Search - Renea Mitchell :: The Road of Love

Blues Critic Review

Scott J. Thornton | 03/26/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"FROST ILLUSTRATED - JOMAR RECORDS



Solid music from an avowed 'southern soul' artist

Courtesy of Phat Sound Promotions





While qualitative arguments rage about the viability and appropriateness of naming a genre "southern soul," singer Renea Mitchell embraces that label from the very start (as the blurb on the cover indicates) and then quickly and wisely moves on to do what's most important in the debate-produce some great music. The result is "The Road of Love" (Jomar Records/Phat Sound Promotions), a well-done, 15track collection of soulful tunes.



Blessed with a lovely voice and chops that allow her to sing even the toughest songs with deceptive ease, Mitchell turns in a extremely pleasant and easy to listen to set on "The Road of Love." While you can hear traces of the masters and archetypes of the genre she willingly embraces-folks like Dorothy Moore, Denise Lasalle and others-Mitchell has her own unique and soothing approach to the music. There's an easy going, controlled quality to her performances on this record. Even when she cranks up the heat, she doesn't explode, but rather builds it up from a smolder to a nice, slow burn that warms the heart.



Call it "serious southern soul," if you like-as does the blurb on the cover-but singer Mitchell's "The Road of Love" seems to owe just as much to the Philadelphia sound, Motown and other soul centers as it does the classic sounds of Stax, Muscle Shoals and Malaco. Check out the tight and sometimes elaborate arrangements throughout. Keyboard strings and horns often can be a bit cheesy, but if properly done-as in this case by producer Marshall Jones and co-producer Morris J. Williams- the results can be suprisingly good, even great, as is this case on this record. That combination of great arrangements and a great singer make for a very satisfying outing.



The record starts off with a quick monologue on the blues before launching into "Seventeen Days (of Loving)." which proved to be a big hit for another artist in the southern market sometime back. Producer Jones and co-writter Scott Thornton have rearranged the tune and given it a nice, relaxed feel here which makes it a wonderful vehicle for Mitchell's stellar vocals. Mitchell kicks the pace up a little bit with the Tyrone Davis-like groove of "Two Can Play That Game," a cautionary tale about how payback can be a bit rough.



She digs in for the poignant "Somebody's Cutting My Cake," a well-written heartbreak tune.



Some slick guitar playing and nice horn arrangements open the driving "Dirty Woman," while tunes like "I'm Just A Fool (In love with you)" puts on in mind the type of song Gladys might sing-only with a bit lighter, pleasant airy sound in Mitchell's hands.



Other highlights include the wicked funk groove of "You Ain't Man Enough" and the luscious "The Road of Love," a tune with a definitely Philly-type sound. Mitchell finesses all kinds of sweetness out of this one. It's a truly lovely vocal performance. The record features two versions, the first "with guitar" and the second without. Both versions are great, but the whining, volume pedal guitar effects on the first are nice icing on the cake. This tune alone is worth the price of the record. Still, there's plenty of other good songs here including "Party Lights," "Mr. DJ (Play my song)" and the sweet "Lay Your Head On Me."



The record finishes with a wonderful version of Cheryl King's "Lollipop"-a tune King co-wrote with producer Jones.



"The Road of Love" by Renea Mitchell is a super solid piece of work from a talented and inviting singer. There's no gimmickry and cheap "novelty" tunes here-just solid, entertaining music. Perhaps if more folks turned out quality work such as this in the contemporary "southern soul" market, much of the debate over the viability of the music would be settled.





Renea Mitchell "The Road Of Love" (Jomar)



By: Dylann DeAnna



**** 1/2 Jomar Records believes in this new artist and they've been willing to bank on her with classy promotion and phat production. The kind of push artists dreams of. But the question is: "Does it live up to the hype?". Well, in two words let's just say: "Sho 'nuff!". Likely you've already heard the runaway smash "Seventeen Days (Of Loving)", which has the audacity to best Carl Sims version (also produced by Marshall Jones)! It's racing up the Soul Blues/Southern Soul charts to #1 as I write. Mitchell has one of those sweet voices you could listen to all day- smooth, sexy and tensely soulful. Could she be the new Diana Ross? It don't hurt when you got Grade A material to sing. Check out the serpentine "Somebody's Cuttin' My Cake", a tale of a woman scorned and not with who you may think. She says "It's just like Adam and I'm your Eve/ But I didn't know you were lovin' Steve!". See, Peggy Scott-Adams, Renea feels your pain. Wonder if "Bill" and Steve will ever meet. Other likely hits are the head bobbin', toe-tappin' Southern Soul gems "Lay Your Head On Me", "Two Can Play The Game" & "Dirty Women" or maybe the 70s-styled dancer "Party Lights". Mitchell declares "Take down my pumps/Turn on the shower/Been workin' all week/It's time to spend some dollars". That says it all- that's what "Party Blues" is all about. Oh and let's not forget the title cut (appearing in two versions). Here, Mitchell, delivers a pitch perfect vocal on this melodic slow jam imbued with the spirit of Motown. "The Road Of Love" is not two singles and out like much of the competition- this disc holds up all the way through. Some big wigs of the "Southern Soul" world are on board (and behind the boards). Marhsall Jones, the man behind Carl Sims' "I'm Trapped" & David Brinston's "Hit And Run" is turnin' the knobs with assistance from Scott Thornton and Morris J. Williams, a key architect in the Ecko Records sound. Speaking of Ecko, Mr. John Ward himself is in the house to play guitar and Robert Smith Jr. handled vocal arrangements. Programmed Southern Soul at it's finest and hands down one of the finest releases of 2006.



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