| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Carl |
Posted - 07/28/2005 : 20:29:54
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/20050728-9999-lz1w28black.html
Life is sweet
...for the Pixies' Frank Black - his band's hot again and his solo effort, 'Honeycomb,' was an 'elevating experience'
By George Varga
UNION-TRIBUNE POP MUSIC CRITIC
July 28, 2005
Frank Black is old enough, at 40, to savor being an alternative-rock icon as the leader of the once-again active Pixies. He's also passionate enough to perform with infectious verve whenever he likes, as the Pixies' sold-out concert here last year at UCSD's RIMAC Arena attested.
And he's wise enough to realize that, while his hugely influential band can no longer rock with quite the same abandon as in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it can perform with greater musical depth and dimension than in the days of his youth.
"I can't tap into the naive, spastic playing that you do when you're young, although we occasionally still play too fast. But, overall, I'd say we're much more muscular and we can play a lot heavier and, for sure, lighter," said Black, who headlines with the reunited Pixies Saturday night at Street Scene.
To hear the lighter side of Black's music, look no farther than "Honeycomb," recorded in just four days last year in Nashville on the eve of the Pixies' first tour since 1992.
His first solo album in nine years, "Honeycomb" offers an understated blend of country, rock and soul. It was inspired equally by such classic Bob Dylan albums as "Nashville Skyline" and "Blonde On Blonde," and by the svelte vocal stylings of jazz luminaries Chet Baker and Mose Allison (see sidebar).
Produced by Jon Tiven, the album teams Black with such stellar musicians as keyboardist Spooner Oldham and guitarists Steve Cropper and Reggie Young, among others. Their past credits include classic recordings with everyone from Dylan, Otis Redding and Neil Young to Wilson Pickett, Johnny Horton and Sam & Dave.
"Honeycomb" is a laid-beck gem that may cause some veteran and neophyte Pixies fans alike to scratch their heads in bewilderment. But open-minded listeners will find much to savor in this gentle, graceful music and the way Black so expertly re-applies his punk-rock edge in such a subdued setting.
"The only audience I had in mind when I was writing the music was the musicians, those guys, specifically," he said by phone from his home in Eugene, Ore.
"I remember distinctly trying to visualize them in my mind, even though I had not yet met them, I was trying to write songs that they would get behind. At the same time, I didn't want to do it in an overly conscious way, because I didn't want to be fake.
"I knew these were quality guys who'd backed up quality people, and the last thing they want is for me to be something I'm not. They want me to be me, even if it was me writing a bunch of quirky, post-punk songs. I kept thinking about them, a lot more than I usually think about people I play with. I was excited – 'What will these guys think about me?' – and I wanted to do my best."
The musicians on "Honeycomb" also have performed with Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson, Percy Sledge and San Diego's J.J. Cale. Dan Penn, who engineered the album and sang harmony vocals, is also the composer of the epic soul ballad "Dark End of the Street," which Black – after overcoming understandable jitters – ably covered on "Honeycomb."
"I think I was intimidated before I even met them," he admitted. "I remember being back home thinking about the fact I was going to make a record with guys who were older and experienced and famous. At some point, you have to let your own ego take over and stand tall, otherwise you won't get it done. You have to walk in the studio door and be, not cocky, but go: 'Hey! I'm Frank Black, man. I can play with the best of them!'"
Did it work?
"I had to say it to myself," he replied with a chuckle. "I didn't say it to them."
Making "Honeycomb" was unlike any previous recording experience of Black's career.
The musicians he collaborated with are so seasoned and accomplished they nailed a number of the songs during the first run-through. As a result, much of this earthy yet eloquent album was recorded as Black was presenting his songs to them for the first time.
"There wasn't really any ice to break," he said. "It was: 'Hey, how's it going? Whoa! Here we go. Next song!'
