Baby [Enhanced]

Detroit Cobras | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 27, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced
• Label: Bloodshot Records
• ASIN: B000AR9RJ8
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #124,770 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The Detroit Cobras' third is actually two recordings in one. Their Bloodshot debut combines the full-length Baby with import-only EP Seven Easy Pieces. Of the 20 tracks, only "Hot Dog (Watch Me Eat)," co-written by producer/guitarist Greg Cartwright (Oblivians, the Reigning Sound), is an original, but no matter. (And title aside, it's a great tune.) The Cobras' modus operandi is, instead, to excavate R&B obscurities and make them their own. Songwriters include Isaac Hayes ("Weak Spot"), Allen Toussaint ("Mean Man"), and Willie Dixon ("Insane Asylum"). Aside from their exquisite taste, there's another reason the Cobras are rarely described as a retro/covers act: Vocalist Rachel Nagy, who has the funky spirit of James Brown protegée Lyn Collins and the sultry sound of the Shocking Blue's Mariska Veres, and versatile guitarist Mary Ramirez. (The rest of the line-up is a revolving door of Detroit's finest.) In addition, Baby features Ko Shih (Ko and the Knockouts, the Dirtbombs) on backing vocals. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Product Description

Baby Includes a New Version of the Single Cha Cha Twist which Appeared Earlier this Year on a Diet Coke Commercial Across Europe. There Are 12 Brand New Rock N' Soul Classics that Ensure the Detroit Cobras Are the Only Band to Soundtrack a Party. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This one's off the planet!, April 26, 2008

By 

Art Tirrell - "The Vitaman Effect" (upstate ny) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Baby (Audio CD)

I first heard the The Detroit Cobras in the fall of 2005 during an NPR review of the year's 10 best albums. You know how it is...you know the good stuff when you hear it? Well, they had it. I found the album (Bloodshot Records), listened to the sample track, and ordered. Meanwhile, I learned a little about them.

Talk about colorful histories. Formed by guitarist Steve Shaw in 1995, the band emerged from the Detroit Garage Rock scene as the best cover band in the Midwest, specializing in Shaw's penchant for forgotten R&B classics. They wrote fresh, updated arrangements, and what do you know, Soul suddenly found a way to rock hard.

Shaw left the group, but the program stayed the same, reaching its peak with the third album, 2005's "Baby." For my money, it's the best retro-R&B album to ever hit the street.

It doesn't matter that the band is a literal revolving door of musicians, hardly ever the same from one performance to the next. The two mainstays, vocalist Rachel Nagy, and guitarist Maribel Restrepo, were the only constants, but Nagy alone would have been enough to carry things.

Once-upon-a-time an exotic dancer, she's right at home in dark, smoke-filled cafes. Her driven style penetrates to the core. She's edgy, loud, slutty, and hypnotic. This is a hard woman, strong, with voice to match. Grrr! I'd take her home in a heartbeat if I wasn't afraid she'd slap me around too much. For now, I'll settle for "Baby's" 20 vibrant tracks and keep them where they've been for the past three years: at the top of my play list.

Sample these first: "Weak Spot" and "Silver and Gold"

Art Tirrell is the author of 2007's, "The Secret Ever Keeps", set on and below the surface of Lake Ontario.

"Superb" Historical Novel Review
"Must read" Films and Books Magazine

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars they do it again, December 21, 2004

By 

mr detroit - See all my reviews

This review is from: Baby (Audio CD)

for all those who love the detroit cobras this album is terriffic. i picked up for import price without giving it a second thought, i had to have this album after hearing the two previous releases. this album doesn't dissapoint at all. life love and leaving will probably always be my favorite, but baby is well worth the money.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Maximum R&B, January 13, 2006

By 

Travis Dubya McGee Bickle "elitist duffer" (Texas Quail Hunting Camp) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Baby (Audio CD)

This is, not to mince words, an unbelievably great, rootsy, garage-y record...Imagine the choicest, semi-obscure R&B chestnuts done up by a smokin' combo of some of Detroit's finest musicians, and sung by an incredibly hot, soulful frontwoman...has to be heard to be believed. And, the originals by the group are mighty tasty, too.