Search - T.Graham Brown :: Bumper to Bumper

T. (a country/Soul artist) at His Very Best; CD Sonics Outst

Mark A. Weiss | Germantown, MD United States | 11/23/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"T. Graham Brown -- for those who don't know -- is an unusual genre-combiner: not country and blues (like you know about), not country and folk (like you know about), not even country and Dixie (like Merle Haggard); T. Graham Brown is country and SOUL. He even sings Mustang Sally in his concerts (well, he used to; I haven't heard him live for a few years ). His older CD's than this one have tunes penned by Soul artist Wilson Pickett. What does T. Sound like? A good bit like Joe Cocker -- but more fluidity and more nuanced. (Put it this way, a female listener will instantly fall in love hearing his voice.) This CD is sonically, absolutely T.'s best. T. was also at his peak of performance. I saw T. live at a small intimate venue twice (Zed's in Alexandria, VA) and at an outdoor concert and at HammerJacks (med-big) in Baltimore. So I know what T. sounds like. On a great audio system, I was transported back to Zed's. I ended up buying the $3,900 Linn CD player because of this CD. So, if you're an audiophile -- here's your Demo disc (Natural Sound in Framingham MASS bought the disc after hearing me play it to audition stuff there.) If you love soulful music, this is a great CD. It's melodious and rhythmic and good tunes and good stories too. And, T. does do one BLUES tune on the CD. Is there reason to consider T.'s CD's prior to Bumper to Bumper -- sure: more good tunes and stories (and even more soul influence), but they don't have anywhere near the sonic excellence of Bumper to Bumper. About 3 tunes on Bumper to Bumper are not to be missed: Moonshadow Road, If You Could See Me Now, and Sending One Up for You."