Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Springfield, Rick
Label: Loud & Proud Records
Release: 2015
Running time: 49:00
Rating: 4/5
“Stripped Down” is Rick Springfield’s new live CD/DVD. A quick refresher for those of you who rarely, if ever, see his name in the media: Rick Springfield is an Australian musician, actor and author who picked up a guitar at just 12. Over a career spanning more than 40 years, he has racked up 17 top 40 hits, and in 1981 he took home a Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for Jessie’s Girl.
After 25 million records sold worldwide, Springfield shows no sign of slowing down. Over the past two years, Rick has played a series of intimate solo shows spiced up with a set of his tried-and-true classics. His new live document is a selection of the best moments from those shows, rounded off with a film of the gigs on the DVD. It features 14 live tracks, covering Springfield’s hits, three covers (Oh Well, Rollin’ & Tumblin’ and Baby Blue) and one brand-new song with the playfully titled If Wishes Were Fishes.
The document proves that fame and money haven’t spoiled the Australian star one bit, and it delivers exactly what its title promises. He’s totally stripped bare. Every night of these acoustic shows, where the material for this release was recorded, Rick walked out in front of the crowd with a couple of guitars (three at most), an Apple computer and the bare minimum of programmed cosmetic samples (mostly for the rhythm backing), sat down on a chair and played.
From the opening Affair of the Heart, it’s clear the crowd is mostly women, and they react intensely throughout the songs. A good-looking, charming musician who, even in his later years, still has that velvety warmth of refined vocal sensuality, which comes through even more nakedly in the acoustic numbers than it does with a proper (electric) backing band, he remains a “toxic” magnet for women. Springfield is incredibly experienced. He’s a born stage entertainer. The crowd is literally eating out of his hand, he works it that skillfully. These shows were built around question-and-answer bits, and Springfield, a smooth storyteller, also strings together a heap of stories behind the messages in the lyrics of the songs he plays (about Painted Girl, for example, he says it’s the worst song he’s ever written). The document is interesting precisely because of Rick’s storytelling in the breaks between songs, where Springfield holds nothing back and mostly pokes fun at himself in a hilarious way!
Given the telling title, it’s clear the recording keeps every moment where Springfield hits a wrong note or forgets a line, but as an artist full of routine and experience, he handles every tricky situation incredibly well and gets out of it with feather-light ease. Don’t expect any performance highlights. Springfield does most of the work with his voice, since he remains an exceptional interpreter. On guitar he sticks strictly to basic rhythm accompaniment, so the middle sections are noticeably shortened compared to the originals. Strumming simple chords in an acoustic manner, with no added improvisation, can get boring pretty quickly.
“Stripped Down” is a must for all sworn Springfield fans, though in Slovenia you can probably count them on the fingers of one hand. It’s a very welcome addition to his rich discography and shows the down-to-earth, unpretentious, accessible side of the musician. For melodic rock fans, though, it’ll probably be much more exciting when Springfield releases his new studio album. It’s already being recorded, while Rick, even at the time this review goes up, keeps hitting the stage with the “Stripped Down” set. Exclusively American and Australian stages, of course.
Lineup
Rick Springfield – vocals, guitar, programming
Production
Rick Springfield
Track list
CD
1. Affair Of The Heart
2. Love Is Alright Tonite
3. I’ve Done Everything For You
4. Painted Girl
5. Oh Well
6. Love Somebody
7. Baby Blue
8. Rollin’ & Tumblin’
9. If Wishes Were Fishes
10. Don’t Talk To Strangers
11. April 24th, 1981/My Father’s Chair
12. Me & Johnny
13. Human Touch
14. Jessie’s Girl
DVD
1. Affair of the Heart
2. Me And Johnny
3. Oh Well
4. Love is Alright Tonite
5. Rollin’ & Tumblin’
6. Baby Blue
7. Painted Girl
8. April 24, 1981/My Father’s Chair
9. If Wishes Were Fishes
10. Love Somebody
11. Our Ships Sinking
12. Jessie’s Girl
13. Human Touch
14. My Depression (credits only)
