MUSIC REVIEWS
STEVE WINWOOD’S ABOUT TIME

Rock music great Steve Winwood celebrated his 40th year in the music industry by releasing a new CD, About Time on June 17, 2003. In this 11 song CD, Winwood returns to his basic rock, jazz, and blues roots established in bands like the Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, and Blind Faith, as well as his early solo works, forgoing the pop influences that have marked his not so successful efforts of the past.

The music on About Time demonstrates Winwood’s versatility and wide ranging influences. The rhythms and beats of the Caribbean provide the primary influence on this music collection. The influence is heard on such cuts as “Cigano (For the Gypsies),” “Domingo Morning,” “Now That You’re Alive,” and “Walking On.” One great song on the CD, “Why Can’t We Live Together,” reminds the listener of numerous Santana songs. Here the heavy organ, guitar, and drumbeats are accompanied by strong lyrics that remind everyone that the world is still far from a harmonious place to live. A very strong song, “Different Light”, opens the CD. The music and lyrics of “Different Light” is reminiscent of the music from Winwood’s early influences. The slow and reflective song “Horizon” is also a fall back to earlier Winwood times. The final cut, “Silvia (Who Is She),” is a haunting love song accented by the guitar work of Jose Neto.

The CD features a lot of work by Winwood on the Hammond B-3 organ, a rock staple from the late 1960s and early 70s. Look for a lot of good guitar work, drum innovations and congas on this CD. Most of the CD consists of one-take cuts performed in the studio without the benefit of overdubs or add ons during the music mix.

About Time was produced by Winwood himself with a little help from Johnson Somerset. His band included Jose Piresde Almeida Neto on guitars, and Walfredo Reyes, Jr. on drums. Other musicians contributing to the music on About Time included Karl Bossche on congas, and Karl Denson on sax and flute. The songs on this CD were co-written by several Winwood associates including Jose Neto, Anthony Crawford, British pop star William Topley, and Steve’s wife Eugenia Winwood. The CD was released on Winwood’s own Wincraft lable.

This is a great CD, even if you are not a real Steve Winwood fan.

The legendary rock duo, Steely Dan, also released a new CD over the summer entitled Everything Must Go. This nine cut CD features the same Jazz/Blues sounds that made these rock legends a staple of the music scene for over three decades. Interesting songs on this CD include “The Last Mall,” “Lunch With Gina,” “Things I Miss The Most,” the upbeat and jazzy “Godwhacker,” and the title cut “Everything Must Go.” “Everything Must Go” compares the ending of a relationship to a corporate breakup. The line “I move to dissolve this corporation in a pool of Margaritas, …’Cause we’re going out of business, everything must go” in the first stanza sets the mood and tone for this provocative Steely Dan tune.

Steely Dan is comprised of the artist Walter Becker and Donald Fagen who write all the songs and do most of the arranging on all their musical efforts. For Everything Must Go, Becker and Fagen utilized Hugh McCracken and Jon Herrington on guitars, Walt Weiskopf on sax and Keith Carlock on drums. Becker and Fagen produced the CD.

Everything Must Go is a great follow up to Steely Dan’s 2002 release Two Against Nature. If you enjoyed Two Against Nature, you will like Everything Must Go.

The Clarion Issue wishes to extend its condolences to the family, friends, and fans of Warren Zevon (1947-2003), who died on September 7th after a lengthy fight with mesothelioma. While Zevon’s music was often weird, eccentric, and often preoccupied with death, he had a large following of dedicated fans. His hit songs included “Excitable Boy,” “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner,” “Lawyers, Guns, and Money,” “Things To Do In Denver When You’re Dead,” “If You Don’t Leave Me I’ll Find Someone Who Will,” “Accidentally Like a Martyr,” “Seminole Bingo,” “Monkey Wash, Donkey Rinse,” and his biggest hit, “Werewolves of London.”

Zevon was trained as a classical pianist and studied briefly under Igor Stravinsky. He composed music for the TV show Tales from the Crypt and wrote the hit songs “Outside Chance” for the Turtles and “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me” for Linda Ronstadt. He was a frequent quest on the Late Show hosted by his good friend David Letterman.

Zevon spent a good deal of his final months working on a new CD, The Wind. The Wind was completed shortly before his death and was released on August 26, 2003. The Wind, Zevon’s reflection on life and death, contains very moving songs such as “Numb As a Statue,” “Dirty Life,” and a heart wrenching cover of Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” The CD features appearances by many guest artists including Jackson Browne, Bruce Springsteen, and Dwight Yoakam. The Wind is a very strong release, and no Warren Zevon collection will be complete without it. The music world will miss this morbid, but truly innovative artist.