Search - Johnny Otis :: Cold Shot!

Johnny Otis Gets Real

balbulican | Ottawa, Ontario Canada | 06/13/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Johnny Otis' recordings run the gamut from R&B-tinged pop to rock to blues. You never know quite what you're getting: the good stuff is very, very good, but too many of his recordings feel liked laboured reworkings of "Hand Jive", a tired blues journeyman dusting off the licks for one more album.Not this one. He never did it this well before or after. "Cold Shot" is the toughest, smokiest set he ever recorded. Shuggie is playing stinging leads, the band is tight and hot, the songs are great (including a hilariously obscene blues). This is my favorite Johnny Otis recording, and has been since I first heard it twenty years ago."