In an election year, there are a lot of political issues being discussed, argued, spun and distorted. But the newly crowned Queen of the Blues Shemekia Copeland is doing her level best to make sure the intractable problem of income disparity stays part of the discourse with an advance stream below from her upcoming 33 1/3 CD.
Now, Something Else! is officially neutral on politics but as music lovers, we can appreciate a good put-down of the status quo set to song as much as anyone else. “Lemon Pie” isn’t about a sweet slice of dessert but the sour leftovers awaiting the working poor. Copeland’s tart tongue dishes it back in a hard rockin’, hard groovin’ 21st century blues number:
Life is just a coal mine,
you’re shafted every day.
The boss man musta never heard
that Lincoln freed the slaves.
So you keep on working,
your face against the stone.
While others gets the steak,
…you get the bone.
The guitar-crunching backing her up completes Shemekia’s “better not mess with me” persona and her simmering anger and frustration comes through every time she tackles those modern blues themes, like this one. “Lemon Pie” is a great start to yet another strong Shemekia Copeland album. Just how strong? Check back in a few weeks when we give 33 1/3 the full survey.
33 1/3 is scheduled for release September 25, by Telarc International, a division of Concord Music Group.
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great write-up on a great song. Please check out the video we made for Lemon Pie with Shemekia in Pullman, Chicago, a former company town and site of ignition of the Pullman strikes, a location at which income disparity and the struggles of the working poor are manifested:
http://www.celebrateit.tv/shemekia-copeland/