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A rockin' holiday

Michal Prokop reprises his annual Christmas bash

By Darrell Jónsson
For The Prague Post
December 19th, 2007 issue

KURT VINION/THE PRAGUE POST
Having a blue, blue Christmas. Michal Prokop throws another holiday bash.
enlarge
Michal Prokop and Framus Five

When: Thursday, Dec. 20 at 8
Where: Divadlo Archa
Tickets: 290 Kč,
available at the venue

Michal Prokop bears the distinction of being the founder of the Czech Republic’s most convincing late ’60s R&B act as well as serving in parliament. Prokop’s Framus Five, along with Flamingo and Blues Effect, were among the handful of Czech bands that bravely tackled blues and blues-rock inspired American music. But Framus Five was the first to dedicate their efforts to replicating the brassy sound of Memphis’ Stax record label, Ray Charles and other American soul institutions.

Although Prokop’s British blues vocals were not always sung precisely in blues dialect, the spicy jazz arrangements on tunes like Sam & Dave’s “Hold on, I’m Coming” or Wilson Pickett’s “Midnight Hour” never missed a beat. Even today, many of the tracks hold up well against similar brass-rock efforts by the latter-day Blood Sweat and Tears and ’70s-era Chicago. For example, on the title track of Framus Five’s debut CD Blues in Soul, the cool interplay between guitar, Hammond organ and brass comprise as reverent an R&B statement as is likely to be found anywhere.
The flowers in Framus Five’s crown bloomed late. In 1971, due to post-Soviet invasion “normalization” policies, the band was officially discouraged from singing lyrics in English. Framus Five responded well under the pressure by replacing the intended English lyrics with words by the late poet Josef Kainar. Continuing to capitalize on the Czech instrumental prowess, the band came out with the allegorically named LP Město ER, which featured a 19-minute title track of the sweetest headphone candy available in the country at the time. And Framus Five’s newest member, Luboš Andršt, brought his B.B. King influence to further fuel the band’s guitar edge.
“After 1971 it was catastrophic, very difficult to play and organize rock concerts,” Prokop recalls over coffee at the Archa café. “In the ’80s, it got better. Things improved as the communist regime was losing its power, with the exception of three or four years when rock musicians such as Vladimír Mišík and Pražský Výběr were banned again.”
Preparing now for his 5th annual Christmas concert at Archa, it is clear Prokop is very good at taking such obstacles in stride. His first creative comeback was in 1984, when after a creatively frustrating decade, Framus Five regrouped. Their 1984 release “Kolej Yesterday” (Panton/Bonton) may have lacked Prokop’s previous R&B focus, but its pop-oriented material, with stylistic nods to reggae, MOR rock and country, was well-received. Subsequent albums and concerts in the ’80s provided Prokop with a loyal audience. But in the ’90s, other priorities surfaced.
From 1990 to 1992, Prokop was a member of the Federal Assembly and served as chairperson of the culture committee. In 1992 this led to a three-year appointment as Deputy of the Minister of Culture. In 1996 Prokop was re-elected to the House of Representatives, where he continued his role as chairperson of the culture committee until 1998.
With other civic and broadcasting tasks taking up his time, it was not until 2006 that Prokop was able to fully focus on his music again. The return, he says, “was like when you put the harness on the old horse, suddenly the cables connect and away you go.” His 2006 CD Poprvé maposledy (For the First and Last Time, on Sony/Columbia) hit the charts at a furious gallop, earning a Czech gold record for high sales and a nomination for a Czech Anděl award. Of the positive response to his return to the stage, Prokop says it “absolutely surprised me, especially unexpected now that I’m 60 years old.”
These days Prokop finds himself performing nearly twice a month throughout the Czech Republic. His Christmas show remains a popular event, and for good reason. Exciting things still happen when Prokop’s voice blends on tunes that feature his jazzy, bluesey brass section and Andršt’s riveting guitar work. As a gracious statesman of Czech rock ’n’ roll, Prokop also has a way of adding emerging talent to the program. In previous Christmas concerts he has showcased performers such as 123min’s Zdeněk Bína and Madfinger’s Markéta Foukalová. This year Prokop will host Gipsy.cz as well as Czech rock vets Monika Načeva and Michal Pavlíček.

Darrell Jónsson can be reached at features@praguepost.com


Other articles in Night & Day (19/12/2007):

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