GF music review club

[Carvalho Diablo]

Anybody still to post their review of the Jethro Tull album?

 

If we're all done Howie is next man up with his coronavirus AOW.

[TheHowieLama]

55 minutes ago, Carvalho Diablo said:

 

If we're all done Howie is next man up with his coronavirus AOW.

Seeing as how I almost brought the club down with the highly controversial Eric Church pick I suggest we let the new kid pick next.

 

@Lee909 - let 'er rip! 

[Lee909]

I picked last time round to very mixed reception. Just got a spot of work to do but I'll have something up in a hour or so as I'm at work. 

 

I know my pick and it's perhaps the greatest studio combo ever in a studio at one time. 

 

A little clue

 

The album was recorded in 26 hours from 10am Saturday morning to 2pm Sunday afternoon including a 8 hour break for a local gig from the studio band on Saturday night

[Lee909]

So my choice will be Otis Redding - Otis Blue/Otis Redding sings Soul

 

The album is mostly covers and three are by Sam Cooke who had been murdered a few months before. 

Ironically the biggest hit would be his own song 'Respect' but covered by Aretha Franklin who would release it just 7 months before Otis himself died in a plane crash. 

 

The album was recorded in just 26 hours between 10 am July 9 (a Saturday) and 2 pm July 10, with a break from 8 pm Saturday to 2 am on Sunday to allow the house band to play local gig. 

 

The house band was Booker T and the MGs. The studio line up that weekend and later producing of the album has to be one of the greatest assemblies of talent in recording history. Its worth looking at how many songs you know that the backing musicians are actually involved in.

 

 

 

• Otis Redding – vocals

Booker T and the MGs

• Booker T. Jones, keyboards, piano
• Steve Cropper – guitar
• Donald Dunn – bass guitar
• Al Jackson Jr. – drums

 

The Mar-Keys/Memphis Horn 

• Wayne Jackson, 
• Andrew Love – tenor saxophone
• Floyd Newman – baritone saxophone
• William Bell – backing vocals (track 2)
• Earl Sims – backing vocals (track 2)

 

Isaac Hayes – keyboards, piano

 

Band leader and Producer

Gene "Bowlegs" Miller – trumpet

Additional personnel

• Isaac Hayes – producer
• David Porter – producer
• Tom Dowd – engineer
• Jim Stewart – supervision

 

Otis Redding - Otis Blue/Otis Redding sings Soul

 

 

 

 

[Jose Jones]

Otis Redding - Otis Blue

 

Perhaps this will be a bit controversial, but I don’t love this album.

It’s Otis Redding singing some classic songs, so it’s obviously not bad, but for me these versions don’t really add anything to better versions you can hear elsewhere.

 

Likewise the band has no real groove, they sound tight, but also like they’re just trying to play the right notes at the right time, which given the rushed recording period, they probably were.

 

It’s a really impressive feat to record something good so quickly, but that maybe means it doesn’t hit the high notes. For a soul album it lacks a bit of soul.  

 

Sorry for being a downer, and maybe my expectations were too high.  Spotify through up Love Man a couple of songs later and it was better than anything on this record to my ears though.

[ZonkoVille77]

I'm a bit like Jose on this one. It all sounds a bit flat. Can't fault the playing and Otis' voice is excellent but it just comes across as "just a task" at times, work to pay the bills. There's also better versions of most of those songs so nothing really gained here. It's not a bad record by any means and I did enjoy listening to it having never done so before. But if I want to listen to Otis I wouldn't be choosing this record.

 

Highlights: Shake, I've Been Loving You Too Long (his voice is superb here), You Don't Miss Your Water.

[TheHowieLama]

Otis Blue

 

Ole Man Trouble - ok, not great. Sounds a little different from other songs - never heard Cropper play a slide and there sounds like one in the chromatic lick in the chorus.

 

Respect - birth of a classic. The fact that Aretha made it her own does not change that. Duck's bass tone here is the shit - fat boingy thumpin. The outro is some stuff -

 

Change Gonna Come - for me this is better than Sam Cooke. Wicked Pickett right here. 

