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Johnnie Taylor - Raw Blues (1969)

Track listing:
  1. Where There's Smoke There's Fi 3:02
  2. Hello Sundown 2:46
  3. Pardon Me Lady 2:53
  4. Where Can A Man Go From Here 3:12
  5. That Bone 2:56
  6. Part Time Love 3:28
  7. If I Had It To Do All Over 3:02
  8. You're Good For Me 3:28
  9. You Can't Keep A Good Man Down 2:37
  10. You Can't Win With A Losing Ha 2:32

Notes

While the "Raw" part of the title may be overstating the case just a bit, "Blues" describes this disc pretty well, thank you — on his fourth album, Johnnie Taylor shifts his focus away from Stax's trademark Southern soul stylings towards leaner and grittier blues-based performances, a style he'd already shown a knack for on his earlier sets. Raw Blues still walks a line between soul and blues, with the sweet-and-sour tone of The Memphis Horns sometimes stacking the deck in favor of the former, but "Part Time Love", "Hello Sundown" and "You Can't Keep A Good Man Down" generate a potent late-night mood vibe which match the downcast authority of Taylor's voice. And if the always air-tight performances of the Stax studio crew (including Steve Cropper and Isaac Hayes) pack enough heat to turn "You Can't Win With A Losing Hand" and "That Bone" into potent dance floor material, Taylor's rough but passionate delivery never lets this get too close to the Land of the Slick. A strong and heartfelt set that serves as an important precursor to Taylor's later blues-oriented sets for Malaco.