Lynyrd Skynyrdand J,Geils Band:

Variationson a theme

by Sharon GaluszkaSpectrum Music Staff

Rhythm and Blues as thoughthey're chained to it — committed— even though they've ofteh beencriticized for their repetitiveness.They'Ve played it in every way,shape and form, doing variationson the same theme, polishing ituntil there is nothing left.to add.We saw R & B as heavy metal withFull House, R & B with overtonesof reggae on the primitive,best-selling Bloodshot, R & B withlyrical emphasis on Ladies Invited(which, owing to Peter Wolf andSeth dustman's emphasis onsongwriting, rather than coverversions, was their mostcommercially disappointing LP)and finally, R & B as R & B withthe Hotline and Nightmaresalbums. What's left, R & B asdisco? (NO! NO! NO!) .

What better way to spend one'sbirthday than at a full-scalemusical party? That was the caseFriday, October 29 when the J.Geils Band and Lynyrd Skynyrdreturned to Buffalo for theumpteenth time each, to give a"Halloween concert." The groups,currently two of thq country'shottest boogie attractions, hadbrought teams of teens to the Audin full force and, haviog justturned twenty myself, I wondered— was I still supposed to like this

.stuff? I hadn't been expectinganything that new, as previousexperience with both bands (androck music in general) had proventhat the novelty wears off afterseeing one or two performances ofthe same material. Success often

jive, grown-up nursery rhymes,sung to the tune of an Amercianversion of the Rock & Roll Blues.For people still into their music,Geils can still excite — theymanaged to elicit the usual"spontaneous" rock concert

bands around, whose concertstend to be filled with endless jamsand attempts to get "laid back,"Skynyrd are not actually in themainstream of Southern music.Their songs are boogie-based, butthey are also direct and straight,each one an actual composition,rather than a thfown-together

of emotion without great range.The road has taken its toll on VanZant's voice, and one day it willbe all but gone, but for now, heuses his personality to extend thecommonness of his vocals — hecan make the most hackneyedlyrics sound believable.

.. J. Geils' concert this timearound displayed the manyattitudes which run through muchof their basically mean music —

amusing and forceful (“DetroitBreakdown"), wild and frenzied("Whammer Jammer", "hfouseParty"), sexy ("Give It to Me"),woman-loving ("Lovitfis”,"Lookin’ for a Love") andwoman-hating ("Where Did OurLove Go?"). However, they seemno longer awestruck with theirmusic or the success they haveachieved with it. J. Geils stillsounds crazy, but they also soundcomfortable. Maybe a bit toocomfortable. Sometimes they give

response from the mostly-youngcrowd, who demanded andreceived an encore. This willprobably continue for years, sinceas the band grows older, theiraudience will remain in the sameage bracketl Unfortunately, unlessthey can scrounge up some new,better material and/or enthusiasm,I for one will not wish to see themanother time.

takes something away from anestablished band's performances;

don't seem to try as hardonce they no longer have to prove

Opening with a prideful"Workin* for MCA", Skynyrdfavored their older (better)material throughout the set, onlyplaying one song from GimmeBack My Bullets, their fourth andmost recent studio album. Theyplayed many established favorites,including "Tuesday's Gone,""Gimme Three Steps," "Call Methe Breeze" and the inevitable"Sweet Home." The latter wasgraced by the inclusion of threefemale vocalists (as on the originalsingle), although their presence onmany other sbngs became

excuse for a guitar solo.The punchy three-lead-guitar

sound has been restored,newcomer Steve Gaines taking theplace of Ed King, whose suddendeparture in 1975 (right before anappearance in Buffalo) left a bighole in the band's sound. This

themselves.The substitution of the Alpha

Band (whom I've never even heardof) in place of the originallyannounced (and muchanticipated) opening act Ambrosiawas a disappointing one — sodisappointing, in fact, that Icouldn't bring myself to devotemuch attention to them. Their

abundance of raw power Skynyrdthe means to achieve in concert'the full sound which many oftheir English counterpartsoverdub on their studio albumsbut cannot deliver live. Englishhard rock been a profoundinfluence on this band, and attimes they sound more like Free(one of their favorites) than doesBad Company, the more likelyheirs to such a power-chordedapproach. Sounding like Free,noteworthy achievement that it is,is not the only thing that Skynyrd

Not just a great Southern bandLynyrd Skynyrdmow controls

the tops spot in the Dixie Rockstructure, with the Allmans havingabdicated th'e much-sought-afterthrone. They are not a greatSouthern band, but rather a greatband that happens to beSouthern. They know that loyaltyto a region is a waste of time thesedays and all that counts is thequality of the music. Unlike mostof the many other rebel-rousing

music was countrified — typicalquick pickin', fun strummin'material, and I wpndered wherethe promoters had dug them upfrom on such short notice.

the impression that they're boredof doing the same stuff over and

overwhelming and at timesobnoxious

Throughout the remainder ofthe set, guitarists GaryRossington, Allen Collins andSteve Gaines chose to hand backand strengthen the rhythmsection, aided by the eighty-eightfingered piano player Billy Powell.The evening's real rave-up camewith "Free Bird", Skynyrd'sautomatic encore — rock and roll

Wolf's and dustman's lyricsseldom go much further thanstreet talk, but show a keen earfor parody and satire. Theircompositions reflect Beantown

over again

Variations on a themeJ. Geils was another story

They still continue to pump outtheir familiar style of white man's

has accomplished. They havecome up with some of the mostinteresting riffs ("I Ain't theOne," "Sweet Home Alabama")ever to, emerge from aguitar-dependent band. Theirs ismusic which is unpretentious — apowerful, simple style with nofrills (subtleties, yes, but no frills).

at its most enveloping, a tribute totheJate Duane Allman and BerryOakley. Each axeman gets, achance to let loose on this one, asthe soaring, kinetic interplaywhich - has made the band

Good guys? notorious shines through therelentless smokescreen of driving’Expecting to see

singer/spokesman Ronnie Van rhythm set down by bassist LeonWilkersdn and drummer ArtimusPyle.

Zant in one of his manywashed-out black T-shirts, I wassurprised when he walked out Reservations about the concert

aside, Lynyrd Skynyrd seems tobe a significant group wijh ano-nonsense approach and

dressed completely in white, andthe matching Stetson, along withthe prerecorded Gunsmoke thememusic as the band hit the stagegave the impression of some sort

steadfast directness, in directcontrast to the J. Geils band, who

of new-found "good guy" image.Van Zant makes intelligent use of

tends to rely on nonsense almost

his rather limited resourcesexclusively. Neither asset will help

getting amazing mileage out of hiseither band overcome such poor

surly baritone and arrogantmaterial as their albums havepresented recently. Shynyrd, wlhoseem to be relying a bit too muchonstage stance. While it is not as

versatile as colleague GreggEverybody's favorite horn band, Chicago, will out already, will most certainly do so byraise the roof tonight at Buffalo's Memorial showtime, so get your tickets now.Auditorium. The 8 p.m. show, if it hasn't sold Allman's, Ronnie's singing is

on their redneck image, is

elusive and cagey one mpmentpresently a band in limbo. Let's

worn and tired the next; capablehope the downward inertiadoesn't last too long

Page twelve . The Spectrum , Friday, 12 November 1976 Prodigal Sun