One of the best albums that
Lou Rawls cut with the team of HB Barnum and David Axelrod – that incredible duo who made some of his 60s Capitol albums so great! The style here is wonderful – upbeat grooves from Barnum – who brings more soul into
Lou's music than before – recorded by Axelrod with the right sort of sharpness and punch – that special quality he brought to Cannonball Adderley's 60s soul classics too!
Rawls is really at home in the setting – stepping out in some points with these hip monologue passages that are as great as his singing – maybe even better, too – as they show a whole new side of
Lou's personality – that badass, totally hip quality that people might never have expected from the early days. One of the best of these is the excellent "Old Man's Memories", about a guy sitting on a bench in Washington Park on the south side of Chicago, which then rolls into an amazing version of "It Was A Very Good Year". Other tunes have a great mix of soul and jazz – and titles include "Love Is A Hurtin Thing", "A Whole Lotta Woman", "Don't Explain", "Old Folks", and "Breaking My Back (Instead Of Using My Mind)".
(Soul, Vocalists) (Limited edition!)