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For the release of their new gospel album, God’s Favorite Band,
the septet—Christina Marrs on guitar, tenor banjo, ukulele, vocals,
and musical saw; Nevada Newman on guitar; Shawn Dean on fiddle; Mark
Henne on drums; Morgan Patrick Thompson on upright bass; David Long on
mandolin and guitar; and a singer, harmonica and washboard player known
only as Wammo (don’t ask)—offered a fabulous, two-tone show consisting
first of material from their latest CD, and then tunes celebrating
worldly pleasures. The English poet William Blake came to mind here;
this performance was truly an American edition of his 1794 volume
Songs of Innocence and Experience.
The Spankers opened
with the antebellum spiritual, “Wade in the Water.” With Marrs’ robust
singing over the band’s murmuring background harmonies, the vocals were
faithful to the classic black gospel style. In a bluesy original, “Right
and Wrong,” the flamboyant Wammo drew laughter when he sang, “I ain’t
got no problem with Buddha, he’s a huge Nirvana fan.” But the peak of
the holy half of the concert was their ne plus ultra cover, also sung by
Wammo, of George Gershwin’s slinky repudiation of Biblical literalism,
“It’s Ain’t Necessarily So.”
Salvation
dispensed with, the spotlight swung to sin and secular humanism. First
was “PBR,” an ode to Pabst Blue Ribbon beer sung by Wammo, who while
onstage downed a good half-dozen brewskis himself. Marrs, accompanied by
bass and guitar, amazed the house with a performance on musical saw of
Camille Saint-Saen’s 1886 composition “The Swan,” famously recorded by
cellist Pablo Casals in the 1920s. Her intonation lacked Casals’
accuracy, but that was entirely forgivable. She shined again with her
lusty vocals on the risque Bessie Smith classic, “I Need a Little Sugar
in my Bowl.”
Roots fans who
miss the Asylum Street Spankers the next time they’re around ought to be
committed. Or spanked.
—Glenn Weiser
See the article on
the Metroland website
Index of Metroland Articles by Glenn
Weiser ©2009 by Glenn Weiser.
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