Thank you all for making ME feel better; now if there was something we could do for Rickie... I was so down last night, I momentarily considered tossing my own hard earned sobriety, but good won over evil in the end. The portrait of sorrowful desparation that RLJ paints with her art IS striking, and to see it so vividly has me in a bit of a tizzy. I'm grateful I have a forum of people to air my upset with who understand, and don't think me odd for being alarmed and saddened as opposed to angered by having spent my money or some other petty stance. I found some solace not only in the responses to my post, but also in reading some of RLJ's own comments about her performances in her chat forum. I hadn't realized how often she throws in her 2 cents. She basically defends herself by stating that studio recording is for one thing, but a live performance is for another - and furthermore don't expect it to be easy, comforting, familiar....expect it to be unsettling, teasing, hair-raising, tear-jerking... This is not to say that the drunken timing, flustered musicians and weepy stance of a performance like last night's are all explained away, but what it DOES say is that RLJ is aware of what she's doing. I'm not sure what's more tragic, the admittance that 'this is just the way I am sometimes' or the artist who thinks the show came off beautifully when in fact it was embarrassingly flawed. There's some credibiltiy in her refusal to bother covering up whats going on with her, though, and somehow that makes me feel better. If I were to turn to Rickie and say "Ya' know, Rick, you're not fooling anybody about your alcoholism" she'd probably respong by saying "I've never ever tried to". As I myself will remain a RLJ 'enabler' I am shortly going to have my order processed for the new "RLJ Live In Portland" web-only double CD set. This, of course, in the wake of having won 2 ebay auctions for RLJ posters which are set to arrive any day. My devotion remains steady, if just a little shaken. And yes Bob, I agree, "It's Like This" IS one of the best albums of the year, in fact my only complaint about it is that it's too damn short. Onward to the "Man From Mars" cover on Chaka's new vid release...I'm waiting for my credit card payment to clear so I can order on-line goodies, and could NOT wait another second for the new Chaka , which I had originally planned to order form Amazon. So, off to Cambridge I went , as I could not find a VHS copy in all of Boston. Chaka Khan could sexualize a root canal or swordfish steak if the job called for it, and the number she does on MFM is no exception. What started as a lament for a lost pet has us now seated in Chaka's boudoir watching her toss and turn , sleeping only in fits, as she empties the bedside box of tissues and then hurls the box across the room. Where is her man? This time he went too far. The rest of the performance is a must for any fan of CK's voice - it's not the same as it used to be but,much like our Joni's, it has found a descriptive depth in the singer's later years. A handful of the tracks are actually updated replays of material covered on the "Echoes From An Era" project, a barely circulated CK jazz collaboration album from 1982 of which I am the proud owner of a vinyl copy. If anyone would like a tape, let me know. -Chris
