Search - Little Junior Parker, Bobby Blue Bland, Little Milton :: Soul Shots, Vol. 4: Urban Blues

Near perfect compilation

Greg Brady | Capital City | 01/26/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Compilations are tricky affairs..to do one right, you've got to be willing to do the legal footwork to get the best material you can, instead of settling for what's "here in the vault". Rhino does its customary excellent job here, delivering great sound and good economy, with 16 worthy titles for your dollars.



Picking out highlights is tough because there really isn't any filler here: every one of these songs is above average. But especially prime cuts are Junior Wells' "Messin' with the Kid" (it appears they weren't able to find a master..static at the end indicates it was mastered from a vinyl source), Tommy Tucker's "Hi-Heel Sneakers", Lowell Fulson's "Tramp", Little Milton's "Grits Ain't Groceries", Z.Z. Hill's "I Need Someone", Rosco Gordon's "Just a Little Bit" and a fine blues from Little Richard on "I Don't Know What You Got (But it's Got Me)".



Probably the weakest cut on here is Albert Hill's "Trash Talkin'"..a mostly spoken number over a bluesy backing track that's a musical cousin to Tony Joe White's "Polk Salad Annie". But to call it "weakest" points out the overall quality because it's by no means "bad".



This is a fine introduction for someone just beginning to dip their toe into the pool of 60s R&B and blues, although true adherents will probably have many of these already."