Review: Movin’ Melvin Brown: SWEET SOUL MUSIC (The Sam Cooke Story) at The Duke of George
Movin’ Melvin Brown: SWEET SOUL MUSIC (The Sam Cooke Story) at The Duke of George
Saturday, February 17, 2024
East Fremantle got a treat this weekend when Fringe Festival brought Movin’ Melvin back to Perth for a three-night stand at The Duke of George. In years past, Melvin has deployed his considerable talents in a range of shows, including tributes to the likes of Otis Redding and Chuck Berry. This year, he returned to channel one of soul music’s greatest singers, and it was pretty easy to sing along.
The Duke of George’s supper club was packed out on Melvin’s third night—word of mouth on this guy must be good—and dolled up for the night with a new addition, a disco mirror ball that looked too large to hold in your arms, or even Otis Redding’s arms.
The sparkle seemed appropriate for the old-school entertainment on offer, and when Marvin made his entrance, declaring “It’s SHOW TIME!” he sported a jacket that was the only thing that could be shinier. The silver was bright enough for sunglasses and was worn over quite an amazing scarlet evening suit. With red pants, a red cummerbund, red braces and a red bow tie, it was almost enough to drown out the joyful racket Melvin made as he tap-danced through the crowd and up on stage. Old school, indeed.
Melvin has been around a long time, and though he’s a lot fitter than most of us will be at his age, that tap business is a lot of work. But a few stories about Sam’s early days in the gospel world were enough to allow the man to catch his breath, so he could demonstrate some of the gospel that got Sam Cooke his start. Some serious pipes, as they say. And an opportunity for the perth musos backing Melvin up to deliver some classic backing vocals and a lovely lilting groove, particularly on Chain Gang.
Then we got into Sam’s first efforts at pop music. Who knew You Send Me was Cooke’s first recording? And it’s unclear whether that’s inspiring or demoralising for any youngster trying to lay their first song down. But it sure sounded good from Melvin. As did the hits that started coming down the line, from Ain’t That Good News to Wonderful World.
Side note: Melvin sported quite an amazing smile through the whole night, and although you wonder how he could manage it, singing those numbers probably makes it a lot easier. He could just be happy, of course. Very happy.
Why not, especially when you have a night job that lets you take detours into an Otis tune if you want to? If anything, Melvin’s singing got even better for this one; maybe the shows he’s done on Otis in the past have something to do with that. More love songs followed with Cupid and Bring It On Home, which were paired with vignettes of the emotional rollercoasters behind the songwriting. He packed a lot in, did Sam Cooke.
Like Cupid, Melvin’s got many arrows, and he shifted gears for a tap-dance-off (a tap-off?) with The Duke’s proprietor, Renee, herself a bit of a wizard of the clickety-click. Then there was some Tennesee Waltz, some Sweet Soul Music, and some Letting Roll the Good Times. Too many hits!
The end of Sam Cooke’s story is a bit grim, but Melvin picked us up to say goodbye, giving us not only Sam’s version of Stand By Me but also some playful renditions of how Otis, Ray Charles, and Louis Armstrong would deliver that classic. It was a lovely night, with the happy audience sent home with magical melodies in their hearts and irresistible hooks to hum all the next morning.
MIKE JEFFREY
Photos by Alan Holbrook