 

Down in the Valley - again maybe sacrilegious but this version is better than Burke's. Probably the best the band plays on the record and he sounds great. Could be that I just prefer his grit on these last two.

 

I've Been Loving You too Long - killing it. I mean killllllliiiiinnnggg it.

 

 

 

I think if the record stopped there it would actually be better, as some have said the second side feels a bit like filler from live gigs - with many of the versions being solid but nothing approaching side 1. 

 

Nothing less than a solid 8-10 overall with a couple 10 spots and a few that are part of soul history.

[Carvalho Diablo]

Otis Redding - Blue

 

Swimming against the tide probably but this record does nothing for me. As a showcase for the man's voice I found most of the performances and songs included just underwhelmed.

 

Not helped by the 1965 recording and mix perhaps, the percussion is all but lost and the whole thing just lacks that sparkle.

 

The best track for me is Rock Me Baby. The recording having greater depth and subtlety, loving the understated guitar panned left.

 

Best vocal I thought was on A Change Is Gonna Come where Redding has the space to rasp and soar, elevating the whole piece to heights not achieved by much anything else on here.

 

Never been a fan of Satisfaction but it struck me during that song just how much better James Brown and his band performed real raunchy stompers such as that.

 

I found even Wonderful World left me cold, being strangely flat. Typical of this album for me, pleasant but unexciting, leaving me feeling very much on the outside looking in.

 

 

[Carvalho Diablo]

Who's left to review? Shooter?

 

Who's next man up to pick?

[Guest]

16 minutes ago, Carvalho Diablo said:

Who's left to review? Shooter?

 

Who's next man up to pick?

I'm listening to the album this evening, I do have it in my collection but only listened to bits and pieces. Should have a view on it tomorrow.

 

I think @TheHowieLama is next, as he bowed to @Jose Jones?

[Guest]

Considering Otis recorded the album in less than a day in 1965, Otis Blue album is quite an achievement. It's not up to the standard of other recordings (in fact after the album finished it jumped straight onto 'Try A Little Tenderness' which is a superior recording) but it was recorded in a very short space of time.

 

The first 5 tracks are really outstanding and Respect is the obvious standout - it's a timeless record and hard to believe it was put to record in such a short time with the other tracks.

 

As has been said, the second half is not up to the same standards but it's hardly a criticism as the first half is so impressive. And recorded in less than 24 hours. In 1965. Makes you wonder what else he could have achieved if he had lived for a longer time.

 

9.5/10 for first half

7.5/10 for second half

[Lee909]

Woo 2 for 2 in giving you all stuff your not that fond of. I'm on a fucking roll. 

Should have just gone with one of the 2 country albums I had in mind. 

[Guest]

24 minutes ago, Lee909 said:

Woo 2 for 2 in giving you all stuff your not that fond of. I'm on a fucking roll. 

Should have just gone with one of the 2 country albums I had in mind. 

I liked it, a lot. So did these...

 

Critical reception

Retrospective professional reviews

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[13]
Blender	[23]
Memphis Flyer	A+[6]
Pitchfork	10/10[15]
PopMatters	9/10[14]
Q	[31]
Record Collector	[32]
Rolling Stone	[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[33]
Sputnikmusic	4.5/5[34]

Otis Blue has been regarded by music critics as Redding's best work.^[26] Bruce Eder from AllMusic wrote that "Redding's powerful, remarkable singing throughout makes Otis Blue gritty, rich, and achingly alive, and an essential listening experience." He also felt the album "presents his talent unfettered, his direction clear, and his confidence emboldened".^[13] Angus Taylor of BBC Music commented that it stands "at the crossroads of pop, rock, gospel, blues and soul", and asserted that the album contains "a set of short, punchy covers and originals, flawlessly ordered to ebb and flow between stirring balladry and foot stomping exuberance". He dubbed the album Redding's "definitive statement".^[35]Blender music critic Robert Christgau called Otis Blue, "the first great album by one of soul's few reliable long-form artists" and gave its 2004 collector's edition four out of five stars, which he said, "comes with many useless alternate takes, but also with live tracks that preserve for history Redding's country-goes-uptown style of fun".^[23]

