Sock Some Love Power to Me

Lee Rogers (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 4, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Soul-Tay-Shus
• ASIN: B0006V6TL2
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #604,124 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lee Rogers-Detroit Soul At It's Finest, March 9, 2005

By 

C. A. Moore "Goodbro" (Memphis, TN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sock Some Love Power to Me (Audio CD)

You hear a lot of talk about "one-hit wonders" or underappreciated soul singers. Lee Rogers is one of those singers.
His name is probably better known to connoisseurs of soul music, yet his recording career spanned the early 1960s up to the 1970s. During this time, he only had one record to make a strong showing on Billboard's R&B charts. But in his hometown of Detroit, MI. - Rogers was one of the city's most consistent recording artists and performers.
Another amazing thing about Rogers is that although he was raised in Detroit and grew up singing in local churches and doo wopping on street corners, he did not find his way to Berry Gordy's Motown Records. Rogers was one of several singing talents in the city who managed to make quality recordings outside of the Motown Corporation. Yet, the majority of his best recordings - gathered on this collection - featured musicians and producers, who would go onto form Motown's legendary Funk Brothers.
"Sad Affair" was one of Rogers' earliest records to make some nose in the Motorcity. the bluesy tune finds the singer delivering a vocal with falsetto swoops and octive leaps right from the Jackie Wilson handbook. "I Want You To Have Everything," Rogers' biggest hit is a tasty slice of greasy, Midwestern soul that shows off Rogers' gospel roots and a fatback bass line couretsy of Motown genius James Jamerson. Jamerson is also credited with supplying the booming bottom on Rogers' "You're the Cream of the Crop,' a storming dance stomper that remains popular on the UK's Northern Soul Scene.
A key factor in Rogers' success was his close work with producer Mike Hanks, a maverick R&B soul music man, who produced hits outside of the Motown system and ran his own record labels including D-Town, Mah and Wheelsville. Hanks would cut the musical tracks in a tiny studio called the "Pig Pen," with Rogers coming in later to add his vocals as the previously recorded musical tracks boomed from an oversized speaker. This practice gave Rogers' recordings a lively, big booming sound.
As the Sixites decade progressed, Rogers changed his vocal style, often following hard on the heels of Motown's Marvin Gaye, who was racking up a string of pop and soul hits for rival Motown Records. Rogers responded in kind with more recordings like "Somebody Else Will," "Our Love Is More," and "Just You and I."
Rogers was also one of the first Detroit artists to venture south to Memphis, TN to record with one of that city's top producers Willie Mitchell. Tracks like "Cracked Up Over You," "How Are you Fixed For Love,' feature the Memphis groove supplied by some of the city's top musicians including Donald "Duck" Dunn, Al Jackson, and Teenie Hodges. The Memphis tracks also predate some of Mitchell's later work with another singer with Michigan roots, Al Green.
This collection is a fitting tribute to one of the Motorcity's best soul men (Rogers died in 1990) and will hopefully introduce him to new generations of fans.