Jack Rivera solo last night at Molly Malone's as part of the International Pop Overthrow Los Angeles fête: cool blues & pop!
The International Pop Overthrow Festival lured songbird Arwen Lewis and dad Peter Lewis (yes, legendary singer/guitarist of Moby Grape fame) sporting their new moniker The Yellin' Bells to the stage of Molly Malone's back on 8.1.17. Father and daughter both remain such strong singer/guitarists that play beautifully off one another, so this set of classic Grape fare plus newer originals predictably sounded fantastic.
Also on hand, another formidable singer/guitarist Carla Olson (of The Textones and various superior duet albums with onetime Rolling Stone Mick Taylor and the late Byrd Gene Clark) joined in to jam. Moby Grape songs haven't sounded this hot since their inception in the mid-1960s!
Many artists played the Fête on assorted nights, but I was fortunate to catch this act just before the Yellin' Bells: legendary producer/musician Jack Rivera doing a fine solo turn. Quite the local legend for his stint in the Stains and notoriety as a great purist Hard Pop producer, Rivera initially had been introduced to me by his clients Dr. Boogie (LINK*) whose singer/guitarist Chris P. lauded him as "the person from whom I learned everything useful, like you can be out there musically as long as you remember to have hooks." Playing solo since his current band did not remain sufficiently healthy to gig, he offered a skillful set of self-accompanied originals.
Our next encounter with The Yellin' Bells and their talented chum Carla Olson erupted at Skinny's Lounge on Sept. 3, 2017 wherein the club apparently forgot to turn on any onstage illumination. Nonetheless, the crowd predictably was treated to quite a cool set. The Yellin' Bells remain: Peter Lewis, Arwen Lewis, George Adrian, Nick Babishoff, and John Collinson.
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