Search - Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band :: Dr Buzzard's Original Savannah Band

Swing Jazz, R&B, Latin, Disco, and Cole Porter all in one!,

YUSUF LAMONT | NEW YORK, NEW YORK United States | 08/22/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is simply one of the finest albums of the 70's! I first heard it as an 8th grader in 1976 and remarkably, the music doesn't just hold up...but it actually seems to have gotten better since then. The bold mixture of styles (Swing Jazz, Disco, Latin, R&B) makes it an anomaly in popular music history...namely, a great achievement that absolutely could not be duplicated by others. As if the crisp, sweet arrangements, (remember those?) and hellified singing by one Miss Cory Daye were not enough, the hidden gem on this album is the witty and super-literate lyrics. August Darnell's wordplay on this album summons images of an uptown-ed Cole Porter, solidly bopping his way to the 2 and 4 without EVER risking his top hat's falling off. Cut for cut, this is one of the 70's great records. You won't skip a single selection. Great for driving, for getting dressed for a party, the party itself, walking down the street or cleaning the house on a Saturday afternoon as the dust fills random shafts of sunlight. And in a special note to all the new-jacks out there who are checking out the nuevo-swing scene: dig on this platter of wax from our bicentennial year of 76' and learn how this music can be done while sounding fresh and original! P.S. You'll note in an earlier review, someone mentions the two other great discs by this bunch. There's also a greatest hits album and a great lost album by Darnell called "Gichy Dan's Beechwood #9". It has the same flavor, but is notable as a transitional step to his assumption of the "Kid Creole" persona. It features the wonderful club semi-hit "Laissez Faire". If you see this album in a bin on vinyl, you'd better get it then and there! That's the only way TO get it, unfortunately!"

Timeless Music

June Evans | Pleasant hill, CA United States | 12/26/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was a kid when this album came out and I loved it then and love it now. I have done everything to this cd in regards to using it for road trips and cleaning the house, all the while singing with my hairbrush near by as my microphone. It is one of the most positive vibes/music I have heard; happy, joyous feel-good music that gets better and better each time I play it."

Lemon in the Honey

FunkFor Now | Rockport, IN USA | 04/30/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Big-band disco, this is, although not as campy (or as bad) as that implies. In fact, this is the most listenable disco album I've heard this side of Chic. Their Cole Porter-inspired seductive sophistication is hard-won, and let me tell you, I've been seduced, listening to the damn thing at least once a week since I found it at a used record bin in Nashville for $[...] a year ago. Sluts and saints are celebrated, but the real heroes are the urban working class characters who find the courage to keep on dancing despite the hard times. Cory Daye is the most underrated singer to come out of the disco milieu: her vocals skirt the perils of diva hyper expressiveness with teasing, irony, wit and intelligence. The beats and arrangements are playful and fun, flirting with `40s nostalgia without wallowing in it. Principal writers (and musicians) Stony Browder and August Darnell (not to mention producer Sandy Linzer) keep it moving throughout; they allow only one arch vocal moment about mid-way through side 2, but have the good sense to pair it with their most attractive melody. And they close the album with a vibe-accented mover that keeps you believing there's always room to dance and to love no matter how close to the precipice you venture. There's lemon in the honey, all right."