Paperboy Reed isn't doing anything amazing. He cherry picked the finest elements of classic soul and recreated them for a modern audience. His album Roll With You is kind of like hearing The Supremes and The Miracles and The Temptations and Wilson Pickett all rolled into one band that is fantastic but ultimately unoriginal.
Deep Soul Treasures is also unoriginal. Unfortunately, there's very little fantastic to balance it out.
Music:
The problem with the music on Deep Soul Treasures is that, in most cases, it's obvious why these songs were left in the vault. The majority of the songs possess one or two fantastic elements but are mired in mediocrity. The James Brown track from 1961, "Lost Someone," has an incredible vocal track, but the band is as flaccid as a gay man at the Hustler Club. Bessie Banks' "It Sounds Like My Baby" is slow and sexy, but the background singers sound like the Mumblin' Motown Rejects.
There are a few shining stars, though. Bobby Womack's voice on "Baby I Can't Stand It" is stellar, and Betty Lavette's "Let Me Down Easy" is a dark soul gem with a vocal performance that is as inspired as the arrangement and the production.
Packaging:
The liner notes have the biased enthusiasm of a fan rather than the objectivity of an historian, but otherwise they're awesome. There are historical tidbits about every artist and song, and the photos are a mixture of headshots and images of the actual labels on records. It's the kind of booklet that's worth reading from front to back, even if you only have a passing interest in obscure soul relics.
Listen if you like: obscure soul from the '60s and '70s; filing away trivia so you can make music snobs feel inferior.
If it were food, it'd be: a bland dish that your grandmother made when you were growing up: it's not all that special unless you were there to enjoy it the first time around and/or you really love grandma.
5: should be heard by all music fans; a "perfect" album
4: best of genre; sets a standard within its genre
3: just better than average; good for fans of the genre, and okay for everyone else
2: below average; listenable for fans of a genre, but only if there's nothing else to hear
1: poor, and whatever good qualities it has can't save it
0.5: no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
2 comments:
Can I recommend a new CD by an Australian artist named Guy Sebastian? He got together with the Stax musos who helped to define soul music in the 60s, to pay homage to the genre (including Steve Cropper and Donald Dunn) in an album called The Memphis Album. Guy Sebastian was a runner-up in Australian Idol several years ago, but something went wrong in the process and they actually uncovered an amazing talent. He has a beautiful modern r n b voice (listen to his single Elevator Love), but I was shocked to hear that he actually is a genuine soul singer. A lot of people can do karaoke soul, but when the Stax guys heard him, they had no doubt that he was the real thing, and after 40 years of listening to soul, I reached the same conclusion after about 2 notes. I don't like all the material he does on this, but at his best, he is a genuine out-of-left-field inheritor of the soul tradition, who can add to it.
May I add that I was in Australia writing and performing when Guy Sebastian first appeared and won Australian Idol; and yes he is the real deal.
Also for those that like a good listening Soul album with all original songs, you must hear "A Time Will Will Come"CD by Alice Ashley and check out this positive spend on new, yet old soul style music. Bringing back the magic, good lyrics, etc. Word is, everyone that has bought and commented said they never get in their car without this CD, and they play it over and over. It was Co-produced by ex-musical director of Motown, Gil Askey. Gil also played trumpet on 3-tracks. A classic gem!
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