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Bo-Keys
Got To Get
Back!
Electraphonic 106
HHH1/2
Steve
Cropper
Dedicated
429 Records 17832
HH1/2
As part of the current soul renaissance, the
Memphis-based Bo-Keys—the core group consists
of young soul zealot Scott Bomar on bass
and veterans Skip Pitts on guitar and Willie
Hall on drums—strived for musical transcendence
on their largely instrumental album The
Royal Sessions in 2004. They fell short. Their
new Got To Get Back! finds them in a special
zone where the word “soulful” truly applies.
Bomar was smart to enlist bona fide soul
singers Otis Clay, Percy Wiggins, William Bell
and Charlie Musslewhite. All four of these
elders probe the deepest recesses of the heart for
answers to questions on romance posed in topgrade
songs mostly written by Bomar and other
Bo-Keys. Clay, who made successful records in
Memphis in the early ’70s, grabs the two-part
“Got To Get Back (To My Baby)” by its neck
from the very first bar and hurls it onto Otis
Redding’s turf. He shows enough of his
own gruffly passionate personality to
escape charges of mimicry. Bell, a participating
witness to the birth of Stax,
gives an exquisite treatment of “Weak
Spot.” No less impressive are Bomar
and the instrumentalists, including legends
Howard Grimes on drums and
Ben Cauley on trumpet. They too bring
honest, shimmering feeling to the tracks
with the singers and to six on their own.
Steve Cropper still has the magic.
Dedicated is his tribute to his heroes the “5”
Royales—the long-lasting Southern r&b vocal
group that played an important role in the early
stories of soul and rock ’n’ roll for their harmony
singing and the amazing single-string guitar
of Lowman Pauling (also a fine songwriter).
Listeners are advised to give their undivided
attention to Cropper’s lead and rhythm playing
on updates of the Royales’ hits “Dedicated
To The One I Love,” “Think” and lesserknown,
underrated, “Say It.” Savor Cropper’s
tone, his million-dollar licks, inerrant rhythmic
sense and intimate understanding of when
and where to leave space. He’s soulful and
then some, not least on “Help Me Somebody,”
where he exudes an easy authority and a delicate
restraint. Three cheers for the contributions
of David Hood, Spooner Oldham, Steve
Ferrone and Steve Jordan.
On the debit side, Cropper and co-producer
Jon Tiven called on a number of singers to help
them out. Steve Winwood, Lucinda Williams,
John Popper, Bettye LaVette and the others
have good intentions but they only succeed
in pointing out how wonderful and definitive
the lead singing of tenors Johnny and Eugene
Tanner was on the originals. B.B. King and
Shemekia Copeland sound terrific singing
“Baby, Don’t Do It,” yet their friendliness pales
next to the raw romantic pain the “5” Royales
brought to their 1953 r&b chart hit.
—Frank-John Hadley
Got To Get Back!: Hi Roller; Got To Get Back (To My Baby); Just
Chillin’; Catch This Teardrop; Jack And Ginger; Sundown On Beale;
Weak Spot; 90 Days Same As Cash; I’m Going Home; Cauley
Flower; Work That Sucker; Got To Get Back (To My Baby), Part
Two. (40:05)
Personnel: Scott Bomar, bass, percussion; Charles “Skip” Pitts,
guitar, vocal (11); Howard Grimes, Willie Hall, drums and percussion;
Archie “Hubble” Turner, Al Gamble, keyboards; Marc Franklin,
Ben Cauley, trumpet; Derrick Williams, tenor saxophone; Kirk
Smothers, tenor and baritone saxophone; Jim Spake, baritone
saxophone; Otis Clay (2, 12), Percy Wiggins (4); William Bell (7),
Charlie Musslewhite (9), vocals.
Ordering info: thebokeys.com
Dedicated: 30 Second Lover; Don’t Be Ashamed; Baby, Don’t Do
It; Dedicated To The One I Love; My Sugar Sugar; Right Around The
Corner; Help Me Somebody; I Do; Messin’ Up; Say It; The Slummer
The Slum; Someone Made You For Me; Think; Come On And Save
Me; When I Get Like This. (46:17)
Personnel: Steve Cropper, guitar; Buddy Miller, guitar (11); David
Hood, bass guitar; Spooner Oldman, acoustic and electric pianos,
organ; Steve Ferrone, drums, percussion; Steve Jordan, drums;
Neal Sugarman, Jon Tiven, tenor saxophones; Steve Winwood (1),
Bettye LaVette (2, 10); Willie Jones (2); B. B. King (3), Shemekia
Copeland (3); Lucinda Williams (4, 15), Dan Penn (4, 12); John Popper
(5), Delbert McClinton (6), Brian May (8), Sharon Jones (9, 14),
Buddy Miller (11), Dylan Leblanc (14), lead vocals; Angel Cropper,
Harry Stinson, Beth Hooker, Dylan Lablanc, Leroy Parnell, Keb Mo,
Billy Block, Jon Tiven, Brian May, Dan Penn, background vocals.
Ordering info: 429records.com
SEPTEMBER 2011 DOWNBEAT 53