Pearl Alley – ‘BOUT TIME
self release
9 songs time – 42:27
For the most part California’s Pearl Alley’s singer Suzanne St. John-Crane travels the gritty vocal route ala Janis Joplin and Bonnie Bramlett. Her husband guitarist Dave Crane leads this powerhouse band with his fluid and super-charged playing. It doesn’t hurt one bit they have the backing of a well seasoned band. Drummer-backing vocalist Dennis Dove, Bassist Douglas Mancini, keyboardists Pamela Charles Arthur and Dave Pierce flesh out the sound. The program is a collection of favorite cover songs they have performed live in the last twenty years in Bay area clubs along with four originals.
Suzanne’s gritty high energy vocals are fine, but what really caught my attention was the final track “Thinking Of Zoo”, done in her non-gritty voice. The combination of sentiment and her poignant delivery gave me chills. Apparently it is about her mother and her childhood. Accompanied solely by organ and the sparse weeping of guitar, her vocal oozes spirituality and paints a picture. Yes, it is that good.
Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. I’m not slighting the remaining tunes, I just had to speak on it. We now return you to our regularly scheduled program. Suzanne does emulate Janis Joplin a lot. It isn’t an imitation, that is just the way it comes out. She leads off with a funky version of Ruth Brown’s “Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean” via Delaney & Bonnie’s treatment of it. Here and otherwise Dave’s guitaring is a force of nature that goads the vocals forward. One minor quibble throughout the record is her use of jive talking and huffing and puffing that can be a bit too much at times. My feeling is that should be left to a spontaneous concert performance.
Both Janis Joplin songs “Move Over” and “Piece Of My Heart” are given the necessary forceful presentation. “Beatin’ Round” takes on a gospel like quality as she speaks about her straight forward talking spouse. Backing vocals support the strong vocal and Dave delivers a soaring to the heavens guitar solo. Shemekia Copeland’s “Wild, Wild Woman” is given the usual Pearl Alley treatment. Aretha Franklin’s “Dr. Feelgood” receives a rather stretched approximation.
Dave shares the vocal on “Can’t Live Without” and also kills with wild wah-wah guitar. “Ain’t no place like home” is the repeated refrain found in “Doublewide”.
A well realized slice of rhythm & blues energy tempered by introspection. I take it that the Pearl in their name is a nod to Janis. Her spirit is there, but they aren’t a one-trick pony. The musicianship is of a high level. Whatever your musical preference, there is something here for any music fan.
