Who are these guys? Well, as the liner notes note, even if you don’t know ‘em you’ve almost certainly heard ‘em …
Established in 1969, Capricorn Records was largely responsible for the genre known as southern rock, best epitomized by the Allman Brothers. The label’s ‘house band’ grew to include figures who’ve played an integral part in the genre, including work with the aforementioned Allmans and the likes of the Marshall Tucker Band and Wet Willie among many others.
In short, these gentlemen – guitarists Tommy Talton and Scott Boyer, bassist Johnny Sandlin, drummer Bill Stewart, with Paul Hornsby handling keyboards - are both architects and pillars of a distinct sound, with an enduring musical legacy that remains a seminal influence to countless bands today.
So there’s a great deal of history here, along with some serious chops. And the aggregate result is some seriously fine music …
As befits musicians with this much experience, the band tends to smolder rather than burn bright, with easy-going grooves rather than frantic workouts the order of the day. Most tunes are taken at mid-tempo, beginning with a rather unremarkable opener , the somewhat tepid “Time Will Take Us.” But “Everybody Needs Love,” a gem from the late, great Eddie Hinton, complete with ragged Hinton-style vocals, finds the band slipping into a deep soul groove that doesn’t let up for the rest of the party. A fine rendition of Otis Redding’s “Shout Bamalama” provides an appropriate loser to the set.
Most of the tunes are originals, with Talton and Boyer the main contributors; vocal duties are shared (sorry, detailed credits not available), and while none are likely to win awards, all acquit themselves without embarrassment, and the rotation adds appealing variety.
Playing, as one would expect, is top-notch throughout, with egos conspicuously absent; with track records like theirs, participants have nothing to prove, and settle instinctively into a relaxed yet impeccably tight ensemble sound, with solos short, sweet, and to-the-point. (Indeed, somewhat surprisingly given the nature of the material, fully half the songs come in at well under the four-minute mark).
It’s not a collection likely to fill dance floors, but as an object lesson in southern rock by seasoned pros who literally helped define the genre, this one would be hard to beat …
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