Ronnie Milsap in Montgomery

Ronnie Milsap headlined a concert at the Montgomery (Ala.) Performing Arts Centre Friday night, showing why he has garnered seven Grammys and 40 number one hits. Although the blind piano player has been rarely heard on country radio for the past few years, Milsap still has the talent and enthusiasm that made him a top attraction in the 1970s and '80s.

Milsaps opened his set with "Stranger in My House.". He followed that with a medley of hits, before launching into "What a Difference You've Made in My Life." That song was the intro for an updated show that featured some of his most memorable tunes, a tribute to the 1950s, and one new song.

An energized rendition of "In the Still of the Night (Lost in the Fifties)" led to Milsap abandoning his keyboards, bringing his band members to the front of the stage, and the group performed three, a capella "do-wop" songs. "After doing 'Lost in the Fifties,' I started studying do-wop music," Milsap said. "We've learned about three hours worth. Don't worry, we won't do it all."

The fifties segment also included a salute to Elvis, complete with an Elvis impersonator. Milsap played and sang on two of the King's albums when he was a session worker in Memphis. He opened that segment with "Heartbreak Hotel" and moved on to "All Shook Up." He made a smooth transition into "Smoky Mountain Rain" to return to his own material.

Milsap steppped aside for one number, allowing band member Rhonda Hampton to solo on the Patsy Cline classic "Walking after Midnight." Milsap used the solo to tout Hampton's own new CD.

Milsap one new song for the night was "You Don't Know My Love", a new release from his latest CD, "My Life". It's a good song, worthy of radio play, but unlikely to get much in a country market obsessed with reaching a younger demographic.

Sixties legend Billie Joe Royal opened the show with a short set that included his classic signature song ("Down in the Boondocks"), the Joe South penned "I Knew You When," and two of his country hits from the 1980s - "Burn Like a Rocket" and "I'll Pin a Note on Your Pillow."

Royal still retains much of unique tenor voice that made him a star in the 1960s. In the 1980s, he figured out that his sound was closer to country than to the hard rock of the day. "Burn Like a Rocket" seemed headed to the top of the country charts before it was pulled from radio play after the untimely explosion of the space shuttle Challenger.

Royal joked about his age, to a crowd that had a lot of gray hairs of its own. He pointed out long-time singing partner Andy Anderson in his band, noting that the two had met when they were in the military. "We fought for the South," Royal joked, "fighting against the Yankees in Chattanooga."

Country veteran Earl Thomas Conley preceded Milsap on the stage. Conley became one of the top acts of the early 1980s by successfully blending country lyrics with a hard-beat, electric guitar-driven music. The singer, a Ohio native, has stocked his band with midwestern natives who are not bound by the Nashville Sound. It turned out to be an effective formula for a successful career, who first hit the top of the charts with "Fire and Smoke" in 1982.

Conley opened with a strong performance of the morally ambiguous "Somewhere Between Right and Wrong," one of this best songs, but was noticeably flat on "Holding Her and Loving You." He was better on the up-tempo numbers such as "Don't Make It Easy on Me," but had trouble on ballads. It was reminiscent of voice problems he first suffered in the 1990s, but from which he eventually recovered.

The problem was most apparent on "Brotherly Love," a song he originally released as a duet with the late Keith Whitley. A band member sang Whitley's part, and ETC sang a few solo bars. But he turned over his harmonizing role to another band member, apparently aware that he was missing some of the notes.

The problem may have been accentuated by the superb sound system of the Performing Arts Centre, which has excellent acoustics. It made the flat notes easier to hear for the audience. Regardless, the problems didn't seem to bother the fans in the building, who rocked along with ETC's hard-rocking style.

Milsap ended his show with a rousing rendition of "America the Beautiful." The song brought the crowd to its feet and again showcased his vocal strengths and reminded the audience of how he won seven Grammys.

Only seven? He's still got the talent to win more.

References

http://www.earlthomasconley.com/

http://www.ronniemilsap.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Joe_Royal