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Mose Allison on stage on Friday. Songwriter has been performing for more than 50 years

By Malcolm X Abram
Beacon Journal music writer

Published on Thursday, Aug 27, 2009

 

Pianist/singer/songwriter Mose Allison is a hero to many musicians.

The list of artists who have covered his songs during his 50-year career includes several Rock and Roll Hall of Fame enshrinees and a variety of jazz, country and indie rock artists.

Big names such as Van Morrison, the Who, Diana Krall, the Bangles, the Clash, John Mayall, the Foo Fighters, Asleep at the Wheel, Elvis Costello and Buddy Guy are just a few of the artists who have drawn from the Mose Allison songbook.

Indie rock legends the Pixies wrote a song about him simply called Allison, and in England he is considered a huge influence on a generation of classic rock 'n' rollers.

Allison, 81, who will be performing at Nighttown in Cleveland Heights on Friday, has been a musicians' musician and has received all kinds of love from his musical peers and acolytes. He said it's always nice to hear that folks like his music, but he's pragmatic about the accolades and the many cover versions of his tunes.

''It doesn't make me feel any better when I'm in line somewhere waiting for a flight change,'' he said, chuckling during a telephone interview from his home in Long Island, N.Y.

''I don't care what people do with my material as long as they give me credit for it. I've had all kinds of people do versions of my stuff and some of it I like a lot and some of it is just unusual and I like that, too, so I don't care what anybody does with it.''

Allison has been making and recording music for more than 50 years and though he is not a household name, he is one of the most respected songwriters in the country, with a phalanx of dedicated fans who still hang on his every witty word.

He was born on his grandfather's farm near the tiny town of Tippo, Miss. He started playing the piano by ear at the age of 5 and began writing songs while in high school.

In the mid-'40s, he served a stint in the U.S. Army band before starting his own trio.

In the early 1950s, after graduating from Louisiana State University, he began working nightclubs and forming his singular style — an always swinging mix of jazz and Delta blues and his witty, often humorous lyrics, sung in his relaxed hip style.

Allison took his vocal cues from singers such as Charles Brown and Percy Mayfield and his facile blues and bop piano stylings from legends such as Errol Garner, Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk (for whom his trio opened in the 1960s), as well as modern composers such as Bela Bartok and Charles Ives.

He released his debut album, Back Country Suite — a mostly instrumental album — in 1957 at the age of 29. His second album, Local Color, contained one of his most covered tunes: the hard-swinging uptempo Parchman Farm, which became a staple of many 1960s and '70s English rock bands, including Cactus, Manfred Mann, John Mayall and others.

All told, Allison has recorded more than 30 albums in 52 years and has played countless gigs with his trio. He has never gained mainstream fame, but he is not particularly fond of the ''cult figure'' label frequently thrust upon him.

''I don't worry about that,'' he said. ''I have all kinds of people that come to see me and cult is not a word that I'm familiar with. There's no cult, I'm not a leader of a cult and I don't have anything to do with a cult.''

Allison's lyrics often touch on the problems of modern life, be they small, such as the vagaries of love, or social and philosophical quandaries (he has a bachelor's degree in philosophy and English).

Songs such as Tell Me Something contain couplets such as:
''You say the world is mad,
You say that you've been had,
You don't like your part in the floor show,
You say it's all a bust,
There's no one you can trust,
Well, tell me something that I don't know.''

In I Don't Want Much, Allison expresses his desire for a simple life:
''I don't want much in this world,
It's the simple things I treasure.
'Til I die I would get by on fame, riches and sensual pleasure,
I don't ask much in this life,
No special consideration,
Just treat me like his majesty,
Of a friendly OPEC nation.''

For years, the common adjectives applied to Allison's songwriting were cynical, sardonic and satirical, but Allison says that notion has changed. ''I used to be a cynic and now I'm a comedian. People realized that a lot of the stuff I wrote was funny. . . .

''It only took 50 years or so for people to come around,'' he said, laughing.

Allison hasn't released a record of new material since 1997's Gimcracks and Gewgaws and, though he said he isn't writing much anymore, he recently finished recording his first album of the new century featuring several new songs.

While many American songwriters have used the last 10 years as fuel to rage against the machine, in Allison's view, it's the same stuff, different day.

''People ask me [about writing songs about the current political climate] all the time,'' he said. ''My answer is, I've been writing about this situation for 40 years. It's no different than it was 40 years ago.

''There's always a war, there's always corruption, there's always fraud and people stealing stuff, so there's no difference.''

With more than 150 of his own songs to draw from, plus the many songs by other artists he simply enjoys playing, Allison said he doesn't bother with set lists, preferring to pick one off his list of ''openers'' and then letting the evening flow from there, mixing and matching tempos, key change and subject matter.

Despite the fact that he'll turn 82 in November, Allison still plays about 120 dates a year and his voice and his piano playing sound nearly as fresh as they did back in 1957.

And, he says that though he has thousands of gigs under his belt, playing still presents a challenge.

''The challenge is to swing and to put the music across, to make it happen,'' he said. ''That requires a certain amount of concentration and so forth, and so that is what I'm doing in Cleveland and I'll be doing it wherever I play next.''

Malcolm X Abram can be reached at mabram@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3758.

 

 

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