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Mem Shannon:
A Little Bit of Blues, Lots of Soul and Guitar
That line is from Mem Shannon’s acclaimed 1995 debut CD A Cab Driver’s Blues. Shannon is a first-rate singer/guitarist/songwriter who infuses blues music with R&B, funk and gospel overtones. Especially funk. But listening to his recordings and hearing him live, I’m convinced what sets Shannon apart from the hordes of journeyman musicians is his humor. “Ninety-nine percent of our songs are originals,” Shannon told the audience at Funky Blues Shack, where he and his band The Membership were appearing last week following a well-received concert at Baytowne Wharf. The few cover tunes in the band’s repertoire were so inventively reinterpreted that people might not have recognized them either. Shannon treated the fans to the most soulful rendition of the Beatles’ Eleanor Rigby I can recall hearing—no small feat, considering that Ray Charles recorded the song, too. “That’s a Beatles song,” Shannon said after the applause faded. “It’s your song now!” a justifiably impressed music lover shouted. Shannon also makes B.B. King’s Why I Sing the Blues his own, incorporating new lyrics about contemporary society’s ills. Like Shannon says in the liner notes of his excellent 2001 CD Memphis in the Morning, “I have a bad habit of twisting things around.” No matter how much he and his band stray from the traditional I-IV-V formula, Shannon correctly believes telling a story is the essence of a blues song. One of his most memorable stories is S.U.V., a highlight of both the Memphis album and Shannon’s live performances. It is a true anthem for our times, and especially rings true in Florida where the abundance of oversized eyesores designed for driving in the mountains and snow is ridiculous. I’m tired
of these S.O.B.s So why does Mem Shannon sing the blues? “It was the natural thing to do,” he said. “If you pick up an electric guitar and don’t play blues, what’s the point?” Shannon began playing guitar at a young age in New Orleans, but put his musical aspirations on hold after the untimely passing of his father. He drove a taxi to support his family, which inspired his first album. Shannon earned critical acclaim with the release of A Cab Driver’s Blues, a great album of original songs interspersed with recorded conversations with passengers—both tourists and locals—in New Orleans. The dialogues alone make the album memorable—more pungent than a season’s worth of HBO’s Taxicab Confessions. But it’s the music that really cooks, especially Shannon’s successful stab at creating his own standard, If This Ain’t the Blues. The so-called “Dean of Rock Critics,” Robert Christgau, called Shannon “an accomplished musician and a better writer” and noted that the performer’s years of hacking earned him the right to sing the blues. All Music Guide writer Richard Skelly remarked “most things about Shannon are exceptional: the way he writes songs, the way he sings them, and the way he presents them.” The Membership is made up of old pro Robert Debon on keyboards. He brightens up the proceedings with his styling, whether he is aiming for Fats Domino rhythm playing or old school soul organ. The Memphis tracks—given a larger than life sound by the Memphis Horns in their studio versions—lose none of their flavor in the four-piece band format, thanks to Debon’s multicolored touches. The rhythm section—drummer Josh Milligan and bassist Ian Michael—complement the well-traveled Shannon and Debon with their youthful energy. And then there’s Shannon’s guitar playing—magnificent, crisp and clean, full of feeling. Nearly every song boasts one or two (or three) seemingly endless solos on his instruments of choice, a pair of handsome Cort guitars. But this is not pointless noodling—the instrumental breaks are exciting, soulful and definitely funky. Every note belongs. Shannon estimated that he and the band spend about 150 nights of the year on the road. “It’s still not enough.” The next leg of the tour will find the Membership heading to the Midwest. Shannon still has to confirm some festival dates. “You kind of build the tour around that,” he said. So what brings this celebrated national touring act to our neck of the woods? “It just happens that way. Next weekend, we’re going deeper into Florida. That’s just the way the bookings fall. It could have just as easily been San Francisco,” Shannon said. Yes, but it’s only a four-hour drive from New Orleans to the Destin club whose name Shannon’s style of music must have inspired. The enthusiastic response to his last appearance here may also have a lot to do with it. Shannon is also putting the finishing touches on his new CD, which will include his version of Eleanor Rigby. “It’s the first time I produced the whole thing. I knew I could do it, but I didn’t expect to do it so soon,” he said. “I’m between labels now, so I’m not butting heads with producers or record labels.” Once the album is completed “I’ll fish it around and see who bites.” So far, the career highlight for this major talent was performing on a PBS Muddy Waters Tribute Special in 1994, a year before Shannon released his first album. “Nobody knew who I was at the time. Buddy Guy was there, Gregg Allman, Keb Mo, Phoebe Snow,” Shannon said. If anyone can take the blues to a new level—that is, appeal to more than what Shannon calls “the 40 people who listen to pure blues”—it’s the man whose first name is spelled the same forward or backwards. Many more career highlights are certain to follow. Like the B.B. King song says, Mem Shannon has paid his dues. * S.U.V. written by Mem Shannon, published by Last Load Music (BMI), administered by Bug Music. SIDEBAR: Mem Shannon’s
Favorite Recordings: “I’m a big Bill Withers fan. Ain’t No Sunshine—there’s an example of a blues guy who wasn’t promoted as such. He was promoted as a pop guy, and he snuck in under the wire. A couple of years ago, I found a copy of Bill Withers Live at Carnegie Hall. It’s beautiful,” Shannon said. We discussed how a couple of Withers’ songs—Sunshine, Use Me and especially Lean on Me—are constantly performed and revived by new artists and all styles of musicians. “A dream of mine is to let one of my songs hit with me doing it or whoever. You only need one song where you can relax as far as money goes |
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“You
ain’t from around here. Anyone that don’t know funk
when they smell it…”Copyright © The Beachcomber, Inc. 2003 - 2008. All rights reserved.