Lickity Split host BBQ Under The Fireworks blues jam July 3rd on South Shore beach; fireworks erupting while band plays on
By Bill Copeland
BillCopelandMusicNews
This blues jam has been hosted by Satch Romano’s blues band Lickity Split for the last three years. About three hundred plus people showed up last night to party with Lickity Split and a handful of guest players on the eve of America’s birthday. The hostness known on the blues scene as Mari, or Merribella Blues, brings this extravaganza to a private south shore residence every year. Although this was merely an informal gathering, insight could be gained from watching how Lickity Split manages to keep the fun rolling along.
Lickity Split opened with the Jimi Hendrix classic “Red House,” playing a slower but fulsome rendition with extra oomph in the low end. Split’s keyboardist Lulu Phillips added her tasteful organ touches and band leader Satch’s harmonica sounded really cool. Right off the bat the crowd responded to the quality musicianship with enthusiasm.
The Split’s guitarist is also a good singer and he excels at the rhythm stuff too. His lead phrases, though, sounded as thick and wailing as a saxophone. I had to keep looking to see if there was a sax player on stage with them or if Phillips was using some kind of midi device. Alas, it was just a good musician stretching the possibilities of his instrument.
At times, Phillips’s organ sounded like Stevie Wonder’s clavinet from the 1970s. The Bruce Springsteen favorite “Pink Cadillac” bopped along nicely, thanks to the Split’s able rhythm section. Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “Mary Had A Little Lamb” followed the basic 5-4-1 pattern but with so much going on over it. When this band’s rhythm section gets into a groove, they really shake things up. Add three melody instruments, guitar, harp, and keyboards and you have some solid boogie with a lot of extra toppings.
“Every Little Bit” was played with the same grooving’ fun and “Every Day I’ve Got The Blues” showed the tightest rhythm of the night. Phillips wrapped her organ chords around the rhythm, creating nice thick dollops of movement.
“Wooly Bully” by Sam The Sham and “I Saw Her Standing There” by The Beatles moved forward at brisk paces. Team work and counterpoints and unisons work well for this band. With Satch on rhythm guitar laying out some tough chords, his lead guitar mad handled the sweet melodic phrases.
“Some Kind Of Wonderful” gave Phillips more of a chance to carry the melody, sweet, sweet, bubbling, 1960s style organ notes, almost carnival like in their swirl. This became a backdrop for the guitarist to chime with spicy phrasing once again.
The second half found a new line-up playing with firecrackers, bottle rockets, and sparklers exploding not too far from the stage, making the jam come across like a full arena size concert with pyrotechniques. The second batch of players included a guitarist/singer identified as Rolando and a drummer named Jerry Yalmokus and a tambourine specialist named Lauren. “It Hurts Me Too,” “You Sure Look Good,” and other blues classics got the energetic, improvisational treatment that comes at these easy going jam formats. Rolando showed even more talent when he sang lead vocals on Credence Clearwater Revival’s “Big River.” His voice suggests he’s a man who likes to entertain with his music. There’s nothing like a player/singer whose love for the music shines through his face.
The highlight of the second set came when guitarist/singer Johnnie Robbins took to the stage and lead the band through his psychedelic version of the blues. This inspired Phillips to take her keyboard to the extremes of sound possibilities, eerie, spacey tones, and odd sustains. Robbins started off with Pink Floyd’s “Happiest Days Of Our Lives,” plunged into his half-spoken, half-sung original “Guitar Freak,” then ended with The Moody Blues’ “Nights In White Satin.” Robbins, wild man on guitar, was like Jimi Hendrix incarnate, beaming with charisma and continuing to sing and play at his own energy level. By this time, there were three guitarists on stage and combined with Phillips keyboards created an impressive wall of sound.
The party’s organizer, Mari, known as Merribella Blues, sang a few tunes with her husky, raspy blues voice and she probably left a few people wondering why she doesn’t perform any more. She really belted those story songs like “Strut My Stuff”
It was a fun jam, with Johnnie Robbins being a special surprise, Merribella Blues an added treat, and Phillips keyboard versatility a highlight. If Satch Romano knows one thing, it’s how to show an audience a good time.
