Reviews of Yo Ma Ma

Shortcuts to Infinity
Yo Ma Ma: Symptomology

http://www.hitsdailydouble.com/news/newsPage.cgi?news09200m01

We got a fantastic review in HITS

6. Stephen Kalinich & Jon Tiven, Shortcuts to Infinity/Yo Ma Ma, Symptomology (MsMusic Records): This impressive two-CD set is the work of two music veterans steeped in classic rock tropes, from the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, the Allman Brothers and the Yardbirds to proto-punks like Iggy Pop and the Stooges. The 70-year-old Kalinich is a cosmic zen lyricist who has penned verses for the Beach Boys, their various offshoots and mutual friend P.F. Sloan (“Eve of Destruction”), traveling with him and Tiven to India, where the pair wrote their first song together. That initial collaboration bore fruit in this comprehensive set, one disc devoted to classic-rock reverie, the other, a down-and-dirty garage-rock homage credited to made-up group Yo Ma Ma and their dual alter egos—Tiven’s Jack # (Hashtag) and Kalinich’s Reverend Steve Nobody. Tiven, of course, is a one-time rock critic for Rolling Stone and Zoo World, among others, credited with helping organize the legendary 1973 Rock Writers’ Conference in Memphis, where the scribes of their time first got turned on to Big Star. He later went on to work as a producer, songwriter and musician with such seminal figures as Alex Chilton, Don Covay, Arthur Alexander, B.B. King, Irma Thomas, Garnet Mimms, Buddy Guy and Son Seals, among many others. The last time he sang lead was back in his old group The Yankees, before joining the late downtown poet Jim Carroll’s band as a guitarist and never looking back. With Tiven singing Kalinich’s lyrics, the album opens with “It Takes Time,” a song that sounds as if the Stones could’ve recorded it in 1965 circa Charlie Is My Darling, while the Allmans-esque “Out of the Darkness” features a scintillating guitar solo from Tiven pal, Queen’s Brian May. Another highlight is the Dylanesque “I Believe in Elephants,” not a Republican party theme song, but a playful piece of flower power whimsy with a honking harp and boomer-pride lyrics like “I believe in taking back/Everything that is ours.” The Chicago blues rave-up of “Climb Stone Walls” is another glorious throwback, while “Fight for Peace” is a psychedelic reverie, with Tiven admitting, “In the self reflections of each day/ I find beauty in simple things.” Yo Ma Ma is a hoot and a holler, a boozy, profane, expletive-not-deleted romp through the blues/punk songbook, featuring ditties like the title track about radio payola, a Stonesy “Let’s Get Stoned,” the rollicking rockabilly of “Don’t Fuck With Me” and the Jerry Lee Lewis rave-up of “Once My Zits Go Away,” featuring guest cameos from Stax Records guitarist Steve Cropper (“Time Bomb”) and drummers Chester Thompson, Steve Ferrone and Billy Block. The underrated Tiven finally gets to be center-stage, leading his own group—which includes wife, bassist Sally Tiven, and North Mississippi All-Stars drummer Cody Dickinson, son of the late great Jim Dickinson—by putting all that experience and knowledge to good use. It’s an affectionate, full-hearted tribute to rock and its roots, enlivened by the equally legendary Kalinich’s cheeky lyrics. If you long for those halcyon days when rock and roll was king, this one’s right up your alley



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