Nate Patrin of Pitchfork Media cited the album as the 1960s' "greatest studio-recorded soul LP", and further stated that it is "a hell of a record, the crowning achievement of a man who could sound pained and celebratory and tender and gritty and proud all at once, with a voice that everyone from John Fogerty to Swamp Dogg to Cee-lo owes a debt to".^[15] Claudrena N. Harold of PopMatters also praised the diverse sound, which, according to her, is a mixture of "Motown pop, the blues, British rock, and Southern Soul", although she cited Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul as Redding's best album.^[14]Rolling Stone described the album as "Redding's true dictionary of soul, a stunning journey through the past and future vocabulary of R&B ... documenting a masterful artist rising to ... the immense challenge of his times."^[36] In The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), Rolling Stone journalist Paul Evans gave Otis Blue five out of five stars and cited the album as Redding's "first masterwork".^[33]

Accolades

Otis Blue is included in many "best album" lists. NME ranked it 35 on its list from 1993 of the "Greatest Albums of All Time".^[37] Then, NME ranked it 405 on their 2013 edition.^[38][39] The album was also ranked 74 on the 2003 Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, and 78 in a 2012 revised list.^[40] It also ranked 92 on Time magazine's list of the All-Time 100 Greatest Albums and included in Q magazine's Best Soul Albums of All Time list. The album appeared in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".^[41] According to Acclaimed Music, Otis Blue is the 68th most frequently ranked record on critics' all-time lists.^[42]

[Carvalho Diablo]

But what do they know eh?

[Carvalho Diablo]

In fairness to @lee909 previous pick, the Blackberry Smoke album, I enjoyed it but the thing (for me) which counted against it was the running time, it was a long album and it really felt like it. Listening fatigue was a definite factor in my review.

[Guest]

24 minutes ago, Carvalho Diablo said:

In fairness to @lee909 previous pick, the Blackberry Smoke album, I enjoyed it but the thing (for me) which counted against it was the running time, it was a long album and it really felt like it. Listening fatigue was a definite factor in my review.

I got a bit nervous on Spotify as the Remastered version of Otis Blue has 40 tracks listed!

[Jose Jones]

6 hours ago, Shooter in the Motor said:

I'm listening to the album this evening, I do have it in my collection but only listened to bits and pieces. Should have a view on it tomorrow.

 

I think @TheHowieLama is next, as he bowed to @Jose Jones?

I haven’t gone yet, it was @Lee909.

How about @TheHowieLama goes next and I go after him?

[TheHowieLama]

Allright - @Carvalho Diablo gets ta linkin'

 

G. Love -- The Hustle

 

 

[Carvalho Diablo]

Having a mare trying to drop this Spotify link in via my phone...

 

Nope, not having it. Can someone else do the honours please ?

 

[Guest]

https://open.spotify.com/album/3yN3aOrKT5vidkh1CL2iHI

 

[Guest]

.

[Guest]

Has anyone listened to the album from @TheHowieLama yet? Initial listen last night but not heard enough to write anything about it yet.

[Lee909]

Back to work tomorrow so plan to listen then. 

[Jose Jones]

2 hours ago, Shooter in the Motor said:

Has anyone listened to the album from @TheHowieLama yet? Initial listen last night but not heard enough to write anything about it yet.

First time through I wasn't digging it at all.  Second time I was vibing with it a bit more.  Going to give it a third go before committing to a review.

[Jose Jones]

9 hours ago, Jose Jones said:

First time through I wasn't digging it at all.  Second time I was vibing with it a bit more.  Going to give it a third go before committing to a review.

G. Love & Special Sauce - The Hustle

 

Some badly connected review thoughts:

 

It seems strange that he called it The Hustle because it’s probably the worst song on the album.

In general his rapping and lyrics are terrible, although the only song I’d heard previously “Back of the Bus” is quite good fun.

The stoner Jack Johnson/John Butler style lilting strums are better, although I’m not too keen on his voice.

I think the thing is Jack Johnson grew up on Hawaii surfing with Kelly Slater, whereas G. Love sounds like an east coast guy who wishes he grew up in Hawaii.

 

Anyway first time through I couldn’t get with it at all, by the end though I have decided it is ok. I’m going to give it a number:

 

5/10