Angel Corpus Christi

Accordion Pop 1 Angel Corpus Christi

ACCORDION POP, VOL. 1 (Gulcher 419) Come on in. Sit down and have a cup o' sweet with Angel. This is uncut stuff circa mid-80s--nothin' but accordion, no vocals, a little reverb, and I heard some whitegurl finger-poppin' on 'Beast Of Burden.' Yes, the Stones song. There's another one too: 'As Tears Go By.' But don't cry, even though this disc's mostly sad/happy in that special way Ms. Corpus Christi does so well. She also angel-kisses the soft white melodic underbelly of the Monkees ('I'm A Believer'), the Velvets ('Femme Fatale'), the Beatles together (only version of 'Hey Jude' you ever need to hear) and apart ('Imagine' as part of a medley with yet another Stones tune, 'You Can't Always Get What You Want'). Yes, it does sound good. Where else can you hear Santo & Johnny's 'Sleep Walk,' Roger Miller's 'King Of The Road,' and the Beach Boys' 'Surfer Girl' done to perfection as solo-accordion pop instrumentals? Plus: 'To Know Him Is To Love Him' (Phil 'We-Love-Him- No-Matter-What' Spector's Teddy Bears), 'Love Me Tender' (do I have to say Elvis?), 'Jennifer Juniper' (Donovan), 'Downtown' (Pet Clark), 'Singin' The Blues' (I'd like to dream thatAngel's version was based on Black Oak's version of the Guy Mitchell/Marty Robbins hit), and more more more!! This Gulcher CD of ACCORDION POP is a reissue of the 1985 cassette originally released by Stim Records. Angel has been making records for the past 20+ years her most recent album of new material, DIVINE HEALER, was released by Gulcher in 2003. But you already know all that, right? Okay then, I'm gonna take a nap while I listen again to Angel pump away at 'Denise' by Randy & The Rainbows (never mind Blondie's version). -- Eddie Flowers, slippytown.com.