Joan Armatrading - Show Me Some Emotion

Joan Armatrading is a name I've known for a long time, but I've never really heard anything by her. I've caught snippets here and there but that's about it. Then a while back I was reading up on the original Joe Jackson band, and Gary Sanford whose guitar work was so interwoven into those early albums would spend some time in the '80s playing guitar on a couple of her albums. Well, that was intriguing. Maybe I should keep an eye out for some of her stuff.

As fate would have it I managed to score a really nice copy of her 1977 release Show Me Some Emotion. For me, the draw here was the production credit: Glyn Johns. It was recorded at the legendary Olympic Studios and if nothing else this would be a really good sounding record.

Joan released her debut album in 1972 and Show Me Some Emotion was her forth album, and the second album to be produced by Glyn Johns. Apparently her 1976 album simply titled Armatrading is considered essential listening - this one, not as much.

With nothing else to compare it to, I at least get to listen without any baggage.

Right off, the album starts on an intimate note with "Woncha Come on Home" that features Joan on guitar and oddly, a thumb piano. I knew enough prior to putting this one, that she wasn't going to be a Motown styled singer, and I was curious to see where she'd go musically. This is where my impediment with genres is a detriment to describing things properly. At it's core this is a rock record, with a singer songwriter who infuses elements of jazz, funk and quite a few points in between. In short is pretty cool.

The assembled talent pool here is also staggering. Most of the bass work on the album was handed by Bryan Garofalo who is a monster, and has played with everyone from B.B. King to Joe Walsh. Dave Markee shows up a few times on bass, unusually paired with Henry Spinetti. They guys were the rhythm section on a lot of Clapton sessions. Joan played acoustic guitar, including the wicked solo on "Opportunity" while the electric work was provided by Jerry Donahue. Heck she even had Kenney Jones drumming on a song.

As I expected, this is a great sounding record, and my goodness the songs are all pretty great. However, if I'm being honest the first couple of plays through have been somewhat forgettable despite being very enjoyable. That's part of the problem in trying to jot down thoughts while listening to an album for the first time. I'm trying to take it all in at once, and unless something really stands out there's a tendency to throw the baby out with the bath water. Thankfully the copy I have has all the lyrics and credits and it's helping make things stick.

I will call out "Opportunity" the opening cut from side two as probably my favourite song on the album. It jumped out of the grooves the first play, and has only gotten better with subsequent plays - and that solo by Joan is so freakin' tasty. Actually, most of the second side really grabbed me by the feels.

I think I'll give this one a couple more spins before I put it away. I know I was going on about this being a bit forgettable, but that's not fair or accurate. I've listened to this now a few times, and while I am partial to side two, my general impression of the whole experience has been really positive - I really like this.

I'm a fan.

I'm also kind of glad to be finding this now, as I know for sure that back in '77 I'd have never given this the time of day. Not enough rock. I may be late getting here, but at least I got here. Glyn Johns' production and engineering have given this a truly timeless feel.

It's also kind of strange reading up on this album and the ambivalence the critics had to Show Me Some Emotion. Most of what I've read seems to put this record firmly in the shadow of her previous release Armatrading, which makes me really curious as to what I'm missing. I now have another album on my list.

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