bernhard’s conversation over music at the end of the song is sweet, surprising and laugh-out-loud funny.
   Block, whose efforts are often brooding, has created a buoyant album with I’m Every Woman. It includes covers of Al Green’s “Tired Of Being Alone” and an engaging duet with Keb’ Mo’ on “Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing” which Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell popularized in 1968.
   I was so stunned by “Hold On/Change Is Coming” that I had to pull my car over to finish listening to it. Block’s collaboration with Reverend Herb Sheldon bravely addresses soldiering on in the face of family tragedy. Kleenex is mandatory. A pair of short instrumentals bookend the album and remind the listener what an astonishing guitar virtuoso Block is.
   Miles Of Music has Family Dance for $13 and I’m Every Woman for $14.49.
   *Ray and the Pay to Playboys will be at The Cinema Bar on February 6. And on February 12, the great Marcia Ball will take her blues act over to (where else?) The House Of Blues. Her latest CD is Presumed Innocent and I’ll bet you a Lone Star beer that she won’t get through her set without singing the sizzling “Thibodaux, Louisiana.”
   Finally, on February 7, take in the eclectic sounds of Moe Jones at Rusty’s Surf Ranch right here on our very own Santa Monica Pier.
   The Goofy Band Name Of The Week is … Eddie Spaghetti.