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The weekly Tuesday night Continental Drifters & Friends series at the Howlin' Wolf is a throwback to the Drifters' days in L.A. During a year-long residency at the Hollywood Boulevard club Raji's, they would open the stage to whichever musician friends happened to be in the house. Given the diversity of the Drifters' resumes - which include membership in the dB's, the Cowsills, the Bangles and Dream Syndicate - there were always plenty of interesting friends. on hand.
That community spirit was in full effect this past Tuesday. After a set by North Carolina rock band Jolene, the Drifters were joined by Fairport Convention vocalist Iain Matthews. Matthews' appearance had been billed in advance; Jackson Browne's had not. Around 1 a.m. Browne - passing through town to see his old Drifter pal Susan Cowsill en route to Jamaica - was backed by the band on a beautiful, delicate "Waterloo Sunset," with yet another artist, Maura Kennedy, supplying harmonies and the Drifters' Robert Mache providing mandolin accompaniment.
After Browne's one-off, the Drifters demonstrated how much they've made Fairport Convention's "Meet On the Ledge" their own (they released it as a 45 rpm record last year); a band with as much depth as this one is able to explore all the shades of emotion in such a song. Matthews sang lead on "I Don't Want to Talk About It" and a batch of his own material; the ease at which the Drifters fell in behind him was testament ot both their technical skill and selfless attitude when it comes to making music.
The Matthews, Cowsill, and fellow Drifters Peter Holsapple and Vicki Peterson teamed up for a set of warm, sumptuous four-part harmonies on the a cappella "From Galway to Graceland," before the Drifters took over again and finished out the evening on their own. Even without any superstar friends, it would have been a memorable night.
The Continental Drifters & Friends series continues this Tuesday at the Howlin' Wolf, with special guests Blue Mountain - and who knows who else.
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