Viva La Evolution!

Photo from The Neverly Brothers website.

There’s a lot of technology available to teachers these days, but The Neverly Brothers pretty much only needed a small drum kit, an acoustic guitar, and a stand-up bass fiddle for a lesson in rock music history at the Schaumburg Prairie Center For The Arts on Saturday, January 16th. The three musicians made good on a promise to whisk the audience off on a trip to cities like Memphis, Liverpool, and Lubbock, Texas during the formative years of 1955 to 1964. The Neverly Brothers’ show, dubbed A Rock N’ Roll Evolution, was divided into two parts; the first half covered pioneers like Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly, while the second concentrated on the British Invasion.

Guitarist-vocalist Kevin Giragosian provided a brief description of each artist before joining drummer-vocalist Kegham Giragosian and bass fiddle player-vocalist Craig Gigstad for a spirited performance of one of the artist’s songs. Given the set up, there wasn’t a lot of variety in the band’s approach, but the Giragosian brothers and Gigstad kept things buzzing via their highly polished musicianship and singing. The band members take turns on lead vocals, and combine for some beautiful harmonies, particularly on a pair of songs by The Everly Brothers. Charisma plays a major role in The Neverly Brothers’ appeal, with Gigstad in particular charming the audience with his Elvis and Big Bopper impersonations. A big guy who resembles comedian Drew Carey, Gigstad hoisted his massive bass fiddle in the air as easily as if it were a mandolin, and also straddled it like he was riding a Harley, all the while plucking away on the strings.

When it comes to The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, The Neverly Brothers aren’t interested in playing “She Loves You” or “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” They’d rather underscore how these bands were influenced by American R&B and Country and Western music by presenting The Beatles doing Carl Perkins’ “Matchbox” and The Stones doing Bobby and Shirley Womack’s “It’s All Over Now.” The Neverly Brothers also showed how The Dave Clark Five, The Searchers, The Hollies, and Manfred Mann scored hits by covering material that had previously been released in The States. Kevin Giragosian closed the two-hour show by celebrating the famous guitar riff from The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me.” The bit reminded me of when I saw Ray Davies at Taste Of Chicago a few years back and how the entire audience jumped up in unison at the first few notes of that song.

The Neverly Brothers switch out songs on a regular basis, but they’ve basically been doing the same show for a few years now. It would be fun to see them expand the history lesson to cover the rock-a-billy revival of the early 1980s and bands like The Stray Cats, The Hellbillys, The Polecats, and another trio from Chicago, The Elvis Brothers. Regardless of whether or not The Neverly Brothers change their format, they can always be counted on for a highly entertaining and energetic performance.

POSTSCRIPT: The Neverly Brothers played The Bobby Fuller Four’s “I Fought The Law” as their encore, which brings to mind a story I’ve told at least a hundred times, but never in print. Several years ago, when that song first came out, my younger brother swore that Bobby Fuller was singing, “Hot dogs for lunch and they’re small ones.” To this day, I still have to laugh whenever I hear “I Fought The Law.”

Christmas A Go Go - Part Four

And now the finale for Christmas A Go Go, the holiday various artists collection that had so many cool songs, it took four posts to describe them all. Incidentally, while doing research for my Christmas rock posts, I came across a really fun website called Mistletunes that covers tons of holiday songs, and even breaks them down into categories like eras, genres, and novelties.

Singer Rufus Thomas is probably best remembered for his 1963 hit “Walking The Dog,” as well as an earlier duet with his daughter Carla, but he was also an R&B pioneer who first started recording in the late 1940s. The funky “I’ll Be Your Santa” is aimed at women instead of kids, and Thomas has his own concept of what bringing holiday joy entails. The bass guitar is the most prominent instrument in an arrangement that recalls Sly & The Family Stone, while Thomas’s vocals are both ribald and soulful.

Aussie garage rockers The Chevelles unleash a spirited take on a treasured hymn with the mostly instrumental “Come All Ye Faithful Surfer Girls.” This is a virtual fuzz guitar festival with the only vocals being a Beach Boys like “Oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh.” A very catchy and fun tune.

The Electric Prunes’ psychedelic and slightly unsettling version of “Jingle Bells” has a spoken word intro that includes a special holiday greeting for Underground Garage listeners. The band then slinks into a slowed-down, heavy guitar arrangement, with vocals that sound like they’re coming from a chorus of over-served elves. Very odd, but somehow it all works.

Ray Davies of The Kinks has always been a master of satire, and on “Father Christmas,” he leads the band through a funny tale of a retail store Santa being pummeled by destitute children. Set in Britain’s economically troubled 1970s, the wry lyrics describe the kids screaming, “Don’t give my sister a cuddly toy/We don’t want a jigsaw or Monopoly money/We only want the real McCoy.” One kid requests a job for his father so the family will have food to eat. Although Davies clearly means the song to be funny, he sneaks in a charitable message that’s in tune with the season. “Have yourself a merry merry Christmas/Have yourself a good time/But remember the kids who got nothin’/While you’re drinking down your wine.”