Dick Wagner Live in Saginaw

Dick Wagner
Live @ White’s Bar
November 19th, 2011

It seems that Dick Wagner is a cat with nine lives. He’s a rock & roll Stallone. Just about the time he’s down for the count, he lifts himself up, dusts himself off and puts his dukes up for another around. I hadn’t seen Dick for about 6 years or so and I was struck by his presence. He was confident but self-deprecating, and …well, funny. It was as if he underwent a magical transformation, a rebirthing of his original joy about the world, letting go of a lifetime of being pushed, pinched and driven…dissatisfied. Nowadays, Wagner seems to have accepted his true nature, warts and all. His flaws reveal his divine imperfection and he can now perceive the grace and beauty in the faces of family, friends and fans. Finally, the mystery man can face his demons and remain comfortable in his own skin Wagner’s newfound serenity has given him a true clearness of vision regarding his craft. His music has evolved. It is both grounded and spacious. In this concert performance Wagner casts fate to the wind and trusts his own natural gifts. He let go of his tattered mystery man image and restored himself through the music he created and then altered. The constriction gushed out and energy and harmony returned. Wagner is BACK!
The show started with a few squeals and squawks from an overburdened PA protesting the second night of hard rocking sounds from the exquisite band assembled by the maestro . Wagner was in no hurry and he seemed to enjoy the opportunity to goof around with the crowd and tell stories. A nearby fan was rabidly clicking off photos when Wagner turned around, lifted his lip into crooked Elvis smile and scolded, “You’re stealing my soul; it’s being sucked into the lens of your camera.” The hapless fan was stunned speechless for a brief moment, turned red as a beet, and then laughed, realizing Wagner was yanking his chain.
Wagner has noticeably aged. His hair is pure white and combed back elegantly. He has trimmed down a bit and moves minimally about the small stage. He raps about writing a song with Alice Cooper, sipping sweet nectar on a veranda overlooking a golden beach and the magnificent white-water swell of the ocean. Wagner said it best, “We just hung out on the beach, played golf every morning, and ate steamed clams in the afternoon. It was a stressful life.” He then introduced I Never Cry, “This is a song I wrote with Alice Cooper. It was our biggest hit.” This is spare rendition with just Dick’s voice and guitar. Wagner’s vocal is raspy and strained but he somehow reaches the notes; it is a voice of the ages. He is like Santiago in the Old Man & the Sea, a man who possesses an earthy but dignified wisdom and understands that there is honor in struggle. Wagner’s rugged intonation of the lyrics gives them poignancy, a deeper meaning informed by the years. He is more assured yet achingly vulnerable. Wagner found his voice:
Take away. Take away my eyes
Sometimes I’d rather be blind
Break a heart
Break a Heart of Stone
Open it up
But don’t you leave it alone
Sweet Jenny Lee is a rearranged version of the old Frost chestnut Sweet Jenny Lee that is also re-birthed as a heavy rocker, with a complex chord structure, tempo changes and masterful solos by Wagner and axe man Ray Goodman (SRC, Mitch Ryder). They play off each other like radar, expert timing with just enough space between the lead and the back-fills. This would fit nicely on the brilliant but obscure Ursa Major LP. This is a pop song re-imagined by the maestro as a truly dark, harder edged rocker about a woman that has no conscience. It is slowed down with a syncopated drum riff that drives home the anger that is folded into the lyrics.
Wagner introduced the band - a great band with some real history behind it. Wagner has known guitarist extraordinaire Ray Goodman since their Grande Ballroom days. Prakash John (Parliament/Funkadelics) was Wagner’s bass player on Lou Reed’s Live Animals and Alice Cooper’s Welcome to my Nightmare. Brian Bennett (Cherry Slush) and Al Bodnar have played piano and organ with Wagner for years. Jordan John (Prakash’s son) played drums and Robert Wagner (Dick’s son) sang lead and harmony parts.
It was a family affair.
Dick introduced Black As Night as “a Frost song – one of my favorite Frost songs. This is another re-conceived blast from the past. It follows the original chord structure but the tempo is slowed down and it rocked harder. The heavier arrangement mirrors the despair in the lyrics:
Cold as ice
Looking deep in to your soul
Wonder why we never made the grade
Something always standing in the way
Wagner and Goodman created a space for each other as they penetrate the dharma and build the architecture of the sound. They traded off guitar lines so comfortably, as if they are one unified mind. Wagner recreated the Hey Jude inspired ending of the original 1970 Frost version from the great but underrated LP Through the Eyes of Love.
Back to the Land is a heavy hitter from the Ursa Major catalog. Dick opened it up with a soft guitar line. Robert Wagner took over the lead vocal. His strong emotive tenor is the perfect vehicle to deliver the apocalyptic vision of the lyrics. The images are startling - soldiers fighting, dust settling and cities on fire. This is a heavy metal anti-war anthem that resonates to this day. As war decimates the cities, it is time to get back to the land. Wagner is on top of his game here. He’s playing big notes and fluid runs with perfect tone and execution. The song is complex with abrupt tempo changes, quiet and loud segments that take you around the block. This song is visionary and ahead of its time. It is a tribute to our veterans but was originally conceived as an ode to the Universal Soldier cloaked in respect for our soldiers sacrifice Its an obscure masterpiece. The clear-eyed lyrics tell the story
I Found an answer
I know we can journey from Darkness
Back to the land
Somewhere in the distant mountains
Men died for freedom; died for you and me
Soldiers of fortune empty your hands
Carry your families back to the land

