The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 57

CD salutes late bluesman MICHAEL B'S SINGLES DANCE Sunday Nights At the RAMADA INN SOUTH 7pm-11pm For Information Call 834-4758 nECQHPJIEVlWS RoberTKJrmann Where The Party Never SHOWGIRLS lOO'i of Beautiful Girls and 3 Ugly Ones Coast to Coast A SUN. it TUES.I11 WED. 112 THUR.dn M0H.no FRI. SAT. W5 Birthday Nashville's Bache- Only lor Boys SH0WBAR Always In Free Sharp's Beer Night Sharp's Beer $2.00 All Night EXEOmVEt DAT Wear Suit and Tie Gat InFfN Showgirl Showdown You Pick The Winner! Wet Body Contest "200" 1st Prize $25.00 For Entering Daiquiri Night $2.00 Daiquiris All Night ROBERT K.

OERMANN Staff Writer The calendar says fall, so I guess I should be picking out sounds for those back-to-school parties. But at "Robert's Record Reviews" we're used to whimsy, aren't we? As usual, the column goes wherever our ears lead it, regardless of the season. 12. HILL "Greatest Hits" (Malace) This is my Record of the Week, a collection of blues masterpieces that has delighted just about everyone who's walked within earshot of my stereo speakers lately. Hill was peerless as a contemporary blues stylist, at once urban sophisticate and rustic innocent.

He could be muscular and aggressive, as in Down Home Blues, or rollicking and relaxed as in Friday Is My Day. If he had recorded nothing else but Cheatin' in the Next Room this collection would be worth owning. It's a terrific message tune, but even it pales by comparison with the little-known Get a Little, Give a Little, whose thesis is if a woman is kind enough to give you love, you should help her out with the bills. Malaco's production is laid-back, post-Memphis in style, somewhat akin to the classic Stax sound. Thus, this is a dandy-sounding outing.

Hill died while still in his 40s, as a result of complications following an auto accident in 1 984. It is with bitter regret that I wish I'd discovered his greatness when he was alive. KIMM ROGERS "Soundtrack of My Life" (Island) Rogers has one of those resonant voices that draws you into every word she sings. It's an instrument that manages to convey both impressive technique and a truly conversational tone at the same time. And that's a rare gift.

Rarer still is a debut album that boasts such a strong poetic sense. These are songs that seem torn from the pages of her diary or personal journal, made extra compelling by the smart turns of phrase Rogers offers. So this is a true troubadour album, a group of keen observations delivered in a folkie voice with an ever-so-lightly rocking backdrop. The worldwise lyrics and plain-spoken, colloquial manner give Soundtracft of My Life a decided charm. It's a promising debut from a lady who has wandered from Cleveland, through Nashville and onto the sun-dappled beaches of California.

Kimm Rogers opens for John Doe at 9 tonight at the Exitfln. Tickets are $6 in advance or $8 at the door. MODERN MANDOLIN QUARTET "Intermezzo" (Windham Hill) I know, I know: As soon as you see the words "Windham Hill" you think, "new age." Well, I don't know if that's what you call this or not. I call it some mighty hot, mighty 4ii mi Kimm Rogers "Soundtrack of My Life" sophisticated picking on a repertoire of breath-taking range. We're talking all the way from Haydn and Bach to Shostakovich and Prokofiev here.

Give it to your friend who says he doesn't like classical music and watch his mouth fall open. JOHNNY VAN ZANT "Brickyard Road" (Atlantic) I have a friend who maintains that Southern rock has never died and that record labels are fools for not marketing it today. The renewed success of the Allman Brothers and the ongoing popularity of Lynyrd Skynyrd seem to bear this notion out. For my money, Johnny Van Zant has always been one of the best of RESTAURANT THE niTIl FFTTJTfl FJfflK NASHVILLE'S FAVORITE PLACE BEFORE. DURING AFTER DINNER 1 BEFORE DINNER DENTAL CENTERS 0 If NEW HOURS: 8-5 OPEN Saturday 8-Noon Curtis Green in the studio lounge spm-'HI Evenings by Appointment Extractions (Simple) 415 Extractor (Corrplicaled) Rebase Old Dentures 496m Porcelain Crown 4275 LJ -STANOARD; DENTURES DURING DINNER 1 Dentures (Regular Set) 4371 tS Our Beat PoroeWn Tae 4609 Parti Metah) 4225 Pi Partial (PlastcOr Tooth) I Root Canal ...4176 lion crowns 4300 I I IMPLANTS AVAILABLE ONE DAY LAB WORK cno nruTiiDce STEAK is our "BREAD BUTTER" But we also serve scrumptious seafood and chicken Tableside Entertainment by George Adams Natural Teeth i i CLEANING Whitening Available! A-nnig mm ton 00 (MWtllfcfoYoffDaitiltodsM -j AFTER DINNER tm 3oa banana ne.

maaitua, in a fM5l KhX-37Eo QUALITY (615) 459-0592 ri firnnct conn lunumi THE BICGEST NIGHT CLUB SHOW IN TOWN BULLPEN LOUNGE No Cover Chugc Man-Thun. UCHlo I Hi 13 wm AFFORDABLPI ra-oU mm taJ UBMal All tmunnot AcnpM No Ap point rontt Nacuory Walk-lia Accwtad pOOQOQElOODQQDQQQOODOOQDO the Southern rock vocalists, a guy who could put across a song with such natural finesse you never noticed how effective his low-key bluesy belting really was. Come to think of it, maybe that's why he's never had a hit. This comeback only goes partway toward remedying that situation. He's still singing marvelously.

But there are too many places on this CD where you have to listen real hard to hear it. And rather than embracing his musical heritage with both arms, Van Zant seems to be aiming too much at mainstream rock here. ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL "Keepin' Me Up Nights" (Arista) Are you sitting down? Asleep at the Wheel has made a truly commercial, listenable-all-the-way-through country album. 1 realize this is smelling-salts news to longtime followers of Texas' best-known western swing honky-tonk big band. We all know that Ray Benson is a good bandleader, a master showman and a capable playerwritersinger.

But a great record producer, he ain't. Barry Beckett and Tim DuBois, however, are great record producers; and Scott Hendricks is well on his way to becoming one. They have apparently taken Benson in hand and convinced the durable Grammy winner to marry his root-sy sensibilities with some studio polish. Ifs not enough to mar the rowdy, dancefloor, basic pleasures of Asleep at the Wheel. Just enough to make you love the act all over again.

Aseep at the Wheel celebrates its 20t.h anniversary in concert at 9 p.m,Saturday at the Cannery. at the door. i iv(ii urn ROBIN K. SMITH TOMMY RIGGS MON-SAT) GERRIPYE (tuessat) GAIN CONTROL MON) muhtu 5 lit ut Ul Weekly Talent Contest Hosted By WSM's KHTH BILBREY Guest Stars 8-9 PM Every Thursday AM 600 WSM wd Swcfcyvtf AsstawreM You Never Know Who'll Be Seen At The Stockyard. Seen This Week Ronnie McDowell Joe Kraft Davis Carr Sam Howard Steve Shepard Ronnie McDowell band Dan Wilson Mr.

Perfect Ravishing Rick Rude Greg "The Hammer" Valentine Wayne Erwin Nelson Andrews Tom' Cannon Patty Golden, Karen YoungSovran Bank Connie Cru thirds LITCHFIELD COURTYARD CinEKAS MS LEBANON BOAD CARMIKE HICKORY HOLLOW I Ml AT BELL ROAD 864-3015 namper or uxnmerce 2nd AVE. N. STOCKYARD BLVD. 255-6464.