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•ALL
WHITE PEOPLE LOOK ALIKE Brian Woodbury (2004, CD, Some Phil Records, Some Phil 6) 
Brian Woodbury’s All White People Look Alike, now available on CD, was originally issued on LP in 1987. It was remastered in 2003 for digital release by Joe Gastwirt. |
"An
excellent, inventive, witty, musically sharp & enjoyable LP with rich
instrumentation & tapework. Also a fine meeting of Form & Content:
Rare Pleasure. Recommended." -Chris Cutler, Recommended Records |
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| Music:
The title track is a 20-minute long musical manifesto on race, conformity
and (pre-internet) mass culture. It opens cinematically in a cotton field
and travels through a series of feels and styles (an African hoedown, an
acapella choral tongue-twister, a Fred Frith-like metrical breakdown) each
transforming seamlessly into the next. It culminates at a stand-up comedy
club in a diatribe on “skin colored” Band-Aids, the origin of
Valley Girls, the supposed twenty-seven Eskimo words for snow (“snow,
snow, snow, snow”) and “why when you move and go to a new elementary
school, all the kids look the same at first.” Along the way, Woodbury,
backed up two female singers and a highly percussive score of drums, bass,
guitars, keyboards, saxophones and violin, makes reference to Stevie Wonder,
Gil Scott-Heron & Steve Reich’s “Come Out.” The CD continues with songs that evolved from a theater piece, “Harangue.” The theme seems to be the inadequacy of economics as an explanation for human endeavor. It features a fake opera recitative (“I can tell the time of day”); poly-metric rap (“I’m Just the Kind of Guy That I Like”); the haunting/ridiculous aria “The Birds Don’t Owe” (“The bell can’t owe its ding-dong”); Schumann-esque choral music (“Our Sin”); excruciating industrial noise (“The Work Ethic”) and show biz Gospel (“Who Says?”). Collaborators: Michael Webster, production, co-writing and keyboards; Elma Mayer, vocals and mixing; Samm Bennett & Matthew Metzgar, percussion; David Friendly, drums; Ed Summerfield, Terri Tunnicliff & Jay Work, woodwinds; Richard Crawford, guitars; Vince Meghrouni, harmonica; Gina Tavelli, violin; Becky Heninger & Miles Tackett, cellos; Jon Nelson, trumpet; Lynn Murdock, Bill Burnett, Ken Johnston, Deanna Kirk, Matthew Metzgar, John Walters, Suzy Williams & Stephanie Sweeney, vocals. Jane's Addiction: The title cut and “I’m Just the Kind of Guy” received extensive airplay on college stations in 1988-1990, making several best-of lists. Subsequently, the title cut curiously ended up (uncredited) as the B-side of a Jane’s Addiction bootleg LP. This further popularized the song, but not the artist. However, many diligent listeners managed to track Mr. Woodbury down and it is because of their constant requests that this re-issue has happened. Julie Andrews & John Coltrane: The original “Harangue” side contained “My Favorite Things,” a duet (“mash-up”) of John Coltrane & Julie Andrews. The rights to the original recordings were unobtainable, so, alas, it is not included on the CD. Design: original LP cover painting by Barnaby Levy was hand-screened by Barnaby Levy. Linda Winters, with assistance for David Jurist. CD package was designed by Hedi El Kholti. |
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