Benjamin Burns, Senior
Today I am reviewing the 1987 album, “Ow! Ow! Ow!” by Barrence Whitfield and the Savages. This is one of their earlier albums, just as good as their more recent albums. They started off in the 80s, stopped making music for a while, but have returned somewhat recently and have been putting out music since.
The album starts with the song “Rockin the Mule,” a classic sounding blues song. It’s followed by “Madhouse,” where Whifield has seemingly been put into a psychiatric hospital. After that is “Apology Line,” where Whifield is calling into a radio show to apologize to his girlfriend as she has left him. Next up is “I Don’t Dig Your Noise” where he says that he doesn’t believe that his girlfriend is going to stay with him. It’s unclear if he’s talking about the same person from “Apology Line” or not. But things seem to turn around in “Living Proof” as Whitfield sings about how his partner’s presence in his life has helped him a lot and feels that he has been uplifted. “Stop Twistin’ My Arm” is a more playful song, as Whitfield says “Stop twistin’ my arm, I already love you.” This brings new light into the album. The next song has a unique vocal performance from Whitfield, as although sometimes he will bring his vocals into a higher yell, he keeps said delivery going for the whole song. Afterwards is “Runnin’ And Hidin’,” which sounds like whoever Whitfield was with has done something that bothered him, but he keeps coming back to them anyway. The next song “The Blues Is A Thief”, which has that name because Whifield says that “it stole my smile.” “Ain’t She Wild” is about a woman who is recently divorced, is looking for someone to date, and Whifield wants no part of it. The final song on the album, “Chillin’,” is about exactly what it sounds like.
I would highly recommend this album to anyone who not only enjoys blues or rock, but those who might want to hear more local artists, as Whitfield is a local musician.