Lou Rawls – Melba Moore Show at Saratoga Wows ‘Em With Control
by Charles Anzalone, Rutland Daily Herald, July 25, 1979
Blacks often use the word “clean” to describe another male who is stylishly dressed. Someone who is “clean” looks polished and smooth and somehow conveys that he is in control.
Above all, the Lou Rawls-Melba Moore concert Sunday night at Saratoga Performing Arts Center was clean. But for this concert, the cleanness touched everything from the performers’ trained voices to the soft blue light that bathed the stage to the beautiful dusk that settled over the colorful amphitheater.
SPAC is a land of contrasts. The women in their chic summer dresses and shiny purses walk by couples lying on blankets on the lawn. While the smell of marijuana seeps toward the stage, the front seats maintain the decor of a night at the Philharmonic Hall. Whatever the background, the polished performances and atmosphere were clean enough to raise the spirits of all.
Rawls is all voice. It is one of the most resonant and soothing among all singers performing today. He doesn’t move well on stage and often is unable to maintain a high level of excitement. But his fans overlook these shortcomings.
He achieved success in the 1960s with such soft-core rock numbers as “Dead End Street.” Although he is now in his
40s, the 70s have brought him new popularity. He has changed his style to accommodate a lighter mood. In the last few years he has had a string of songs that have been both commercially successful and of a high quality.
“People kept saying (a few years ago), ‘Great. Lou Rawls is making a comeback,'” he told the crowd in a voice that still showed signs of a Chicago dialect. “They didn’t know what they were talking about. I didn’t go nowhere.”
One must remember that, above all, Lou Rawls is an entertainer. He broke into his Budweiser commercial and then explained how some have questioned the judgment of such exposure.
“The Anheuser-Busch Corp. grossed $3.3 billion dollars last year,” he said. “That’s a lot of suds.
“I told them if I got the chance, I’d do it again. The other day I got the chance. I signed the papers so hard I put a hole in them, baby.”
Rawls relied on a “musical tribute” of past musicians, one of the biggest cliches among mundane nightclub performers. He manipulated the audience by calling on memories of Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole and Louis Armstrong without adding anything different.
But this is not to deny Rawls’ talents. When he gets the appropriate song and orchestration, his special soothing voice puts the room in motion.
Rawls performed “Lady Love,” “Natural Man,” “You’re Gonna’ Miss MyLovin”’ and “See You When I Get There,” in top form. When he sang “Ready, for Good Loving,” the motion spread from the women with expensive perfume and crushed velvet dresses in the front rows to the people barbecuing chicken thighs on the lawn behind the enclosed seats.
Rawls sang “Everything Must Change,” a much-performed song by Benard Ighner. The 12-piece big band and Rawls’ caressing vocals produced a full and deep sound. The richness blended with the surrounding darkness and the unearthly shape of the amphitheater. And again the ground spun.
To begin the show, Melba Moore strutted on stage with her purple satin pants and sequined purple tunic. Without any accompaniment, she opened her mouth and let her crystal-clear voice carry throughout the corners of the amphitheater.
“There’s a brand new morning,” she sang, all sleek and shimmering in the bright lights. “Rising clear and clean and strong.”
If Rawls was polished, Moore soared and shone. She went through vocal acrobatics, taking chances Rawls never approached.
She took one high note, held it until the audience applauded, raised it to a screech, then dropped to a funky “black” voice. Not only was it a masterful display of breath control, but she always maintained control. She pushed the limits of her voice without violating any musical boundaries.
For this reason, Melba Moore’s short act was more than clean. It was dynamite.
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