Search - Gino Washington :: Out of This World

Music That Is 'Out Of This World'

Steve Vrana | Aurora, NE | 06/12/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Here's another artist I would never have found if I hadn't picked up Dave Marsh's book The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. Each song in the book is accompanied by a mini-essay and I've been on a ten-year-plus journey to find all 1001 songs. (I've only got four left!)Anything by Washington was out of print until this release last year, which includes "Gino Is a Coward," the song Marsh included in his book at No. 938. [It never made the pop chart, which only shows that a lot of talent in the music industry goes unnoticed by the record-buying public.]In the liner notes Washington says his three favorite performers were Jackie Wilson, Elvis Presley and Johnny Mathis. However, the CD kicks off with the rollicking "Out Of This World," which begs comparisons to Gary "U.S." Bonds. "Gino Is a Coward" is another footstomping song with a honking sax and loud guitar. All but three of these songs were recorded between 1962 and 1964. Gino might have made the leap to the bigtime if his career hadn't been interrupted in 1964 for a three-year hitch in the service. Tracks 11, 12 and 14 were recorded between 1967 and 1968, but Washington was unable to jumpstart his career and settled into hosting a local Detroit TV show in the mid-Seventies that featured up-and-coming talent (including a young Anita Baker).So what you have here are the songs from the peak of Washington's career. Listen and enjoy. RECOMMENDED"

Essential Detroit rock 'n' roll, thank god for Norton Record

TimothyFarrell22 | Massachusetts | 07/25/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As I said above, thank God for Norton Records. If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't have great reissues of Hasil Adkins, Gino Washington, the Sonics, Arch Hall Jr., the list goes on and on. The first two tracks show you what you're in for. "Out of This World" is truly out of this world, and is Gino's masterpeice. In fact, I'd go so far as to put it in my top fifty songs. "Gino Is a Coward" is amoung his most popular tracks, and is his second best song. The rest of the tracks aren't up to the levels of those classics, but are great on their own levels. This is truly the way R&B should be. Fun, raw, unproduced, and above all soulful. Few artists have such a wide scale of emotions in their voice as Gino does, and from what I hear he is an explosive live performer. Pick up both Norton comps, along with some stuff by Gino's contemporary Nathaniel Mayer. Gino may be a coward, but hes also a great rock 'n' roller."