Search - Roy-C :: Stella Lost Her Groove

Would be typical Southern soul, but for....

Andre M. | Mt. Pleasant, SC United States | 03/22/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This would be a typical, run of the mill retro-blues Soouthern Soul Cd except for the following.



Roy C. (Hammond), one of the most popular modern Soul and Blues men who rival Marvin Sease and Bobby Rush for being the King of the Juke Joints, does a fairly typical outing here. Along with the usual brand of middle-aged love songs like "I'm So Lonely," he does remakes of classic R&B such as "Change is Goonna Come" and "I Found a Love." Not bad, but nothing exceptional. However there are a few things that stand out and make this a worthwhile purchase.



First of all, the tune "Merry Black Christmas" may come off at first as a parody of the Crosby classic "White Christmas," but its actually more heartfelt than that. This is actually a sincere tribute to what happens during Christmastime in working-class Black neighborhoods, remeniscent of the Godfather's "Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto."



His cutting commentary on the real life incident of Rev. Henry Lyons robbing his congregation in the liner notes is quite a read.



Secondly, there are two OUTSTANDING instrumentals by J. Hines and the Boys. Scratching your heads on this one? If you were anywhere near a black community in the Carolinas and Georgia in the late 60s and early 70s, you know these guys and their songs. J(ames) Hines (1944-2004, RIP) led this amazing jazz and R&B combo who SMOKED with the regional hits "Blank Mind" and "Going Down for the Last Time." My parents had this on 45 and I heard it whenever adults gathered and on local black radio stations. These songs have been preserved in their original versions on this CD



These two songs (along with FUNKY FUNK pt 2 where they provide instrumental backup) are a joy to behold. "Blank Mind" has J. Hines playing some of the sexiest guitar around and "Going Down for the last time" has some incredibly soulful interplay between Hines and his saxophonist (check out Hines' guitar trills near the end of this one).



From what I understand, J. Hines and the Boys were a part of Roy C's roster, thus their (wise) inclusion on this CD. In either case, this alone is enough to get this piece of Southern Soul as it was and is."