Go Fever
Garry & the Moodswingers
Bluelight Productions
1994
10 tracks
Quite correctly, leader Garry Segal refers to the music of Garry & the moodswingers as Rhythm and Blues. This is top of the heap rockin' R&B that rolls the listener over into simpler times. For me, while the two forms are related, blues is one thing and R&B another. Where I live, there are a lot of bands claiming to play "the blues" when in fact they are grooving on "electric" blues, Rhythm and Blues. It is a welcome change to come across an R&B band that knows what it is -- especially when it is as solid as Garry & the Moodswingers.
The title Go Fever may derive from a modern source -- a quote from astronaut Wally Shirra -- but the music lives in the fifties when bands played, in its original and correct sense, Rock and Roll: Rhythm and Blues. This album rocks! Period.
What is surprising is that six of the ten cuts on this CD are originals, songs written by Garry Segal on his own or with others. For a man who was most likely born after the heyday of the great R&B artists, Garry Segal has a real feel for the form. He has clearly taken this genre and made it his own.
While there is not a bad cut on this release, some will stand out as clear favourites depending on your tastes in blues.
For those who enjoy the real rockers, the jumping jiving dance tunes, the title tune "Go Fever" and the Ike Turner cover "Do You Mean It" will get your feet rocking with a vengeance.
If you prefer the sort of R&B I have always preferred to call "slow rock" -- like Fats Domino -- your best bet is the last cut on the CD: "Leave Me Blue." This one is a powerful piece of writing presented in an equally powerful performance.
"Too Loose To Matter" rolls along with a swinging Lionel Hampton jazz/blues feel to it. This is music to get you up when you're down.
For a feel more like traditional blues, "Cartwheels" feels like it came straight out of Mississippi in the Thirties, complete with some very nice guitar work and slick harp fill over a stripped down orchestration.
The rest of the tunes slip in an out of a number of R&B sub-genres that are sure to please.
Although it was sent to me recently, this is a relatively old release. Let's hope there's a new one on the way, filled with even more of this high quality Rhythm and Blues. This one is a definite add-to for the library of any jazz, blues, or R&B fan.
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Review Written: August 28, 1998
Page Last modified: February 14, 2004
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