What’s Your Tag Say

Description

What’s Your Tag Say is an album by the American a cappella quartet AVB (Acappella Vocal Band), released on Word in 1991.

If one considers the human voice the purest instrument of all, the one would have to conclude that a cappella music, which features the sung voice sanse instrumental backing, is under-represented in modern gospel music. In the past few years, several artists, such as Take 6, First Call and Glad have undertaken an effort to change that equation. And of course, southern gospel music, with its traditional four-part harmonies, has always featured a cappella as one of its staples, as has black church music. But no one has crossed stylistic boundaries as successfully as Acappella and AVB.

The Paris, Tennessee based Acappella Music Group has become somewhat of a “cottage-industry” with its brother groups Acappella and AVB. If you were to define the sounds of the two units, you might categorize Acappella as the more “traditional” of the two quartets, though only nominally so. ‘Rescue’ contains elements of the diverse styles mentioned above, without hewing closely to any one particular genre. «It is Good for Us to Be Here» sounds like ’60s harmony groups, such as The Association or 5th Dimension, while «I Have a Friend» and «Who is Gonna Tell the Child?» may remind you of more “street”/doo-wop oriented combos, such as The Drifters or The Coasters. The absence of instrumental backing displays not only the quartet’s smooth vocal blend, but gives one the opportunity to examine lyrics closely. «That They All May Be One» and «It is Good for Us to Be Here» point to the need for fellowship and unity, while «Who Is Gonna…» and the reggae-tinged «Everybody Said» are a call to social action based on one’s faith. The title track to ‘Rescue’ ranks as on of the year’s best songs, musical backing or not.

AVB, which began as the “band” for Acappella, has gained a great deal of praise in its own right, and ‘What’s Your Tag Say?’ is a perfect example of why. AVB follows a more sophisticated path, not unlike Take 6, though with only four voices with which to work, its harmonies are not as intricate. Still, AVB does integrate som jazz stylings, along with rap and hip-hop grooves. Of course, AVB’s sound is further shaped by the use of voices as “instruments” and rhythm tracks. The use of such a hook or gimmick would grow tiresome after a while, if it weren’t for the very different arrangements of each song, the elasticity of the quartet’s voices, and again, the fine songwriting (as with Acappella, mostly from the pen of producer Keith Lancaster.) The title track and «It’s Not Enuff», with hip-hop/rap underpinnings reminiscent of Guy or Tony! Tone! Toni!, are likely to attract a younger audience, while «Changin’», «Gregorian Rhapsody» and «Open my Heart» will probably appeal to a slightly older crowd. But listeners of any age can appreciate the well-crafted lyrics of songs like «Legalistic Tendencies» – “Tell me where compassion went/ You condemn the innocent/ You search for reasons to accuse/ The brotherhood you will abuse.” (Ouch – I hear ya, bro!) Or the similarly-themed «Accept One Another» – “So often we condemn/ And our minds are never in gear/ Our feelings are then led/ By suspicious crippling fear.” Hopefully, with the addition of these two terrific albums to station playlists, a cappella music will begin to sound less unusual and more natural to the contemporary Christian music audience. [Bruce A. Brown, CCM, April 1991]

Now here’s a band to bemuse all you pigeon-holers. AVB stands for the Acappella Vocal Band and with two blacks, two honkies (one of whom looks rather like Tony Campolo… na, it couldn’t be) one could say that their care­fully crafted harmony sound is a cross be­tween the smooth barbershop pyrotechnics of Glad and the soulful jazz pyrotechnics of Take 6. But how does one pigeonhole vocal and electronic beat box (on an acapella album?!) which crops up on many tracks. Certainly the percussion gives the band street appeal; the title track and «It’s Not Enuff» come complete with a pretty good rap! What gives the band their creative focus is song­writer/producer Keith Lancaster whose songs are often witty (the delightful «Growin’ Up With King James» and «U Can’t Go 2 Church») and with hooks-a-plenty and consistently clever lyrics to go with the state-of-the-art-harmonies (many recalling the golden age of doowop) one has an album which defies categories other than to say it’s very, very good. [Tony Cummings, Cross Rhythms, August 1991]

CD tracklist:

01. Growin’ Up with King James – 2:19
02. What’s Your Tag Say? – 3:25
03. Conversation – 0:30
04. U Can’t Go 2 Church – 2:25
05. Walk by Faith – 3:53
06. Attitude Check – 2:53
07. Changin’ – 2:44
08. Gregorian Rapsody – 0:40
09. It’s Not Enuff! – 2:44
10. One Way – 0:29
11. Legalistic Tendencies – 3:26
12. Open My Heart – 1:51
13. Accept One Another – 3:54

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Word.