Short and Sweet: Cindy Lauper, Johnny Lang, Charlie Musselwhite and Jay Leno

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8dx0oE--VI

me:

I saw them perform together on the Tonight Show about a week or so ago.

Lauper has a new record out, Memphis Blues, that she's promoting. I don’t know if Lang plays on it but he was with her on the show nonetheless. And so was Charlie Musselwhite. What I noted was the almost complete focus on Lauper by Leno after she performed with the barest nod to Lang. (In fairness to Lauper, herself, she gave Lang generous playing and singing time.)

To me, there was an unmistakable contrast between the tricked out, glittery looking Lauper, with her faux, Patti Labelle-lite, histrionic intensity—a Bonnie Raitt , or a Susan Tedeschi, she is not—and the dour, dressed down, laconic looking Johnny Lang, jeans, untucked, unbuttoned flannel shirt over a T shirt, playing the blues great and singing the blues like he meant it and felt it, with genuine emotion conveying pain. Then they finish and out comes Leno to do his thank yous, and he’s all over Lauper, as I noted, with only the slightest nod to Lang. So it goes with celebrity, even of the attenuated Lauper variety, such that superior talent gets relatively overlooked.

And worse: the phenomenal Charlie Musselwhite, a legend really, played brilliant harp and didn’t even rate a mention, at least not that I heard.

Makes the point even stronger, I think.

That's all.

Malahat:

Basman, There ain't no justice. Cindy Lauper is to the blues as Pat Boone is to rock and roll.

Thanks for inspiring me to get reacquainted with Charlie Musselwhite and Jonny Lang. And this is great writing, imho:

"...there was an unmistakable contrast between the tricked out, glittery looking Lauper, with her faux, Patti Labelle-lite, histrionic intensity—a Bonnie Raitt , or a Susan Tedeschi, she is not—and the dour, dressed down, laconic looking Johnny Lang, jeans, untucked, unbuttoned flannel shirt over a T shirt, playing the blues great and singing the blues like he meant it and felt it, with genuine emotion conveying pain. .."

Me: postscript:

I just bought the record and have listened to the first 7 tracks. Johnny Lang does perform on it and the last track--Crossroads Blues. He's great. Lauper ranges from bad to not so bad, depending on the track. She dueting with a getting older Ann Peebles, of the magnificent I Can't Stand the Rain, on Rollin' and Tumblin' holds her own and gives he old stand by a nice reading, as she and Peebles trade lines. Not such a bad record: three stars out of five.