The Wall Street Journal-20080112-WEEKEND JOURNAL- Leisure - Arts- A Stripper-s Dream- a Preacher-s Nightmare- The swanky -60s sounds of Reverend Organdrum-s -Hi-Fi Stereo-
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WEEKEND JOURNAL; Leisure & Arts: A Stripper's Dream, a Preacher's Nightmare; The swanky '60s sounds of Reverend Organdrum's 'Hi-Fi Stereo'
The organ-guitar-drums trio is an evergreen in popular music for good reason. The Hammond B3 organ creates a rich midrange background for a guitar solo -- and when the roles reverse, the keyboard player can improvise while maintaining the bass line on the pedal board. Meanwhile, the drummer has space to swing. This works especially well for genre-bending music: Check out Dr. Lonnie Smith's recent jazzy soul-pop "Jungle Soul" (Palmetto) or "Saudades" (ECM), a live, two- disc progressive set by Jack DeJohnette, John Scofield and Larry Goldings that was released last year.
Now we have "Hi-Fi Stereo" (Yep-Roc) by Reverend Organdrum, which comprises organist Tim Alexander, drummer Todd Soesbe and guitarist Jim Heath. Mr. Heath is better known as the Reverend Horton Heat, whose band by the same name serves up the frenetic blend of punk and rockabilly called psychobilly that was born in the '80s. The music on "Hi-Fi Stereo," by contrast, might be considered psychobilly's swanky older cousin. Filled with greasy instrumentals that bump and grind, the album is a stripper's dream and a preacher's nightmare.
Tracks include wild, but not-out-of-control covers of "Night Train," "Can't Be Still," "Hang 'em High," "Theme to Route 66" and other songs you know even if you don't recognize the titles. Duke Ellington's "C Jam Blues" is on board, as is the Rascals'"Groovin'" and Booker T & the MGs'"Time Is Tight."
"I was kind of consciously trying to get away from the Reverend Horton Heat sound," the 48-year-old Mr. Heath told me when we spoke by phone last week during another one of his seemingly never-ending tours with RHH, "his main puppy," as he called it. Growing up, he listened to such organ-based R&B bands as the Bar-Kays and the MGs, and as an adult he found Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff and other '60s jazz units that featured the Hammond B3.
"I was hanging with Tim Alexander, and I told him I was looking for something that would improve my guitar playing. He said he'd been doing some organ trio stuff [and] that I might find it challenging." They recruited Mr. Soesbe, Mr. Heath's next-door neighbor in Dallas, then chose a bunch of songs the guitarist set out to learn.
"Part of the goal was that we wanted to sound and play as if we were a group from the early to mid-'60s," Mr. Heath said. "A lounge group back then would have to play 'Night Train,' 'Harlem Nocturne' and 'C Jam Blues.' We're all into that era. It's our favorite stuff."
On "Hi-Fi Stereo," as on Reverend Horton Heat's many albums, Mr. Heath proves he's a heck of a guitar player. Mr. Alexander, formerly of Asleep at the Wheel, is more than his foil on the organ. They seemed locked in a happy battle over who can have the most fun with the material. On "Strollin' Bones," the old T-Bone Walker tune, Mr. Heath plays crisp, chopping chords under Mr. Alexander before taking off with a biting, fluid solo that's true to his Texas roots. The trio's "Time Is Tight" is a fairly faithful reading until Mr. Heath tears apart the old Steve Cropper riff. There's a lot of spontaneity on the disc, as well there might be, since it was recorded live, with minimal overdubbing, in about 10 hours.
Mr. Heath sings with goofy conviction on two cuts, "Bim Bam Baby," a novelty tune worthy of "The Flintstones" that Frank Sinatra introduced in 1952, and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head" by Dean Martin. "I'm a big Dean Martin fan," Mr. Heath said. "When I do my own solo lounge gig, I'll sing 'You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You' and 'That's Amore.'"
Mr. Heath brought a couple of his favorites to the project. He's been performing Henry Mancini's "A Shot in the Dark" and "Experiment in Terror" for quite a while, and Nelson Riddle's "Theme to Route 66" has been the closing number at Reverend Horton Heat shows for years. Reverend Organdrum rips into those urbane tunes with little elan but all sorts of fire.
I mentioned to Mr. Heath that music this enjoyable is often thought of as easy to play -- that's been said of recordings by Spike Jones, Raymond Scott, Captain Beefheart, George Clinton and others that are knotty, original and challenging to execute. It has also been said of the work of some of his predecessors on guitar, fellow Texan T-Bone Walker, for example, or Duane Eddy.
"The point for me," he said, "was to stretch and learn a keyboard player's view of music theory. We don't want people to think it's a lot of work, but there are some complicated sections in there. It's kind of difficult to figure out how to do Henry Mancini and Nelson Riddle with just three pieces."
For now, the band has no plans to tour. The trio plays occasionally when its members are home in Dallas, but that's rare, and the Reverend Horton Heat is already booked to tour though July. Samples of the Reverend Organdrum's live set and "Hi-Fi Stereo" are available on its MySpace page.
The trio has already served a purpose for Mr. Heath. "In Reverend Horton Heat, I'm the front guy. It's all me -- singing, playing all the solos," he said. "In Organdrum, I get to be more of a side guy. I set up my amp, plug in and go. We do some of that Hammond B3/Blue Note stuff, maybe a Kenny Burrell kind of thing, but then we'll do a New Orleans style song. That's a real relief for me. I can really let myself go."
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Mr. Fusilli is the Journal's rock and pop music critic.
