Sass Jordan - 1994 w/ Stevie Salas

[cbell2112]

Could be the best female rock singer/guitar player combo ever.

Song is about Doyle Bramhall II and his heroin addiction that ended their relationship.

Stevie Salas - greatest unknown guitarist?

Thought I would share since this is an absolutely amazing vocal performance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjVq3OsX19Q

[GAT]

Wow, I never knew that's what the song was about! I love Sass Jordan.

[GuitarsFromMars]

Superior vocal and song...

[cbell2112]

Caught this band at a local club back in the mid 90's. I wish I understood what I was seeing at the time. I have really come to appreciate these 2 albums as a couple of the best ever. I just can't understand why her stuff never took off more than it did. Those 2 awesome albums and then nothing. She has a new album but it doesn't hold a candle to this.

[Big_Daddy]

Here's a good blog piece on "Whatever happened to Sass?" A little dated (2009) but still worth the read if you're a fan.

"Just before slowly receding into ‘what ever happened to’ status, something odd happened to Nineties rocker Sass Jordan. She became more famous than ever. All it took was Canadian Idol. Yes the very show that makes somebodies out of nobodies (albeit on a Canadian scale) took already-known Sass Jordan out of the early Nineties musical closet and made her as well known as you can be while still living north of the 49th parallel.

Her audience used to be the youthful rock crowd. Now she’s recognized by Walmart Nation. “It’s true!” she cackles over the phone from her Toronto home. “I was in there the other day and I almost couldn’t get out!”

Jordan has seen fame before and it seems to bore her. When she laughs at the Walmart Nation reference it’s in a kind of ‘isn’t this ridiculous’ tone. Its not faux modesty. Its distinctly non-faux absurdity. “It’s been three years of it now” she demurs. “It’s hard to reconcile the two things: the idea of being well known and the fact that it’s just because I’m on TV show. But I’m over that now.”

Despite the fact that she’s widely assumed to be a Canadian, Jordan was born in England before her parents hopped across the pond to make Montreal their home. Although originally a classically trained musician, she turned to rock as a teen. Its hard today to imagine that she could have been anything else than a rock star. Her informal way of talking (the odd expletive pops up) and her no-nonsense sincerity (we riffed on the early days of Little Feat like prototypical music geeks) coupled with that whisky laugh are nothing less than rock and roll directness. Although I’m sure Yo Yo Ma can tell a good joke as well as anyone, Sass Jordan makes a more convincing rock star than classical musician.

Jordan went in short order in the late Eighties from singing backup for The Box to going it alone, running through the first half of the Nineties like a female rock and roll banshee leaving in her wake a hit or two and a whole lot of fans smitten by her blonde babeshell good looks and her crackling live show.

By the late Nineties however the music business had changed and so had her audience. While they were off getting married and procreating, Jordan did the same. But her management got nervous about her declining profile. She even recorded an entire rock album which was shelved by her record company who in term asked for a pop album instead. Sass Jordan was at a crossroads.

“I stopped caring past mid-1997” she sighs. I don’t really pay much attention any more. The music business was so dark for such a long time. It was filled with people with no integrity. I was part of that scene for long enough to decide that it was not for me. I had to go through that whole rejection thing. I came to a peace with it. I know that the kind of people who are in frequency with me and my kind of music will find out about me.”

Never one to do anything except what she wanted to, Jordan decide to take a brief breather rather than play the increasingly desperate music biz image-athon game. But no sooner had she decided to re-strategize than Canadian Idol came calling. Who better than a done-it-all, seen-it-all Canadian music biz survivor to act as a guide for fledging stars of our Can-con future?

It would seem obvious that with her wizened view of the seemingly wonderful music biz as one of the Canadian Idol judges, she would want to just tell the fresh-faced warbling chippees in front of her to take their covers of ‘Wind Beneath My Wings’ and just run as fast as they can away from the music biz. “Do you know what?” she says before pausing. “No! I want them to have whatever experience they are going to have. They were drawn to this. This is their chance. These are their lives. They’ve earned their right to be there and do it.”

