Customer Reviews

Frankie Miller's High Life

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After one or two earlier forays into the recording studio, Frankie Miller was yet to have his superb gravelly voice recorded to it's full potential. Choosing Allen Toussaint to produce, after hearing his work on one of Lee Dorsey's albums, they decided to share the songwriting credits and began recording in Atlanta Georgia.

The recording process went very well and all were happy with the results, happy that is, until it was remixed without either's consent by Chrysalis records to keep in line with current trends. Frankie hated the remix and decided to have nothing further to do with the album. 'I still have the original mix,the good one' said Frankie.

Despite these barriers the album was still critically well received, although sales were poorer than expected. Most tracks are still fresh today and Toussaint's production style lended itself well to the voice described as 'the best since Otis Redding' by none other than the great man's wife. Stand out tracks include the Stax sounding 'Shoo-rah shoo-rah' and the excellent 'Brickyard Blues' later a hit for Three Dog Night. Frankie's own composition 'The Devil Gun'is an edgy, gritty sounding track, while 'A fool' has a magnificent bass line and superb percussion work by Toussaint himself. This album was only bettered by Frankie on his next and arguably his greatest recording 'the Rock'. All in all, a great introduction to the vocal genius of Frankie Miller, but one can't help but wonder what the original mix sounded like.

One of my all time favorite albums. I bought it years ago in a bargain bin (with that cheap looking matchbook cover) simply because it had Allen Toussaint's name on it and I'm a big fan of New Orleans R&B. I immediately fell in love with Frankie Miller's voice and the songs on this LP. I like it better than Toussaint's own recordings (or Lee Dorsey's) and better than Miller's fine "The Rock". I think the combination of that smooth New Orleans rhythm and Miller's rough timbre is a happy meeting. I have been looking for this to come out on CD for a long time, and finally, here it is!

The first time I heard Frankie Miller was on the album version of "Still In Love With You" by Thin Lizzy. I was very impressed. Sadly, Frankie Miller's solo work hasn't been readily available here in the States and I've spent a few years casually searching for CDs or tapes with no results. Thankfully, Amazon came along and has made many obscure and hard-to-find music impossibly easy to get--and for a lot cheaper than you'd pay elsewhere. Anyway, I finally got my Frankie Miller album and I am not disappointed in the least. "The Rock" gets better with every listen. Another few spins, and I'll be ready to give it a higher rating. I can't wait to get more of his work as it becomes available on this side of the Atlantic.