Sing Along With Sandy!
Darrell F. Musick | Berea, KY United States | 10/10/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"All you baby boomer, old-school, R&B fans should get this labor of love cd and (if you're not a lush or tea totaler) a six pack of your favorite suds, and then you won't need a big crowd of people to pull a party. You'll soon be singing and/or hucklebucking all by yourself to beat the band!
Although the singing on four cuts is somewhat flat, that leaves twelve that are toes on the nose. My faves are the hypnotically driving, "Louie, Louiesque," Richard Berry song "Have Love Will Travel" and the resplendently warm "Guided Missiles," which definately will transport you back to the Eisenhauer era!
No surprize--another big success from Big Sandy!"
First-rate reinterpretation of Doo-Wop and R&B classics
hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 06/04/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Together with his Fly-Rite boys, Big Sandy has recorded Rockabilly, Western Swing and Country. But on his first solo flight, he channels the spirits of West Coast doo-wop and R&B singers with a new level of passion. The sixteen tracks transcend mere cover status, crackling with the fire and electricity these songs delivered at their birth.Sandy's sweet delivery is catapulted to new heights by the background and harmony vocals of The Calvanes (whose Dootones labelmates The Penguins and The Cufflinks are covered here), the piano of Dewey Terry and saxophones of Cad Kadison. The groove on Richard Berry's "Have Love Will Travel" nearly obliterates every fuzzed-out garage band rendition of the 60s. Similarly, the street-corner harmony of "Lonely Guy," the call-and-response of "Pretty Girls Everywhere," the doo-wop scatting of "Hey Señorita," and Sandy's duets with Vicky Tafoya all wail with unbridled spirit.From romantic ballads to the most swinging R&B, Big Sandy hits the bull's-eye every time."