Sharrie Live

Sometimes it's easier for me to review an album from an artist I know pretty well. And over the past few years Sharrie Williams and her husband Pete Crawford have become friends. People I trust instinctively...and care about. Sharrie and the Wise Guys Band have performed at White's on several occasions. And I know first hand of Sharrie's magic. She sings as sweet and pure as Billie Holiday but can shout it like Tina Turner and has the spunk of Alberta Adams. Yeah, Sharrie's got what it takes and knows how to use it. Her live shows are an invocation of her hard-earned dues and a testimony to her humanity. Sharrie has found heaven on earth but there's more than a little devilishness in that sparkle in her eye. She KNOWS from whence she came. Sharrie's music, at times, reflects a glare from the past...and her stories can make us flinch - 'cos we know what she's talkin' about - most of us have been abused, misunderstood, or discarded at some time in our lives. But then she guides us to absolution. The ultimate joy of the blues liberates us and we can find the will to celebrate life.

Sharrie co-wrote seven of the eleven songs featured on "Sharrie Williams - Live" with Ron Prince, James Owens, and Marco France serving as her collaborators. The disc was recorded at Wise Guys during one of Sharrie's Monday night performances. The Wiseguys Band is an integral part of the magic and this disc captures their heat. The production values are uniformly excellent. The sound is fat and full with Sharrie's powerful vocals up front and personal

"I Got To Find Me A Mojo/What Kind A Man Is This" is a savage opener. The jazzy intro has some tasty syncopated bass lines and Domino-esque piano. Sharrie begins pleading for a mojo in the most playful and emotive black cat moan this side of Alberta Adams. James Owens' fiery guitar solo absolutely rips the song wide open and Charlie Walmsley's piano drives the up-tempo vibe. It segues to a straight 12-bar workout on "What Kind Of Man Is This". Sharrie's lyrics depict horrific abuse but she sings in a voice that carries more wisdom than anger. There is no doubt that this woman is a survivor. "Talking Aint Botherin Me A Bit" is a funk fueled tribute Sharrie wrote to her husband. She won't let the gossipers and naysayers take that good thing away from them. Track three is an Alana Morissette gem, "All Cried Out". It's an all-too-familiar story about the underlying hostility men have for women. The one-too-many assholes that seduce a woman only to shove her face first in the dirt. He leaves only to come back for more as if nothin' happened. Well, this girl is wise to the rap and she's moved on. Her anger is punctuated by some searing riffs from James Owens. "Although I Sing The Blues" has a languid mid-tempo groove. Sharrie's spoken intro sets the tone. She's not gonna let shakey ground, the landlord, or time in the county jail get her down. She sings the blues but nothin' - none of the lyin' and cheatin' - is gonna get the best of her. This is a woman who has paid dues and she refuses to give up. She just can't. Sharrie packs some punch into Delbert McClinton's "Blues As Blues" and makes it her own. A melancholy synthesizer riff provides the musical landscape. It gradually builds into a cresendo of emotion and intensity with help from the stinging guitar of James Owens. Sharrie says that blues is like everyday warfare. Those little day-to-day human defeats, the soul killing experience of feeling disposable and discarded. Sharrie's reading gives a ray of hope in an emotional wasteland. If we can find solace in each other, we just might be able to fight back against the futility and desperation that encumbers our lives. An uptempo funky syncopation drives Sharrie's "Real Woman". She chides her suitor that if he is a real man he just better "try me". She's fortified by the knowledge that she's a real woman and a lady too. This is Sharrie at her most playful. She teases that "they say I'm sexy with my big legged self". Amen. Track seven, "Strong Hold", kicks of with a wah wah-like guitar intro and Sharrie's wailing ambivalence about a new love. Can she trust it or should she hit and quit it? She's not sure but she feels this jones is way too strong. She's been here before and knows she better leave it alone. The band stretches out - a bit democratically - allowing for bass and drum solos that are concise without being overbearing. "What's Wrong With You" is a rockin' 12-bar blues. Sharrie is shoutin' and growlin' those "love gone bad" blues. But the way she sings it, she's less worried than she is disappointed in her inattentive man. James Owens riffs his ass off on this one. Sharrie offers the young ladies some good advice on "A Good Man Is Hard To Find". In a slow groove Sharrie tells her pupils "don't show your teeth to every man you meet" and "don't go lookin' 'cos he'll find you". The lyrics are get-down personal making the message more poignant. Sharrie learned wisdom from pain and struggle. And lived to find her man. Great track. The intro to "Tell Mama" is a high velocity sonic burst(courtesy of James Owens) that shifts to an uptempo R & B funk (ala Archie Bell and the Drells). Sharrie pleads, "Somebody scream". The time shifts add drama to the song. Sharrie advises her man to tell mama full wll knowing that every man is searching for the long awaited mother. But does he ever pass the test? Sharrie thinks so and she promises "I'll give you what your lookin' for". Sharrie gives "Purple Rain" a spiritual framework from which she testifies. Her reading is powerful and startling in it's honest emotion, it's stark revelations. She transforms Prince's ethereal vision to something more revealing...more human. A standout track and a consummate performance. The closer is Sharrie's "Testimony" - an intimate stream of consciousness rap, a benediction to a life free from the encumberances.... a psalm of renewal.

"Sharrie Williams - Live" is a vital document that captures the glory and excitement in the righteous and rockin' blues gospel of Sharrie Williams. And it's not just Sharrie pissin' and moanin'. It's a provocative statement so pure and revealing that it startles and jolts, bringing us to the very core of human experience. It's a celebration of life. That such an honest and personal record can be released is truly refreshing. This is the real thing...about real life! Check out sharriewilliams.com for additonal info.