Barrence Whitfield & The Savages
May 2014 UK/Irish Tour
Thrs 1 Norwich, Norwich Arts Centre
Fri 2 Cork, Crane Lane Theatre
Sat 3 Kilkenny, Kilkenny Roots Festival
Sun 4 Kilkenny, Kilkenny Roots Festival
Tues 6 Wolverhampton, The Slade Rooms
Wed 7 Glasgow, Broadcast
Thrs 8 Newcastle, The Cluny
Fri 9 Newbury, Arlington Arts Centre
Sat 10 York, Fibbers
Sun11 Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
Tues 13 Nottingham, The Rescue Rooms
Wed 14 Sheffield, O2 Academy 2
Thrs 15 Southend, The Railway Hotel
Fri 16 Brighton, The Haunt
Sat 17 London, The Borderline
Barrence Whitfield & The Savages play The Corner Man on Later……With Jools Holland, watch here……
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ9E-NckNiU
I hadn’t heard from Barrence for a while…I have now. Don’t “Turn Your Damper Down”….Turn it up!”-Elvis Costello
“Barrence Whitfield is the Barrence Whitfield of R&B”.-Andy Kershaw BBC
Barrence Whitfield & The Savages
Dig Thy Savage Soul (Bloodshot Records)
Boston’s legendary Barrence Whitfield & The Savages’ new album Dig Thy Savage Soul is a wealth of atomic-powered, sock it to me R&B and rock & roll hoodoo. Barrence, possessing otherworldly pipes that range from a low feral growl rumbling the nether regions to a scream that would make Little Richard blush, belts out originals and crate-diver covers with the formidable and aptly-named Savages. They keep his back with a punk rock grit and blues ferocity that lives in the frets between Chuck Berry and Jack White. Together, Barrence & the Savages lay down a groovy racket that’s so thick and greasy, you need moist towelettes near the hi-fi.
Dipping their gut-bucket deep into the well of America’s dirty musical soul, Barrence & the Savages’ sound is a sweaty elixir that enlivens, exorcises, and energizes on Dig Thy Savage Soul. “The Corner Man” bursts out of the gate, as much a child of the Sonics as a father to the Dirtbombs; it’s the Savage-Mobile neutral-slamming out of the garage. “My Baby Didn’t Come Home” and the love letter to the iconoclastic Oscar Levant (a man in chaos in search of frenzy...Google it, man.) burn with a roguish swamp mojo; bonus points for the killer jump-soul horn section. On “Daddy’s Gone to Bed” and the badass Jerry McCain tune “Turn Your Damper Down,” Peter Greenberg’s guitar plays like the lost Sun Records collaboration between Howlin’ Wolf and Carl Perkins. “Hangman’s Token” starts as a low-fi hill country shimmy harkening back to the early days of Fat Possum Records that then explodes into a tasty hard rock feast.
Out front, Barrence is preaching to a congregation we definitely want to join. “Bread,” a Bobby Hebb B-side done with a Glimmer Twin strut, has Barrence matter-of-factly distilling all the nuance, confusion, and frustration of any relationship into the simple inarguable truth: “Only one thing in this here world/ to make you popular with all the girls/ and that’s BREAD/ that’s what I said.” Lee Moses’s “I’m Sad About It” is a slow burn gospel headbanger, conjuring a completely unhinged Al Green tossing sweat and blood soaked scarves from a fiery pulpit.
Sho’ nuff. Where’s that towelette, again?
Barrence Whitfield & the Savages shot out of Boston in the mid-‘80s with the force of a cannonball. Through their sweaty dance party shows and love of primal soul, they were to R&B what the Cramps were to rockabilly--a gateway musical drug for nascent underground roots mavens (including a wideeyed, dewy-eared future Bloodshot co-founder Rob Miller). Along with original Savage Peter Greenberg (The Lyres, DMZ), they released several records on Rounder, became a favorite of BBC DJ Andy Kershaw, toured with the likes of Bo Diddley, Tina Turner, and George Thorogood, and won seven Boston Music Awards. They re-united in 2011 with new Savages Phil Lenker on bass, Andy Jody on drums, and Tom Quartulli on sax.
Perhaps the world is ready for them this time around.
Uncut 8/10 “Irresistible set”
Classic Rock 8/10 “(Dig Thy Savage Soul) is a fire-and-brimstone rock-and-soul delight” (Kris Needs)
Record Collector 4/5 “Rowdy and raucous”
Barrence Whitfield & The Savages DL link for hi res pics, biog, album artwork etc here….
https://www.bloodshotrecords.com/mediakit/barrence-whitfield-savages