Norman Provencher
The Ottawa Citizen
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Most entertainers will swear on a stack of Bibles that they don't
read reviews, but Nanaimo's David Gogo says that Vibe, his newest record
and possibly the best of his career, came out of some critics looking
down their noses at his material.
"Some people said that the (cover songs) on my albums (like
his popular versions of James Brown's It's a Man's World and Depeche
Mode's Personal Jesus) were, I don't know, unnecessary," the singer-guitarist
says over the phone after packing the kid off to kindergarten.
The criticism got him to thinking. Up to then, Gogo hadn't worried
too much about writing. He did it, of course, and did it pretty well
over the course of half a dozen albums and a bunch of national blues
awards and Juno nominations. But performances, especially live shows,
were his first love.
Still, Gogo says he and his associates decided to challenge themselves
by making his new record his first all-original songs record. "It's
a little strange now, because (writing) excites me more now, I like
listening to songs, I like other people's records."
That attitude shows on Vibe. Simply put, everything on this record
is big: Big sound and production, big instruments and, most noticeably,
big and varied songs.
The record kicks out with the hard-rocking radio hit, Love in the
City, featuring Canadian headbanger emeritus Tom Wilson (who joins
Gogo at a preview release party at Barrymore's Saturday night). From
there, it's all over the map, from the magnificently heavy 300 Pound
Shoes, to smooth, Motown-inflected R&B (She's Alright), from low-down
funk (Silk & Stone) to a genuine feel-good-hit-of-summer-type tune,
the jangly, poppy Hey Juanita.
That mix of "genuine" blues and blues-based material is
almost certain to get a slag or two from Blues Police -- as opposed
to music fans -- who question Gogo's penchant for pleasing audiences,
sometimes at the expense of Blues Purity.
Gogo's pretty much immune to that criticism. "There's always
gonna be people who don't like what I do, fair enough. But I love mixing
it up, especially if I can bring new fans to the blues another way.
"It knocks me out at the festivals when I get teenagers come
up to me and say stuff like 'You know, I hate the blues. My dad makes
me come here. But I like your stuff.'
"That's when you know they're hooked."
David Gogo plays Barrymore's Saturday night. Tickets & time,
233-0307.
