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CD Review: Baby Dee's "Safe Inside the Day"
Artist: Baby Dee
Album: Safe Inside the Day
Label: Drag City
Release Date: February 12, 2008
Listen to "The Only Bones That Show":
If you missed Baby Dee at the Echo last month like I did you have reason to be disappointed in not making it to the show. From the first word sung on the first song of this record I thought, "Is this some kind of a joke? Who or what the hell is this?" Baby Dee moved to NYC in 1972 to fully establish "her" persona as a troubador of renown - there are some great pictures of her on her website as a half-man half-woman at Coney Island which is absolutely perfect for the style of music she plays on Safe Inside The Day, which was written after she relocated to Cleveland.
Safe Inside The Day sounds like the holy union of Lou Reed's "Transformer", Tom Waits' "Rain Dogs", and anything by the Tiger Lillies. Anyone who's a fan of any of those should really enjoy this album. Every song has a lot of humor and drama - and even though Baby Dee's "old-timey" piano and harp playing is featured throughout the album, some songs really do pick it up and thump it out with some very rock and roll guitar and drums. Including the excellent "The Only Bones That Show" (listen above), other great songs are: "The Earlie King", "Big Titty Bee Girl (From Dino Town)", and "The Dance of Diminishing Possibilities". A great album from a unique visionary, I've got my eye on you Baby Dee.
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