GARY PUCKETT - Rock Log 081111

Gary Puckett invaded the Wolf Den tonight.  Despite numerous requests to join me, I was unable to find a willing accomplice to join me in my rockin’ trip down 60s pop lane.  The room was loaded with gray and this was the first time in all my Den shows where I felt I did not belong.  Tonight the Den was a converted into a convalescent home with a hundred or so Asian visitors, Wheel of Fortune slot machines and Gary Puckett.

Puckett and his group The Union Gap had a string of hits in the late sixties, including six top-twenty singles.  The concern with this is that the theme for three of those singles was older man “loving” young girl.  I cite lyrics which firmly cement Puckett as the godfather of what I am calling Pop-ophilia:

• Young Girl (March 1968) – Beneath your perfume and make-up, your just a baby in disguise.  And though you know that it’s wrong to be alone with me, that come on look is in your eyes.
• Lady Willpower (June 1968) – Did no one ever tell you the facts of life?  Well there’s so much you have to learn.  And I would gladly teach you if I could only reach you and get your lovin’ in return.
• This Girl is a Woman Now (August 1969) – This girl tasted love, as tender as the gentle dawn.  She cried a tear, a teardrop that was sweet and warm.  Our hearts told us we were right, and on that sweet velvet night.  A child had died, a woman had been born.

Now the show.  Puckett, at seventy-one years of age, still has an amazing voice.  Despite recovering from a bout of strep throat, his voice was quite good, rife with runs and vibrato.  That is pretty much where it ended. The band was comprised of three mates (drums, bass and keys), all of whom had the appearance that they were mailing it in until there was an opening in another nostalgia-based band (“Honey, guess what…Davey Jones called while you were at the doctor”).  Guitar was limited to four songs in which Puckett himself grabbed the axe and I think he played it, but cannot confirm.

Generally I like to discuss highlights and lowlights of a show, but there simply were not any.  There were no-lights.  It was an eventless show from a guy who had hits, all of which he sung.  None memorable, none forgettable, he just sung his songs for ninety minutes and left.  The audience appreciated it despite having been several hours past bed time.  I wish I could write more, but there is nothing to write.  It was a vanilla show by a man who once dominated the airwaves.  I went to pay my respect to him, as is my duty.  I left not knowing what I just saw, if I liked it or not. 

In addition to the music, Puckett mixed in six jokes, three of which were politically charged, two of which were cute and one of included his five year old nephew standing naked in the shower.  Therein lays the undertone with Puckett that I just cannot shake.  The man appears to be a decent and genuine person, having closed the show with thanks to God.  However, three songs of young girl love and a naked boy joke left a sour taste in my mouth.  The kind of taste that only two Krispy Kremes can erase.

In sum, Gary Puckett, seen him once, will not do so a second time. 

Vick