Johnny Adams
THE IMMORTAL SOUL OF
AIM 1201
available on Amazon
This disc is a wonderful introduction to the astonishing voice of Johnny Adams (for those that need one). This is culled from material (the liner notes aren't explicit about dates) he recorded from the mid-seventies to the early 80s. This is the period when he was recording for Senator Jones, before he signed with Rounder Records. These tracks were for the large part recorded in his hometown of New Orleans, with some of the top session men available. People such as Walter Washington, Allen Toussaint, George Porter, and Leo Nocentelli to name but a few. This leads one to one of the criticisms of this disc, and that is there are no credits as to writers of the songs or who was playing on which cuts. However, you are getting 61 plus minutes of vintage Johnny Adams with excellent backing musicians for an exceedingly low price. The sound quality is very good, so I guess this is where they saved their money. We have the music and that is the important thing. If you don't know Johnny Adams voice you have been deprived of a musical treat. He was well known and loved in his native New Orleans as "The Tan Canary", and respected by all who came to know him and his music. Aaron Neville, for one, credits him as a leading inspiration to evolution of his singing style. Listen to what this man does with a song. The delivery is smooth as silk without the feeling of over polished studio production. He works a song and makes it his own. Listen to his discoish version of that Ben E. King standard, SPANISH HARLEM; it should be a disaster with the excessive production. His timing, falsetto voice, and phrasing don't let the song sink, and it in fact became a hit! Let your ears go with his voice as it swoops and dives on songs like SHARE YOUR LOVE.
True there are strings on a couple that give the sound a 'super' produced effect, and a couple of endings are rather abrupt. Yet when his voice soars and plummets he takes your mind away from the distractions and flaws that are inherent in this release from this "Louisiana Mid Price Music Series". You are receiving more than ample recompense. These songs are good, hard to find, and gathered together on one disc. It may not be perfect, but the couple of discs I have received from this company are well worth the money spent. Just kick back and close your eyes and listen to what he does with the gospel influenced STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN. His voice reaches and rises, but never strains as it reaches new plateaus. It alone is worth the price of admission.
Songs - Producer, times, musicians, and writers not given
- ONLY WANNA BE WITH YOU
- I'LL NEVER FALL IN LOVE AGAIN
- LOVE ME NOW
- STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN
- GIVE ME A CHANCE
- TURNING POINT
- WHO WILL THE NEXT FOOL BE
- YOU LOVE IS ALL I NEED
- STAY WITH ME
- SHARE YOUR LOVE
- CLOSER TO YOU
- SHARING WITH YOU
- DON'T LET THE GREEN GRASS FOOL YOU
- SPANISH HARLEM