"Aside from how good they are and how experienced they are, they listen very, very well and carefully. They listened to me, to the lyrics, to each other. They are very, very, very good at listening and are really in tune with every instrument that's being played. It's a level of listening I really haven't experienced before."
Black left Nashville to begin the Pixies' acclaimed reunion tour as soon as he finished recording "Honeycomb." The high-octane, high-decibel concert trek saw the quintessential cult band greeted as returning
heroes by enthusiastic audiences far larger than any in the Pixies' heyday 15 years ago.
For other musicians, moving from a mellow recording session in Nashville to a Pixies' tour might seem schizoid, but not Black.
"It made me feel cool," he said. "Both (the album and tour) were such elevating experiences. I thought: 'Wow, I'm here in Nashville making a record with legends; maybe I do have something going on.' To go from that to being back on the road with my old band, and find everyone wanted to hear us – everyone! – was also very ego-boosting. So the music (with the Pixies) was really secondary."
Like the Velvet Underground before them, the Pixies became far more influential after they broke up than during the time the band was originally together.
Black notes with bemused pride that the Pixies' debut album, 1988's "Sister Rosa," only achieved gold record status (for sales of 500,000) this year. Young fans who were barely in grade school when the Pixies broke up due to ego clashes and drug problems are embracing the band now as visionary pioneers of alternative-rock.
Given how lucrative the reunion tour has proven, does Black regret that the Pixies didn't reunite earlier?
"No, I think we did it just right," he said. "Five years, five records, then sit around for 10 or 11 years! We had a good run the first time around. I didn't really try to gauge how successful the reunion would be. I had no idea."
Black doesn't hold out much hope for a new Pixies album, but speaks enthusiastically of his next solo album, also recorded in Nashville. It will feature ex-Motown Records bass ace Bob Babbit and keyboardist Ian McLagan, whose past credits include Dylan, the Small Faces, the Rolling Stones and Bonnie Raitt.
"I'm just trying to record as much as I can," said Black, who notes that his impetus for making music now is the same as when he was a kid. "It's like a lifelong obsession with rock music that I've had since I was very young. I don't know what it is, but I like it and want to be around it and participate in it. It's the same today, a very youthful kind of feeling."
MICHAEL HALSBAND
"A lot of the gentle singing style of (jazzman) Chet Baker I noticed more than once showing up in my delivery," says Frank Black of his new solo album.
STREET SCENE 2005
The Pixies 10:30 p.m. Saturday; Street Scene Best Buy Stage, Qualcomm Stadium parking lot; $55 (advance); $65 (day of show); (888) 487-4347
MICHAEL HALSBAND
"I certainly can't claim ownership," says Frank Black of the slow-verse/fast chorus style that Kurt Cobain and other fans credited the Pixies for creating. "It was an obvious, almost cheap trick, but I like it because it sounds good." |
| 7 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| HeywoodJablome |
Posted - 08/06/2005 : 09:53:05
It means...a whales vagina. |
| The Marsist |
Posted - 08/06/2005 : 09:22:49
go fuck yourself san diego
"To be known as an underdog - that can only be a good thing. It's better than sucking."
- Frank Black
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| HeywoodJablome |
Posted - 08/06/2005 : 09:03:56
"We been comin' to the same party for 12 years and in no way is that depressing."
quote:
Originally posted by Broken Face
stay classy san diego
-Brian
If you move I shoots!
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| VoVat |
Posted - 07/29/2005 : 20:57:35
She's changing her name from Nicole to Sister Rosa.
I was all out of luck, like a duck that died. I was all out of juice, like a moose denied. |
| Carl |
Posted - 07/29/2005 : 18:40:02
That's a funny mistake! :D |
| VoVat |
Posted - 07/29/2005 : 14:30:23
"Sister Rosa"?
Did she quit surfing and join a convent?
I was all out of luck, like a duck that died. I was all out of juice, like a moose denied. |
| Broken Face |
Posted - 07/28/2005 : 21:38:46
stay classy san diego
-Brian
If you move I shoots!
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