LEROY HUTSON A MILLION DOLLAR TALENT
T. S. | Los Angeles, California USA | 01/30/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"1973 WAS THE YEAR THAT LEROY HUTSON STARTED HIS SOLO CAREER AT CURTOM RECORDS. HE REPLACED CURTIS MAYFIELD WHEN MR. MAYFIELD LEFT THE VERY SUCCESSFUL GROUP THE IMPRESSIONS, TO GO SOLO. LEROY FIRST SOLO RECORDING WAS 1973'S "LOVE OH LOVE" EVERY TRACK ON THIS ALBUM COULD HAVE BEEN A MILLION DOLLAR SELLER. IN 1974 HIS SECOND LP "THE MAN" WAS RELEASED, NOT AS GOOD AS THE FIRST, BUT WHO CARES IT WAS LEROY. 1975 GAVE US HUTSON I. ANOTHER
MASTERPIECE. EARLY IN 1976 HE RELEASED "FEEL THE SPIRIT" LATER THAT SAME YEAR HE GAVE US HUTSON II ANOTHER WORK OF ART. THIS MAN WAS SO TALENTED, I JUST DON'T KNOW WHY HE NEVER HAD DOUBLE PLATINUM SALES. HE SHOULD HAVE WON EVERY MUSIC AWARD KNOW TO
MANKIND, BUT HE DIDN'T WIN ANY. SHAME ON THE MUSIC INDUSTRY FOR PASSING THIS MAN BY. "UNFORGETTABLE" (A COVERED TUNE ORIGINALLY RECORDED BY NAT KING COLE) WAS HIS NEXT RELEASED. LEROY TRIED IT ONE MORE TIME IN 1982 WITH "PARADISE" HIS LAST WORK IS HARD TO FIND. LEROY AND DONNY HATHAWAY WERE ROOMATES AT HOWARD UNVERSITY IN WASHINGTON DC. AS YOU CAN SEE IM A LEROY FAN WAS AND IS. THE MAN WAS A TALENT AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN REWARDED."
Al, Marvin, Curtis and....LEROY!
Professor Booty | Brooklyn, NY | 03/13/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"why this guy is not more famous is a complete mystery to me. took curtis mayfield's place in the impressions. college roommates and co-writer w/donnie hathaway. unbelievable. his style veered heavily into the cheese as the seventies wore on but love oh love is an absolute masterpiece. having the man in addition is just icing on the cake. if you can't get your swerve on to this, you should give it up and go home..."
Great Tasting of Funky "Curtom" Style Orchestral Soul !
Eddie Landsberg | Tokyo, Japan | 02/07/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The cover of the the CD reads "Leroy Hutson/The Man!" and below it states his credentials, "Writer/Producer/Artist/Superstar ! ! !" It shows him in the studio surrounded by a couple of funky keyboards, plenty of mics and whatnot, a pair of headphones, a lead sheet blurred by the camera... the image is pretty clear.Take a listen, and its apparent, Hutson, former Curtis Mayfield/Impression/Donny Hathaway conspirator has put in a lot of work on this album... funky, orchestral soul... the sweet Curtom sound with that funky tight edge describes it well. The flamboyance of the "Philly" even "Hot Buttered Soul" sound are there... but the grooves have a much harder edge... the drums, basslines, and fuzzy guitar grooves are mixed well above the strings (a faux pas that *IMHO* often softened the Philly sound, even though I happen to be a native Philly-ite)... as you listen, you can tell he's a brilliant and imaginative producer and vocalist and has a brilliant arranger by his side but there just seem to be something missing that seems to put him over the top. I can't quite put my finger on it (! ! ! ) - - am I the only one ?Nevertheless, these are great grooves... as I listen to them the music of Willie Hutch (soundtrack to the Mack and Foxy Brown) comes to mind... in fact, if you're curious about the style of this album and the sound clips are still not up, I'd definitely check out some Willie Hutch... if you like him, you'll like Leroy (and visa versa.)Overall, I'd say if you need a second dose of the Curtom funky '70s sweet soul sound... this CD is definitely worth the purchase ! If you like this CD, check out some of the New Birth as well, and keep an eye out for the currently out of print Impressions sound track to "Three The Hard Way" ! ! !"
Track Listings (16) - Disc #1