BARRENCE WHITFIELD& THE SAVAGES
A history of the Savages, in a nutshell: Whitfield was formerly a drummer in a funk band. While working in a record store and studying journalism at Boston University in the early ’80s, he hooked up with Greenberg, who was fresh out of Lyres and looking to start a more R & B oriented band. They recorded a couple of albums together before the original Savages, including Greenberg, began drifting away. Whitfield pressed on, forming another Savages band and making more albums, including a couple of country-flavored efforts with Tom Russell in the mid-’90s. A confessed vinyl addict, he still works in a record store. Savage Kings kicks off with “(Your Love Is Like a) Ramblin’ Rose.” No, it’s not the Nat King Cole song or the Grateful Dead’s “Ramble on Rose.” This is an MC5 classic. And Whitfield uses his best falsetto scream to deliver it. It’s followed by a punchy rocker called “Just Moved In” that features a honking sax solo by new Savage Tom Quartulli. One of the coolest songs here was written by Greenberg and fellow Manby’s Header Mike Mooney. It’s called “Willie Meehan,” and it’s about an old boxer in the early part of the 20th century who actually beat Jack Dempsey a couple of times. Battling Willie, according to the song: “Never did no training / He ate his way to heavyweight.” 
The opening riffs remind me of The Sonics’ “Strychnine,” which Whitfield also covered a few years ago. Like Meehan himself, this tune is a chunky slugger. “Shot Down” basically hits that murky borderline between R & B and ’60s garage music. Meanwhile, “Who’s Gonna Rock My Baby,” an obscure old rockabilly tune by Jerry Woodard, sounds as if it were written especially for Whitfield. “Well, I got my call from my draft board today,” the song begins. “Two years might not be that long, but I got to leave my baby at home.” Whitfield and the band mix things up a bit. The minor-key “You Told a Lie” is basically contemporary blues. You can almost imagine Albert Collins or Robert Cray or maybe even Buddy Guy doing this one. “Bad Girl” is a good old-fashioned riveting soul meltdown; it starts out with a spoken-word introduction and ends with falsetto pleas for mercy.
Just recently I've stumbled upon this R&B/Garage shouter and his crew. Boston funkster Whitfield teamed up with no one else but Lyres guitar-slinger Peter Greenberg in a mission of kickin' your sorry ass real hard. So, if you dig Andre Williams, Nathaniel Mayer, Dirtbombs, MC5 and stuff, don't miss this! Dig!!!
