CD Review
Eddie Hinton
Playin' Around (The Songwritin' Sessions Vol #2)
(Zane Records ZNCD 1020)
by Gordon Baxter
Review date: August 2004
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"Keeping the Blues Alive Award"
Achievement for Blues on the Internet
Presented by The Blues Foundation
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There have been a few unsung heroes of soul music over the years. These
were the people who wrote and/or played on many of the classic soul tunes
without ever getting proper acclaim. In recent times efforts have been made
to recognize what they did, most obviously in the cases of Dan Penn
(singled out as the hero of Peter Guralnick's "Sweet Soul Music,") and the
Funk Brothers (the stars of "Standing In The Shadows of Motown"). The other
person who has been largely overlooked is the late, great Eddie Hinton.
Peter Thompson of Zane Records has been carrying the torch for Hinton,
pulling together all the unreleased recordings, and compiling them for
public appreciation. "Playin' Around" gathers together the last--but by no
means the least--of these recordings.
At its most basic, the material here takes the form of one man demos, such
as "Something Heavy." When tunes are stripped back this far--just guitar
and vocals--it really demonstrates the soul of the artist, and this proves
that Eddie Hinton really had soul. For the most part though, Hinton is
captured in a band setting. In some instances, such as the title track,
Hinton plays all the instruments. There really was almost no end to the
guy's talents. It is only when you listen to songs like "Satisfaction
Guaranteed," and "Help Me To Make It (Power of a Woman's Love)" that you
fully appreciate what a great songwriter he was. The former sounds like it
was earmarked for Joe Tex, whilst the latter is pure Sam Cooke. Hinton was
blessed with a voice that meant that he could carry them off too, though,
as the album repeatedly demonstrates.
The recordings span pretty much all of Hinton's career. The earliest
(1964/5) is a cover of the Beatles' "You Can't Do That." Hinton's inspired
use of a horn section, makes it sound even better than the original.
Mostly, however, Hinton's career was spent working out of Muscle Shoals
with other artists, and writing songs for other people, including legendary
artists like Percy Sledge ("You're All Around Me.")
The album closes out with the latest recordings (1991), a couple of live
tracks recorded with the Memphis All Star Band at the Porretta
International Soul Festival, Italy. The first is Hinton's own funky "The
Well of Love, followed by an excellent rendition of "Mr Pitiful." This
offers further proof of many people referred to Hinton as the white Otis
Redding.
"Playin' Around" is a terrific album that shows just what a massive talent
Eddie Hinton was. It is sad to think that a few bad breaks at the wrong
time meant that he never really hit the big time. There are several classic
soul tunes here that deserved to have been big hits. Help to celebrate what
would have been Eddie Hinton's 60th birthday by rushing down to your local
store and buying a copy of "Playin' Around"--you will not be disappointed.
Then, contact Zane Records and urge them to re-issue "Letters From
Mississippi - 12 Garage Soul Anthems," and while you are at it, get onto
the people from Capricorn and insist they reissue "Very Extremely
Dangerous." Eddie Hinton may no longer be with us, but he created a lot of
timeless music that still sounds as great today as it did when it was first
recorded.
www.zanerecords.com
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