Customer Reviews

The Royal Sessions

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3 star:		(1)
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It's awful nice when you find a record label you can trust to deliver something great or at the very least interesting. Memphis' Yellow Dog Records is just that. Home to one of the best blues artists of the last couple years Mark Lemhouse as well as The Bluff City Backsliders Yellow Dog now brings us in it's on going tradition of great AND interesting Memphis' own new instumental soulfunk masters The Bo-Keys and their new release The Royal Sessions. I would say first release but they did back up the legendary Rev.Al Green on his gorgeous return to tip-top pop form I Can't Stop. There's been some talk about the Bo-Keys using words like revival,revisionism,and the dreaded retro but that plain don't get it. Yeah, Ike Hayes begat Booker T begat The Bar-Kays begat the Bo-Keys or somethingerother and yeah, it was recorded at the amazing Willie Mitchell's Royal Studio (home to Rev. Green's classic recordings) but that's just a pinch of the spice in the recipe for this new and greasier Memphis stew and supa summer evening BBQ. This is The New Sound of Memphis baby. This is a sharp-dressed and sweatin' at midnight popped crease hangin' loose broke down no need to fix it glide in yr slide dip in yr hip stroll from uptown to straight DOWNtown freshness. I know you already read the Who's WHO on this but to refresh howsabout Skip Pitts (you know his wahwah built the Theme from Shaft)on guitar bobbin' and stingin' like a summer picnic bee. Back that up with keyboard maestro Ronnie Williams (that's him on Rufus Thomas' Do The Funky Chicken) on the B3 organ then back that up with Bar-Kays drummer Willie Hall keepin' it slapped down. Don't forget former garage band bassist and Bo-Keys band leader Scott Bomer drivin' the bottom and trumpeter Marc Franklin and sax man Jim Spake shinin' like new chrome dubs and this Caprice classic is swangin' with funky junque in the trunk to spare. Fans of the old skool Stax/Volt/Atlantic/Motown sound and fans of new soul kool bands like Mofro get yr wallets out now. The Bo-Keys are the Feel Funky hit of the summers to come!

My sister sent me this CD for my recent birthday. I'm glad she did. This is a nasty, greasy mix of full-on funk, R&B, and soul ripped out by some masters in Memphis. These cats played with Isaac Hayes, Booker T and the M.G.'s, and sat in on Stax sessions. They throw down the jams live to tape and we get to listen in. If you want some music that feels like late 60s music updated for today - this is your stuff. Daddy like. Smoke up some ribs and spin this ASAP.

The Bo-Keys are an all-instrumental group who specialize in funky southern soul. Guitarist Skipp Pitts and Drummer Willie Hall are both veterans of the legendary Stax records, the label which called itself "Soulsville USA." "The Royal Sessions" channels the spirit of Memphis and Muscle Shoals; each track is infused with a pulsating rhythm section and down-home horn charts.

The Bo Keys are at their best when they keep it simple; tunes like "Coming Home Baby" and "Deuce and a Quarter" feature soulful organ and horns over a fatback rhythm groove. The ballad "I Remember Stax"- which features some beautiful guitar work by Skip Pitts- is one of the disc's highpoints. While most of the tracks on "The Royal Sessions" are solid performances, there are a few weak-points. A decent performance of the Jimmy Smith workhorse "Back at the Chicken Shack" is marred by a silly vocal track featuring a Wolfman Jack sound-alike babbling about hot sauce or ribs or something. It's the kind of gimmick that might impress House of Blues patrons, but serious music fans will probably find themselves reaching for the "skip" button on their CD player. "My Country Loves Me", another tune with a spoken vocal track, sounds like an attempt at Gil Scot-Heron style political commentary that never quite coheres.

"The Royal Sessions" is the musical equivalent of comfort food; while not necessarily original or innovative, it's hot, greasy and sure to bring a smile.

If you like soul jazz, then the Bo Keys are for you. Listening to this record will take you back in time, while reminding you that the funk is alive in this millennium.

Good CD with good musicians. If you like blues, jazz, or both -- you'll like this CD. The title track is probably the best.

When I first got this CD I was really pumped up, and the first few times I played it, I was pretty darn excited. The story is a great one--an ofay bass player brining back together the crack Stax session players to lay down some cuts in Willie Mitchell's Memphis studio. Whoa!

After some more plays, however, some of the thrill is gone. This is good stuff, but not great stuff. The trumpet playing annoyed me even on the first listen; I surely wish they had decided not to include a trumpet in these sessions.

Still, if you are a fan of the old Memphis sound, then you will want to give The Royal Sessions an audition. It may not be a great recording, but it really is pretty good.