Wagner offered up Sweet Jane, the Rock & Roll Animal” version from his days with Lou Reed. Wagner and Goodman re-created the Wagner/Hunter collaboration with incredible skill, producing majestic full-bodied notes and cascading runs. The band is in the pocket and tight as a sailor’s knot that holds strong and let’s go easy. The incredible tandem guitar opening and superb harmonics introduce the melody line and Robert Wagner’s hip-talking bluesy Lou Reed vocal. Ray Goodman contributed some tasty funky guitar bits - he’s always been a soulful player. Wagner tore it up on the coda to a wildly ecstatic response. It took us back to 1973
Wagner introduced the next song as a “story about growing up in Detroit.” Motor City Showdown is taken from Wagner’s 1978 solo album on Atlantic Records. The LP was an underappreciated gem that was capsized by a meager budget and poor promotion. Wagner’s iconic guitar work is all over this deep-end song like a long dormant passion that is suddenly awakened. It’s a song about violence in the big city. Wagner’s fiery solos scaffold the restlessness and fear in the lyrics. But in the coda, Wagner’s playing is more contemplative and hopeful. His majestic major chord statements suggest that a better world is possible. Wagner is on fire!
The crowd begins chanting Wagner’s name as former Ursa Major bassist Grant West climbed up on the stage. West played with Wagner in the last year of Ursa Major’s reign when they toured the southern regions of the USA. Dick played the intro - that familiar melody line in My Darkest Hour. This is a ballad for the ages with universal themes that speak to our primal need to merge with others. It goes beyond love and loss to a deep existential need. It’s a struggle between hope and despair and a realization that emotions can signal something. Robert Wagner sang the lyrics like a prayer. Dick took the vocal on the second verse
I spend my nights sleeping in your arms
I’ll spend my days dreaming of your charms
You set my soul on Fire
Grant West adds a prolonged bass solo during an extended jam in which all the players get a chance to flex their musical might. Wagner takes up the vocal line, returning to the first verse and ending with an almost shouted erotic plea
Lady Lady you’re my hearts desire
Lady Lady you set my soul on fire
Wagner ends the show with Rock & Roll Music. Wagner intro…”I’m thinking, I’m thinking, I better stop thinking.” Jordan John recreates that simple but insistent 4/4 beat. Dick sings lead with Robert filling in the cracks and singing harmony. This is a concise literal reading of the original Frost version without any frills, jams or lyrical twists. It was perfect.
“Rock & Roll Music is all that you need to be free” – Dick Wagner 1969
Wagner created a perfect Trifecta of brilliant songs for an extended encore. Wagner is in a talkative mood and he introduces Only Women Bleed with another revealing Wagner rap.
“This was written by Alice Cooper and myself – based on music I wrote in 1968 for the Frost. But we didn’t record it…’cos the lyrics just didn’t make it. So, I presented it to Alice in 1975. He loved the music but hated the lyrics. It took about half an hour to write the song”
Dick began softly playing that famous guitar intro, then the keyboard came in and the cymbals swooned. Dick began singing…
Man's got his woman to take his seed
He's got the power - oh
She's got the need
She spends her life through pleasing up her man
She feeds him dinner or anything she can
She cries alone at night too often
He smokes and drinks and don't come home at all
Only women bleed
Wagner’s vocal is spare and a bit ragged. There is a sadness in his voice that comes from living, losing and letting go. He is no longer a thief of hearts nor is he life’s mistake. He has achieved hard-fought wisdom through surviving all the brutality that life and the music industry sent his way. This is what makes this particular version so powerful especially without the frills or pretension of the hit version. It is a stone masterpiece
Welcome To My Nightmare comes next. It is a brilliant rendition with the added punch of Tony High (T-Bone), an extraordinary musician. He blows a hot trombone on this jazzed up and funky remake. T-Bone’s incredible trombone solo was one of the musical highlights of the evening. He was blowing some serious jams when the music abrupt stopped; an air-tight pocket of silence signaled the music to start back up. T-Bone took it back for another go around – it was the most melodic trombone notations I’ve ever heard. He’s got the good Juju. And he had everyone under his spell.
The show ended with a rousing version of the Bossmen’s 1966 hit Baby Boy. It is a phenomenal version with the original drummer Pete (I love you man; I love you too, man) Woodman pounding the drums like a prize fighter and perfectly re-creating that incredible 8 beat/2 measure drum roll that connected the bridge to the next verse. Wagner changed the chorus in a small way to “Don’t cry so long (too hard) baby boy.” Robert sings the lead with Dick assisting on the chorus. The song holds up well 45 years after it was initially released. It was the Bossmen’s last and most popular 45 rpm. It was a perfect closer and a personal favorite of mine

“That’s the end of our show tonight. I love you”
- Dick Wagner

November 19th, 2011