Search - Little Milton :: Very Best of Little Milton

4 1/2 stars, really. A very satisfying collection of Little

Docendo Discimus | Vita scholae | 03/19/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"At almost 70 minutes, this is a generous and very effective showcase for Little Milton Campbell's 1970s output for the Stax label.

Milton started out as a gritty R&B singer, recorded several succesful blues singles for Chess subsidiary Checker, and then went on to Stax Records, where he recorded six LPs as well as a handful of sides which didn't see LP release until his tenure with the label had ended.



His Stax output was not really blues; some of it was what is sometimes labelled "soul-blues", but most of it was pure soul. Blues fans who enjoy Little Milton's early-60s output may be surprised to learn how much Milton's Stax output differed from his 50s and early-60s recordings, but soul fans should have a ball here. Songs like "If You Talk In Your Sleep", the slow burner "Eight Men And Four Women", the stately "I'm Gonna Cry A River", and the melodic "If That Ain't A Reason (for your woman to leave you)" are pure, deep soul, well executed and performed by a terrific band fully capable of displaying some ample chops of their own while still deferring to their front man.

The tough soul stomper "That's What Love Will Make You Do" is one of Milton's best original songs, and the classic "Walking The Back Streets And Crying" is here as well, of course, a smouldering, intense slow soul-blues number.



Milton is frequently backed by Stax stalwarts The Memphis Horns, and he plays his characteristic, crisp, staccato lead guitar. Check out the interplay between the two on the swaggering "Before The Honeymoon" and the aforementioned "That's What Love Will Make You Do".

The arrangements are generally excellent as well...not too slick, not too many strings (none at all, mostly), and he was always a terrific soul singer, no matter what he was actually singing at the time.



Hardcore fans will of course want the original albums, "If Walls Could Talk", "Tin Pan Alley", "Walkin' The Back Streets", and the live "Grits Ain't Groceries" in particular, but this is a fine, fine sampler for the more casual fan to pick up. It is almost identical to the other Stax compilation, "Stax Profiles - Little Milton", but to me it gets the nod over that one (seventeen tracks here, fourteen there, and some excellent, insightful liner notes by Rob Bowman). Highly recommended."