Welcome back to the CD Odyssey. It
doesn’t end until I run out of music, and since I keep buying music, I’m not
sure when I’m going to catch up. I’m in no hurry to end the journey so it doesn’t
matter.
Disc 803 is….100 Days, 100 Nights
Artist: Sharon
Jones & the Dap-Kings
Year of Release: 2007
What’s up with the Cover? Like the style of music itself,
this cover is a throwback to the sixties and early seventies. Back in those
days the LP would advertise the song tracks so you wouldn’t have to turn it
over to see what you were getting.
In
addition to some song advertisements, you also get the added treat of Sharon
Jones herself, looking fine in a gold lamé dress.
How I Came To Know It: My friend Nick bought a Sharon
Jones album (“I Learned the Hard Way” reviewed back at Disc 629) and I
liked it so much I did the same. “100 Days, 100 Nights” was just me drilling
backward through her collection after I realized how much I liked her stuff.
How It Stacks Up: I have four albums by Sharon Jones and the
Dap-Kings. “100 Days, 100 Nights” is damn good, finishing a very close second
to “I Learned the Hard Way.”
Ratings: 4 stars
“100 Days, 100 Nights” is a celebration of the roots
of funk and soul as seen through the thoroughly modern genius of band leader
Bosco Mann.
These songs could’ve been released in 1970 and been hits,
and if you didn’t know any better you would assume they were. This would lead you
to naturally wonder if the Dap-Kings sound derivative or dated. The answer is a
resounding “hell, no!” These guys have captured funk at its best and most vital
and like a bottle of whiskey found on some 18th century wreck, its
time away from civilization has just made it tastier.
A big part of that tastiness is front woman Sharon
Jones, who has the vocal chops of a female James Brown and the same natural
instinct for how to turn a phrase and ride the swing of a good beat. However,
for all that, Jones only has the freedom to shine like she does because the
Dap-Kings are so damned tight. The funk is an easy rhythm to ape at, but a hard
one to master, and it is in those tiny moments that your ear can tell if it is
authentic or not.
The Dap-Kings are authentic like 24-karat gold. Whether
they are playing full out, or cutting down to three quarter time at Sharon’s
playful demand, as they do on the title track that are always right in the
pocket. That swing makes your head nod, and puts a swagger in your walk (for
those who saw me walking home tonight, yes – that was swagger).
As much as I bask in the glow of bassist Bosco Mann,
I must now do as James Brown recommended all those years ago, and give the
drummer some. In this case, that would be Dap-King drummer Homer Steinweiss.
You already know Steinweiss, although you didn’t know you did – he does the
groovy drumming on Amy Winehouse’s “You
Know I’m No Good.” Do yourself a favour and go and listen to it again, but this time focus on the drummer. You’re welcome.
On “100 Days, 100 Nights” Steinweiss not only drums,
he also writes the record’s best song, “Nobody’s
Baby.” This is a song about female empowerment that Sharon Jones owns with
evident glee. Starting with a derisive laugh, she proceeds to inform her former
boyfriend man that she’s done with him. On an album full of funky songs, there
is none funkier than “Nobody’s Baby.”
If you’ve ever wanted to tell a good for nothing man that you know he’s no good, this song is for you.
The rest of the album is also good, and full of
empowering music. There are songs about loving yourself (“Nobody’s Baby”), songs about loving your man (“Tell Me”) and songs about making sweet love to that man (“Let Them Knock”). If the blues tap the
natural rhythms of human sadness, then soul music done right equally taps human
joy.
While most of the songs are modern tracks every bit
the equal of their sixties and seventies inspired forerunners, the album ends
with a cover. “Answer Me,” a song
written and performed by James Bignon and God’s Children in 1979. Yes, that was
the band’s name. Anyway, I went on “The Youtube” to check out the original, and
while it is OK, it doesn’t hold a candle to the Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings
version. I’m not religious but when I heard this song, consider me taken to
church, because it was that kind of awesome.
“100 Days, 100 Nights” is also that kind of awesome,
and a true celebration of music in one of its finest and most enduring forms.
No comments:
Post a Comment