Year: 2007
Time: 44:07
Size: 101,3 MB
Label: HackTone Records
Styles: Blues/Chicago Blues
Art: Front+Back
Tracks Listing:
1. Ain't Nobody Home - 2:42
2. Nickel And A Nail, A - 4:15
3. Seven Days - 1:56
4. Surprise, Surprise - 3:28
5. There's A Rat Loose In My House - 4:09
6. You Left The Water Running - 3:36
7. House Where Nobody Lives, The - 4:32
8. Don't You Mess With My Money - 4:08
9. I'll Take Care Of You - 7:50
10. I Believe In You (You Believe In Me) - 4:54
11. Funny Life [Bonus Track] - 2:32
HackTone Records, a boutique imprint based in Culver City, Calif., has quickly made a name for itself by issuing uncommonly good music that has been neglected or otherwise fallen through the cracks. Last year, HackTone gave "The Lost Album" -- an aptly titled set of trippy pop from British soul singer Lewis Taylor -- its long-overdue commercial release. This year, they unearthed the Dynamics' "First Landing," a bracing collection of Detroit soul that had languished in the vaults since 1969. HackTone's best find yet, though, could be this soul-blues wonder from the late Sterling Harrison. Recorded shortly before he died in 2005, the album consists mainly of gutbucket takes of lesser-known favorites by soul singers ranging from Sam &Dave and Bobby Womack to O.V. Wright and Howard Tate.Harrison's conversational drawl often recalls that of the great Arthur Alexander, but he can just as easily break into a robust gospel shout or an octave-scaling falsetto. Galvanized by a tight, funky rhythm section, his performances here hint at what a more pyrotechnic Alexander might have sounded like had he made an album with the Meters.
Every track on the record is terrific, but the real stunners are a pair of slowly unfolding ballads. Harrison's smoldering, six-minute reading of Brook Benton's "I'll Take Care of You" shows his command of an extended spoken recitation. And the way he burrows into Tom Waits's "The House Where Nobody Lives" is devastating -- an expression of emotional and spiritual abandonment worthy of the great Delta blues singers. --The Washington Post
This could be one of the last great soul records. Vocalist Sterling Harrison never caught much luck as a soul singer, despite spending almost 50 years in the business. He was the perennial ghetto nightclub opening act around Los Angeles for years, where he was eventually stumbled across by "Saturday Night Live" writer Eddie Gorodetsky, who recorded this set of tunes with Harrison and his band in 1999. Unfortunately, Harrison was diagnosed with cancer shortly after the recording and died in 2005. This posthumous release shows Harrison as a classic - a passionate vocalist, a witty hipster, an all-around savvy entertainer working in deep soul. They don't make 'em like Harrison anymore. --San Francisco Chronicle
South Of The Snooty Fox
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий