The View From Nowhere

Two sets by George Bedard & the Kingpins, the new release from horrormetal rappers HarmsWayandaweekwalkingamong the ghosts of Memphis. Oh yeah - and a quote from Ishmael Reed. Cross cultural mixing to the 1Oth degree...But after spending a few days n the birthplace of rock and roll, checking out a hot night with Bedard and f riends at the Heidelberg and listening to HW's new tape Free Buming Extra Blanc Kutcomers LP, I 've had this sudden shot of reality on how music is one big circle, one big universe and that ghosts from the past have a hand in the present There was an interview wrth Ishmael Reed in the local Memphis entertainment weekly: "Reed remembers pausing at the foot of Beale Street on a prevkxjs trip to Memphis: 'The Elvis Presley statue was behind me, there was the Lorraine Motel, and I was looking towards Beale Street And I thought This is really America's sacred ground here,'" (Memphis Flyer, Oct 26, 1 995). After hanging out on Beale (the birth street of the blues and rock and roll), driving by the spot where Martin Luther King Jr. was killed and visrüng Sun Records (where blackmusic made the evolutionary jump to white America with Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Cari Perkins, Johnny Cash and all the rest of the 1950s Sun roster), I thought just the Ihing to connect me back to A2 musical reality woukd be Bedard, who at least has the blues and rockabilly ghosts of Memphis looking over his shoulder. Saturday night at the Heidelberg - last night of the World Series. It's relaxed, really relaxed, amazingly smoke free and not so crowded. Ann Arbor's best guitarist, George Bedard, has been doing this for a LONG time. Wrth the Vipers, the Silvertones, Tracy Lee and the Leonards and his own various trios (tonight it's the Ki ngpins), Bedard has been paying respect to the ghosts of sourf ui American music fora lifetime. It coukd be the country blues of Robert Johnson, the New Orleans soul of Rockin' Sidney, the Texas shuffle of Freddy King or the Memphis soul of Eddie Ftoyd on one side or the Sun Records rootsof Elvis or Cari Perkinsor the way-American kick of 1960s surf guitar classics. Ghosts are always present Beautrful ghosts have infused and inspired everything Bedard has done in his musical life. While if you look at a Bedard set list and check out the tunes- California Sun, Blue Moon of Kentucky, Something Ese, Oh My Soul, WhoDo YouLove,La)dofA Thousand Dances, et. al. - rt sounds like a nice collectionf rom a very hip barband. And of course, this is true. Bedard and the Kingpins is a VERY hip bar band. In a place like the Heidelberg on a Saturday night with cheap beer, a crowd who wants to dance and a hard-core group of fans who know this band from a million other nights, this band rocks out like no other in town. But, the ghost thing again. What raises Bedard and the Kingpins above being just a cool band playing in an above average venue are the ghosts. Onthe EMsBill MonroetuneSue Moon of Kentucky the spirit of Sun Records and the sacred blend of white country music and black urban and country blues possesses Bedard and his guitar stylings, pushing him into sounds that rip at your soul. On Robert Johnson's Kind Hearted Woman you can almost hear the Mississippi Rher in the background and smell the delta dust from decades ago. On the Freddy King tribute you can close your eyes and imagine being in some Texasjuke joint in the 1950s with the crowd dancing and drinking the night away. The rcots of American music ARE sacred stuff and we have Elvis to remind us that at times even pop music can inspire, upliftand bring ustogether across racial borders. Bedard, by following these ghosts, creates a music that is none of the above and all of the above. With his constant sidekicks of Randy Tessier on bass and Richard Dishman on drums, he is an American original who makes great music that few others can. So, what aboutthe gig? Oh, right. . . One perfect night. The Kingpins were joined by jazz saxophone heno David Swain on a few numbers (their version of Lucille woukJ have made üttle Richard smile). The boys played a few cuts from their upcom ing second release on Schoolkids' Records (including the old Tracy Lee days classicBedard original Do The DickAround), and Bedard had lightning fingers on most of the instrumentals that at times reminded me of jazz god Chariie Christian. How does this bring us to Harms Way, an Ann Arbor metal trio with a coupie of pissed off rappers? The ghosts here are more like demons and the black roots are twisted, set on fire and blown up with dynamite but.. Harms Way (with rappers LS.G.H. Clan) are rooted n the black street rap of the 1990s, the speeddeath metal drones of the 1980s and the anarchy bum-it-all-down aura of the late, postMartin Luther King Jr. era of the late 1960s. The band is white, of course. And let's not forget they're f rom the Paris of the Midwest (even if it is Felch Street), Ann Arbor. But the spirit of slavery revolts, the anger, the hate, the overtones of fire and death and anarchy are all out in full f orce. The Harms Way list of demands nel u des blowing away anyone who pisses them off, messes with their woman or steals their dope. Dope, Rock and Rock, and Fucking in the Streets may have come from John Sinclair and the MC5 circa 1968, but Harms Way have listened tothe sacred recordings, inhaled the sacraments and are ready to change the future. The ghosts at work here aren't the same as with George Bedard. This time its the ghost of Malcolm X, the ghost of guitarist Fred Smith, and the ghost of anyone gunned down in a crack house, tt's all sacred stuff, but sacred in the same way Christ went through his 40 days of trial in the wildemess. It's only by living through the heil, the pain, and the angst that we can cross over to the other side. Again, what about the music? Harms Way is one of the most intense, dangerous bands in the city if not the country. It's cut-out-your-heart horror with a wall of discords and lots of feedback, all anchored down with a rapper beat tt's hate and fear and confusión. And wonderful music to boot. George Bedard has made it to the other side with the saintly way he rings out music on the guitar. Harms Way is a reminder that you first must pass through heil to get to heaven. Both outfits and the music they produce are coming, as Ishmael Reed pointed out, from sacred ground. To worship in your own way, George Bedard and the Kingpins will be at the Blind Pig on November 25th and Harms Way will be at the same venue November 1 8th. See you in church. Love offerings, cds, tapes and sacred texts can be sent to: The View From Nowhere, AGENDA, 220 S. Main Street, Ann Arbor, Ml 481 04, or e-mail to: ALANNARBOR@AOL.COM.