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known as the Asylum Choir, It consisted of only two people. One was Marc Benno, a guitarist with a fine voice, and the other was Leon Russell, who had done session work almost all his grown life. They released one album which raised a few eyebrows and sold very few copies So they broke up and went their separate ways. Leon got the big break he was destined to get and became a superstar and Benno went into session work, most noticeably on the Doors' LA Woman album.Anyway, since Leon has his own label, the two figured that they might as well release their second album, recorded in 1969, and show the public what they missed. It's a good thing they did. Asylum Choir it is a great record.What strikes me about this record is that the songs are a lot better than the ones on Leon's Shelter People album. Somehow that one was so eclipsed by Russell's live show that I don't listen to it any more.But this Ip has a few gems, and since Benno co-authored six of the ten songs, I'll have to say that he s the reason this record is so good, Leon's a superstar and all that, but I have to say that I was a bit embarrassed by some of the Shelter People songs, especially 'Theme from Mad Dogs and Englishmen. These older tunes have a lot to them, especially lyrically.Personal favorites include Straight Brother, which has Benno singing the choruses and sounds alot like Alcatraz. Two army songs, Down on the Base and Ballad for a Soldier, show a strong political side to Russell that somehow declined in the last tvyo years. There's even an anti smoking song, When You Wish Upon a Fag/' with lyrics like One more silly millimeter more to Forest Lawn and Save the coupons, walk a mile, your lungs are getting tanned. And the chorus: When your base player's flat and your drummer draqs, I bet you wish you had a fag,Leon does most of the work instrumental (when there's only two in a band, someone's gonna have to play more than one instrument), working on guitar, keyboards, bass and some drums. Benno handles the other guitar parts and most of the background vocals, the two work very well together, especially vocally, Leon's voice is gruff and snarly, Benno's is soft and sweet and their phrasing Is identical.Don't pass this one up because it's old stuff, ’cause if you do, you'll miss some of Leon’s best singing and writing and Marc Benno's able assisstance in creating a fine album. I hope there's an Asylum Choir III lying around somewhere.—Billy AltmanBob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II(Columbia KG31120)As Robert Zimmerman sits by hisfireplace in the Greenwich Villageapartment, he is tormented by frightful images aroused by feelings of doubt and pride. Weberman, Ochs, Don McClean, Joan Baez — all, as if imported from the farm owned by a certain girl named Maggie, are at his throat. He is constantly challenged to prove he is still theinnovator, the volcanic force behind a generation of the disaffectedDespite the hurricane around him, Dylan moves freely in the eye of the storm and continues to make the best musicaround (with the help, of course, of some of the best musicians around). Despite thecontroversy, people are continually lookingfor keys to the man's inner conscience and projecting theories ift*o the music columns and, surely, the political columns.Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol It delays the Dylanologist for just awhile, and.it forces us to look back/ether than ahead in musical time. It can be painful, and yet the experience of listening to such an amazing musical progression gives one a tremendous, exhilarating rush.There is, however, new material on the album, as well as a simultaneous release of the George Jackson lament. He dangles the imaginary carrot of knowledge in front of all the experts and has a lot of fun doing it. Pack up your money, pick up your tent, McGuinn he declares in YouAin't Going Nowhere, and we can see he is trying to shake a few parasites out of his hair. For that line alone, the album attracted my attention.The music on the album is tremendous with the exception of the Isle of Wight Mighty Quinn cut, on which Dylan,Richard Manuel and Rick Danko struggle to harmonize We are treated to six vintage Dylan cuts from previous albums '(including My Back Pages, Hard Ramard All I Really Want To Do) plus a live ;version of Tomorrow Is A Long Time and a brand new studio cut of I Shall Be Released with clutch support from HappyT raum. jThe rest of the cuts project the (post-1966 Dylan with fine variety. To hear Lay Lady Lay followed by Memphis ' Blues Again is to experience a joining of two men and to find cultural schizophrenia *staring us in the face. Alt this we ponder, jwhile the forthcoming release of an album made with Leon Russell stays at the backs (of our minds. What's the cat up to? some ask. Where does George Jackson fit in? And immediately Dylan is made the cultural scapegoat of a group of people too short-sighted and cowardly to admit their own failings.Bob Dylan really does not owe his audience anything, for he has already provided cultural fulfillment and a certain moral consciousness. This is all that any art can do, and if Bob Dylan has done anything he certainly has transformed himself into a work of art. We may look at it, let it seep into our senses, draw conclusions from it, yet it gives no hint of recognition.But if Bob Dylan is two-dimensional in the audience's eyes, he is nonetheless living flesh and blood in the eyes of Bob Dylan, Ihaving his own consciousness and a 1personal view of the world. He was public Iproperty in the voyeuristic world of the concert tour, and the experience obviously Iblew his mind. So, with the catalyst of a rmotorcycle accident hastening his lt;segregation, he withdrew into a musical realm rather than the realm of the street lt;Dylan is trying to paint his masterpiece, t
Newspaper Details
Buffalo Spectrum
Buffalo, New York, US
Fri, Dec 10, 1971
Page 25
Full Page
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GB 11 Feb 2023
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