Copyright 1997 The Press Enterprise Co.
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE (RIVERSIDE, CA.)
July 27, 1997 Sunday ALL ZONES
SECTION: ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT; Pg. E03
LENGTH: 1103 words
HEADLINE: Penn song is redolent of a Riverside crisis
BYLINE: Cathy Maestri, The Press-Enterprise
BODY:
It sounded an awful lot like Michael Penn was dedicating
a song
to the "fumes woman" of Riverside at a recent Viper Room show.
In fact, "Like Egypt Was" - from his new album, "Resigned"
-
is indeed about Gloria Ramirez, the Riverside woman whose
mysterious death apparently sickened others in the emergency room
at Riverside General Hospital in 1994.
A three day binge on the lunatic fringe, from Riverside all
the way to Livermore/The scent she makes will now emanate until
everyone in range collapses to the floor/And the men will toil in
the suits of foil as they explain that this girl was anointed with
an oil.
While "Try" is the first single, "Like Egypt Was" is
certainly
snappy enough to make it on radio - actually, the entire album is
consistently excellent.
Penn's tour plans include a stint with Sheryl Crow and Wilco,
with shows at the Universal Amphitheatre and in San Diego in early
September.
Spotted: Aimee Mann and Michael Myers at Michael Penn's
second
Viper Room show - David J was acting as DJ. Both Mann and Penn,
plus
Grant Lee Phillips, did a couple of songs to help Jon Brion
celebrate his 50th show and Largo's first anniversary following its
change in management and refurbishment; onetime Largo player Lisa
Loeb and Mescalito's Chris Stills (son of Stephen) were in the
audience. Brion also used the occasion to announce he's signed
up
with Atlantic Records. "Friends" star Matthew Perry
was very brave
to venture into the predominantly female crowd at the Lilith Fair -
he seemed to be getting more attention than Sharon Stone; Tommy
Jordan and Greg Kurstin of Geggy Tah checked out some of the acts at
the H.O.R.D.E Festival. (Jordan said work is slowly starting on a
new album).