Rating:
Genre:
R&B
Release Date: 03/15/2005
Mississippi native
Otis Clay hasn't changed much with the times, as this live set recorded at
the Lucerne Blues Festival in Switzerland in 2003 quickly makes clear. From the start of his secular singing career in Chicago on the
One-derful and
Cotillion labels in the 1960s, through his high watermark on
Hi Records in Memphis in the 1970s (where he was the hardest vocal hitter
Hi ever recorded),
Clay has stuck fast to his
gospel-fueled roots, and his gruff, impassioned singing continues to be the very definition of
deep soul. Backed by
Tyrone Davis' old group,
the Platinum Band, a nine-piece, horn-driven Chicago outfit, and given vocal support by veteran singers
Theresa Davis and
Diane Madison,
Clay testifies hard and fast and fiery here, the way he always has. With deep, funky grooves filled out with punchy horns, and led by
Clay's gruff and searing vocals, songs like the hard-driving
"Nickel and a Nail," the teasing and playful
"I Can Take You to Heaven Tonight," and the quick, crisp
"Love & Happiness" (made famous by former
Hi labelmate
Al Green) burn the way the contemporary
neo-soul movement can only dream about burning. This isn't
retro soul, this is
soul still alive and kicking, only a whisper away from a
gospel revival meeting, and
Clay finally takes listeners there, too, with
"Amen/This Little Light of Mine" and a scorching, funky version of
George Clinton's
"I Just Wanna Testify." "It's a
soul song, simply said," is how
Clay introduces the set closer,
"Respect Yourself," and anyone who thinks
soul died in the 1970s will have a hard time explaining that to
Otis Clay.
~Steve Leggett, All Music Guide
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