As for career advice, not surprisingly Jordan would simply want to give attitude advice to the young chart-climbing wannabees. “Enjoy yourself and lighten up” she laughs. “Just do what you want to do. I’m not trying to be flippant: I truly believe that. Enjoy what you want to do. Just lighten up!”

Despite her gritty image as a rocker, Jordan is oddly enough known as being the ‘nice’ one of the Canadian Idol thumbs-up / thumbs-down panel. She bristles a bit at the notion of having the tag hung around her neck. “I don’t think I’m either the touch rock chick or the nice one. I’m really kind of both” she insists. “But I have yet to show the amalgamated version in public. I guess it started when the show started. It didn’t come easily to me to criticize and judge others. I would usually want to say ‘go ahead and do it dude!’ But that of course is not good TV. It’s really all about the chemistry that happens between the four people involved on the panel. I have no desire to be that way to other people. Jake (Gold) can do it!”

She’s known as the edgy rock chick of the late Eighties and early Nineties to her older fans and that nice looking lady with the blonde hair on the Canadian Idol panel. And for the most part (so far) the two worlds haven’t collided. But her younger fans are starting to figure out that Jordan is still a ferocious live performer. “Come to think of it” she muses out loud, “I just did a show the other night and they yelled out ‘Canadian Idol’ so I guess they’re starting to come out.”

But if long-time Jordan fans fear that she might be influenced by the young performing neophytes that parade in front of her on Canadian Idol each week, they can rest assured that the skating party in hell will commence well before that happens. “Oh my God” Jordan gasps. “I’m not remotely interested in the music of the kids today. I’m going to let the kids handle that. I’m going to make music for kids like me.”

To that end, she’s currently writing for her new album. “We’re going into deep dark seclusion and just working hard on it. It should be done by the end of September.” She pauses and then laughs. “Oh no! I’ve said September! Now that means that I have to finish it by then!”

“The music is pretty much the same kind of thing I used to do” she says proudly. “Its soul music coming from the heart but its usually described these days as something like Americana, that sort of thing, heartland, roots music. It has a very close affinity to Arkansas and Texas, that sort of thing. It’s my kind of music. I love it and adore it and love singing it. That’s what I’ll be touring with.”

In an interview a few years ago, she described her career as being ‘crappy, then great, then crappy, then great’. Jordan recalls the comment and offers her take on Sass Jordan circa 2005. “This is definitely great” she says firmly. “I really don’t see it as being crappy again. It’s all about attitude. Definitely! I didn’t used to feel that way but as the years have gone by, it’s changed” Jordan pauses and laughs that gutsy laugh again. “How great is that?!”



Sass is still a crowd favourite here in Canada. We do a cover of "Make You A Believer" that always gets the crowd going. Love that girl, still.

[SteveGaines]

Check em out doing Robin Trower's "TOO ROLLING STONED"....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brP7PGtaGfE

[cbell2112]

Wait a second, it says:

She even recorded an entire rock album which was shelved by her record company who in term asked for a pop album instead.

If that is with the same band then I would love to hear some of that!

[SteveGaines]

I always loved "HIGH ROAD EASY"...I wore that tape out!

[cbell2112]

Me too, trying to get my band to play it right now.

[Taller]

We cover High Road Easy - our singer nails it! I'm embarrassed to admit I'm not familiar with her other work.

[Crimson Queen]

Stevie Salas now has a chat/musical show on Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) in Canada. He interviews bands, does comedy skits and sometimes plays with his guests. He is still a great player.

[cbell2112]

2 albums to get for sure are Rats and Racine. A+ from top to bottom.

[tsar nicholas]

Salas is SO awesome. One of my favorite funk / rock players ever.

[Scott Peterson]

I used to cover "High Road Easy" in a band I was in; LOVE that song. I saw Stevie Salas (Colorcode) open for Joe Satriani back in the day... KILLER stuff.

[Mark Ray]

I caught the tour w/Stevie. That was a great band, playing a bunch of great tunes! Sass just belted out those songs with force-she rocked me!!!