Barbara Morrison - Behind the Green Door

Written by Kelly Rae Smith | 17 August 2010

Don’t fooled by the greys, this sister has still got it. Hoowee, she does. With a voice that ‘don’t play’ and a saucy ol’ story to back up every song, Miss Morrison has her audience eating right out of her snappy little fingers.

Hailing from Chicago via LA, Morrison sang for seven years with Ray Charles, and her wealth of experience is on show for all to admire. She is joined by the Tom Finlay Trio in the mood-appropriate Outhouse, off Broughton Street. With spirits on ice and glasses of red wine filled to the brims, the tables are as full as the chairs in the warm and dimly lit loft.

The songstress begins with ‘the most recorded blues song in history’, wailing ‘Lawd have mercy on me’ to T-Bone Walker’s Stormy Monday (But Tuesday’s Just As Bad). The next two are courtesy of Percy Mayfield, followed by Don’t Touch Me, which she dedicates to ‘all of my ex-husbands’. She’s especially flirty here, squinting those sparkling but mischievous eyes with a sinful grin.

Some Texas blues follows, along with a song that Willie Nelson wrote but Mr Ray Charles sent straight to the top of the charts: You Don’t Know Me. Her ode to legends continues with a dirty rendition of BB King’s Never Make a Move Too Soon. Morrison insists that if you see on the street you should be friendly, and call her Sundown (cue the music), ‘I do my best work after dark’ before finally ending the night with the classic, and titular, Behind the Green Door.

There’s nothing not to love, and that’s why she draws a crowd of adoring fans each and every Fringe. See you next year, little lady.

The Outhouse, 8-12, 16-21, 27-29 Aug, times vary