Panther Burns 10th Anniversary Live - Midnight in Memphis

It is difficult to believe that the Panther Burns are now celebrating their 40th (!!) anniversary - it seems like this 10th anniversary album came out just a couple of years ago! Tav Falco has had a revolving lineup of musicians over the years, but always creates his own Panther Music - classic Americana and Old World music running the gamut from acoustic blues to country to jazz to torch songs to Brill Building pop, with everything else cool'n'hip thrown into the mixer. There is nothing else that sounds like the Burns and their albums and live sets display the wide'n'wild ranges of influences the members all bring to the proverbial table. This recording captures a true extravaganza with plenty of extra guests and lots of amazing performances!

Tav's ode to the classic sideshow barker and the circus burlesque dancer, "Oh How She Dances" is the appropriate beginning to the festivities and is one of the perfect Panther Burns numbers. The rockabilly classic "Bertha Lou" touts the ravin' "Brand New Cadillac" riff and, again, this is prime Burns. They slow things down for a terrific soul groove in "Shade Tree Mechanic" - dig the female backing vocals! - and give the 50's semi-doo-wop "With Your Love" (Johnny Powers) the PB treatment followed by a Cramps-ian take on Hank Mizell's "Jungle Rock".

Paying homage to early rock'n'roll tear-jerkers, Tav pours his heart into Conway Twitty's  "It's Only Make Believe" with some terrific sax included, the guitars do a drop tuning for Tommy Johnson's "Big Road Blues" (with more tenor sax) and manage to pull off a slightly ragged but wonderful version of the theme to "Goldfinger". They reach back to the debut album, Behind the Magnolia Curtain, for the appropriately, frantically trashy "She's the One That's Got It" and then pull things together for the groovin', piano-led "Memphis Beat", again with hip female backing vocals. "Love Whip" is a Booker T and the MG's kinda backing for a lascivious tale with ferocious guitar work while "The World We Knew" is surprisingly taken from Frank Sinatra, as it sounds more like was tune from a David Lynch soundtrack - moody, with hip dynamics - followed by another Memphis groover in the dance number "Ditch Diggin"".

Alex Chilton's 50's-styled "Girl After Girl" get the Burns' treatment, then there's another dance number, "Do the Robot", an interpretation of Muddy Waters' "Same Thing", a "ballroom dance tune", "Drop Your Mask (Tango)", and then the ravin' closer, their frenetic take on "Train Kept A-Rollin".

This was a special night that was most likely not duplicated anywhere else, due to the expense of the extra guest appearances, but it is a fabulous document of what must have been a truly wild party! The Burns are ever-evolving but always transcendent - make sure you see them on the current tour if you possibly can!