No Strings

The second Sings Like Hell series kicks off tonight at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara with an ostensibly bizarre double bill. It features those a cappella masters, the Persuasions, along with Mothers of Invention keyboard player Tommy Mars, who will open the 8 p.m. festivities.

It was 1968 when the Persuasions sang to Frank Zappa over the phone. After hearing them, the late composer-musician-producer signed the group to his Straight label, and the Persuasions went on to record 22 albums over a 35-year career.

According to lead singer Jerry Lawson, they don’t plan to change their a cappella ways.

“At first it was a novelty thing--’those guys ain’t got no band, but the music they make is phenomenal,’ ” said Lawson. “We even surprise ourselves. I listen to the Persuasions every night because it’s great stuff. I’m not bragging, but we can sing everything from Elvis Presley to Frank Zappa to Nat King Cole to Kurt Weill.”

It doesn’t get more basic than that. Voices and no instruments--a cappella is the total low-budget scenario, and perhaps, the first music ever. “It was,” said Lawson. “Even when a baby is born, he comes out singing. The birds up in the trees are singing and they ain’t got no guitars.”

The Persuasions were originally five guys who liked to shoot some hoops and then sing. In addition to Lawson, the lead tenor Jimmy Hayes sings bass, Joe Russell sings tenor and falsetto, and Jayotis Washington sings coloratura tenor. Original baritone member Herbert “Tubo” Rhoad died in 1988. The four remain very persuasive.

“I always tell the audience that God had a purpose for the Persuasions,” Lawson said. “We all came from different places, but we all met in Brooklyn. We’d play basketball, then afterward, we’d get together and sing. Back in those days, five guys together would get arrested for unlawful assembly. We were the only guys the cops would let hang out.”

So the band could just as easily have been called Unlawful Assembly, but the upstairs connection won out.

“Jimmy went to the Bible and said Christ had to persuade people to follow him, just like we had to persuade people about this group that didn’t have no band,” he said. “We sing gospel on every album. We can sing down in the alley and it’ll still come out gospel-ish. I still sing in the church choir with my mother every Sunday.”

Despite all the weird Zappa songs that will get the a cappella treatment during this show, a Persuasions gig remains part revival meeting and general wellness seminar. These guys are so upbeat that if it was raining soup and they were carrying forks, they wouldn’t mind.

“Everyday is something new, and we’re getting more and more fans. Last week we were in Philly and we hadn’t been there in about a year, and the place was packed,” said Lawson. “We ended the show with “In the Still of the Night” and invited everyone to join us. We had the old, the young--everybody on the stage. It was an amazing gig. Now we wanna go to India and see if we can charm a cobra.”

Without much airplay--and you know how tough it is to get on MTV between Jewel and Puff Daddy videos--the Persuasions make their living by staying on that endless road trip. Then again, they travel light.

“We stay on the road. After 35 years, our career is taking off,” Lawson said. “There’s just a bunch of great guys in the band. We’ve had our ups and downs, but we’ve never had a major fight. I’ll tell you what--this has lasted longer than any of my four marriages.”

The bottom line for the Persuasions remains the same: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. “We’re the only band where you can take a 3-year-old kid or your 89-year-old grandmother because what we do is clean and pure. We’re the best-kept secret in the business. We’ve opened for B.B. King and Liza Minnelli; we’ve been to Israel and Australia. And 35 years later, we still ain’t got no band.”

* The Persuasions and Tommy Mars tonight at the Lobero Theatre, 33 Canon Perdido St., Santa Barbara, 8. Cost: $19.50. Call: 963-0761.

Elsewhere . . .

Those college radio heroes named for a mean alcoholic beverage, Everclear, fronted by heartthrob Art Alexakis, will be at UC Santa Barbara on Friday night. Their new album, “So Much for the Afterglow,” is tearing up the charts. Being fashionably late for this one would be a mistake because opener, Feeder, is definitely worth checking out. Call 893-3536.

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On the way home Friday night, stop at the Coach Houses to check out Mother Hips, the best party band to come out of Chico. They have that Deadhead groove thing going, plus three albums of good songs. On Wednesday night, the Cowboy Junkies will perform. And yes, I did say the Coach Houses. There are two of them: The original is still in San Juan Capistrano, plus now one in Santa Barbara, the former site of Emerald City. Call 962-8877.

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And finally, everyone’s favorite musical horticulturist, Spencer the Gardener, will approach the Big Time when he plays a 9:45 p.m. Saturday gig at House of Blues in Hollywood. Call 965-6829.