As the originator of the anthemic, near ubiquitous "The Blues Is Alright," Little Milton could easily coast on his laurels, riding out his days as elder statesman to the soul/blues genre he practically created and certainl... more »y popularized since his Sun label days in the early '50s. Though perhaps not as much an ambassador for the blues form as the similarly styled B.B. King, Milton remains just as revered for his longevity, tenacity, and talent. For his 2005 Telarc label debut, the 71-year-old guitarist/singer/songwriter found a kindred spirit in producer/guitarist Jon Tiven. Together, they composed all the songs for a remarkably consistent comeback. Discarding the strings, horns, and lavish production that blues purists often felt drowned Milton's substantial talents, Tiven keeps the sound lean and tough. Milton responds with his toughest performance in years, wading in the Southern swamps for "Next to You," pleading with that patented aged-whiskey voice on the sumptuous "Reconsider Me," and tearing into the superb soul-blues style he's best known for on the crackling mid-tempo opener "Gonna Find Me Somebody to Love." Those new to Little Milton's legendary talents--and even older fans who might have lost track throughout the years--will find the icon in splendid form on this magnificent release. --Hal Horowitz« less
As the originator of the anthemic, near ubiquitous "The Blues Is Alright," Little Milton could easily coast on his laurels, riding out his days as elder statesman to the soul/blues genre he practically created and certainly popularized since his Sun label days in the early '50s. Though perhaps not as much an ambassador for the blues form as the similarly styled B.B. King, Milton remains just as revered for his longevity, tenacity, and talent. For his 2005 Telarc label debut, the 71-year-old guitarist/singer/songwriter found a kindred spirit in producer/guitarist Jon Tiven. Together, they composed all the songs for a remarkably consistent comeback. Discarding the strings, horns, and lavish production that blues purists often felt drowned Milton's substantial talents, Tiven keeps the sound lean and tough. Milton responds with his toughest performance in years, wading in the Southern swamps for "Next to You," pleading with that patented aged-whiskey voice on the sumptuous "Reconsider Me," and tearing into the superb soul-blues style he's best known for on the crackling mid-tempo opener "Gonna Find Me Somebody to Love." Those new to Little Milton's legendary talents--and even older fans who might have lost track throughout the years--will find the icon in splendid form on this magnificent release. --Hal Horowitz
"This review is from www.bluescritic.com. "Well, Little Milton Campbell's Malaco Records years have ended after a great run of 14 soul blues albums for the label in nearly two decades. My first reaction was dismay as Milton's thick soul vocals and crackling guitar sounded divine in front of Malaco's horn-backed production ethic. His first for Telarc, is a slight departure from his usual style. Produced and co-written mostly with Jon Tiven (who also produced discs by Wilson Pickett & Sir Mack Rice), "Think Of Me", discards the strings, horns, and lavish production for a Southern swamp groove- with a full band feel. Jon Tiven and Peter Shoulder share guitar solos with Milton. Bruce Katz plays some soulful organ. Ellis Hooks and Scat Springs deliver solid background vocals to several of the tracks. The romping opener "Gonna Find Somebody To Love", and the slow blues "Blues Is My Companion" sound like the Milton we've come to love but then we are surprised by the country backbeat driven "Gone With The Wind" that grows on you on repeated listens. "Reconsider Me" (not the Lowell Fulson track) is reminiscent of 1970s Milton and "Next To You" is a swampy blues rocker. It took me a few listens and overcoming my wish for horns to realize this is one of the finest blues releases of 2005"."
"SOMETHING WONDERFUL" !!!!!
Lonnie P. Fredette | PLATTSBURGH, NY, US | 03/15/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"AS any fan of Little Milton knows, his style has changed over the years: from Sun to Bobbin to Chess to Stax and onward. This cd is simply another example of the ongoing evolution of a GREAT bluesman and what an EXCELLENT testament it is! There are none of the big brass accompaniments of the Chess era, BUT what you get instead is RAW BLUES GUITAR! The songwrting is topnotch, no covers here and the arrangements are stripped down and powerful. The VOCALS are the center of attention, as you would expect, with Little Milton's tremendous VOICE singing with POWER and AUTHORITY. Highlights are the opener and...well, EVERY ONE OF THE 12 TRACKS on this cd!!! There's really not a WEAK one! Being fairly short, at just over 45 minutes, you just want to put it on repeat play: it sounds better with each listen! Nuf said!"
Magnificent
Cneyt Demrkaya | istanbul, TURKEY | 03/23/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"After buying a very best album, I liked Little Milton. This album is very good. His impressive sound and voice are together formed a perfect blues sound. Different style also impressed me."
IF YOU LOVE LITTLE MILTON, YOU'LL HATE THIS
Dan Bogaty | 02/21/2007
(1 out of 5 stars)
"I have been a huge Little Milton Campbell fan for years since I first became aware of him in the late 1950's. He is to my mind among the greatest soul singers ever - as good as Johnnie Taylor, Wilson Pickett, Solomon Burke, et. al. He died in 2005, having had an outstanding recording career on a number of labels, with his greatest work having been produced on the Chess and Malaco labels.
The CD "Think of Me" is without a doubt the worst I have ever heard by Little Milton. The blame for this lies with Jon Tiven, who, having already proved, by producing awful CDs with Wilson Pickett and Solomon Burke, that he does not understand soul music, produces an equally bad CD for Milton on what was, sadly, his last before his death.
The producers of this CD clearly have NO concept of what made Little Milton so wonderful. They apparently decided that the kind of soul songs that were the basis for all of Milton's great work were unacceptable, and picked a bunch of songs that I'm sure they thought were fresh and new, and I'm also sure they thought they were innovative and edgy and would move Milton on to a new and hipper audience. The songs suck.
The other factors which made Little Milton so consistently outstanding were his big tough voice and the beautiful arrangements featuring punchy and intricate horns, stinging guitars...in short, all of the tight professional work that appeared on Chess and Malaco. The voice is missing on this CD, maybe due partially to his advancing age, but surely in part due to the garbage he was given to sing. The arrangements are a joke. They are sloppy, and more than uninteresting, they demonstrate a complete lack of understanding of Little Milton and his work, and the producer of the CD's attempt to make something "hip" and different at this stage of Little Milton's career, shows a total disrespect for the monster career this man actually had and why it was a monster career.
I rate this a 1 only because negative numbers are not available."