Otis Clay & Johnny Rawls - Soul Brothers

"Given their styles and similar backgrounds, one might assume that Clay and Rawls might have been friends from ages past. As it goes, nothing could be further from the truth. While they travelled in the same circles for some 40 years or so, it was only about 10 years ago that they really got to know each other. Hot on the heels of Johnny Rawls’ recent tribute to O.V. Wright, “Remembering O.V.” on which Clay contributed in honoring the soul icon and Johnny Rawls mentor and friend. That album met with rave reviews and helped to form a bond between the two giants of soul and blues who had so very much in common. Soul Brothers, their latest collaboration features primarily original tunes contributed by the band as a whole with some classic covers, familiar to most of us, thrown in for good measure. The result is a delightful album which blends blues, classic soul, and gospel for what should certainly be yet another award winning album for the duo that shows us that old school soul still has great appeal and that you can teach a couple old dogs new tricks. Soul Brothers is one or those albums with a timeless sound and feel that will appeal to music fans across the board, whether their preference is blues, soul, gospel or just good music whenever and wherever they find it. Soul Brothers certainly fills the bill. This is a beautiful collaboration that this old man hopes will result in further collaborations between the two giants of soul. Between the obvious vocal talents of the two men who could easily have been brothers separated at birth there is a band that is tight, well schooled in the genre and love what they do so well…the Rays. The band consists of Richey Puga on drums, Bob Trenchard on bass, Johnny McGhee on guitar, Dan Ferguson on keyboards, Andy Roman on sax, Mike Middleton on trumpet, Robert Claiborne on trombone, nick Flood on sax and the Iveys- Arlen, Jessica and Jillian on background vocals. Also adding his talents to the effort was percussionist, Jon Olazabal. What might well be considered the ultimate band fronted by two of the best vocalists in the business make for an album that you will most assuredly want to add to your collection. This is as good as it gets." September 2014 – by Bill Wilson

Johnny Rawls (w/ Otis Clay) - Remembering O.V.

By Request:


"Over recent years Johnny Rawls has established himself as one of the last true soul/blues singers standing from the southern states’ chitlin’ circuit. A significant part of his own education was as the leader of the late O.V. Wright’s touring band and Johnny has recorded one tune associated with O.V. on each of his last three CDs. Johnny has now produced a full album of O.V. material, clearly a labour of love for him and a superb album of classic soul and r n’ b.

As he has done over several albums, Johnny has again recorded with The Rays. Co-producer and bassist Bob Trenchard has a great soul band at his disposal: Dan Ferguson on keys, Johnny McGee on guitar, Richy Puga on drums and a horn section of Andy Roman on sax, Mike Middleton on trumpet and Robert Claiborne on trombone. The Iveys (Arlen, Jessica and Jillian) add backing vocals. Johnny has left his axe at home for this recording but sings on all tracks, joined by the peerless Otis Clay on three cuts. The album was recorded in Texas and mixed by Jim Gaines in Tennessee.

The CD opens with Otis Clay leading on the funky “Into Something (I Can’t Shake Loose)” and it’s a great opener as Johnny and Otis take turns on the vocals and the horns punctuate the foot-tapping beat established by the rhythm section. Changing pace Johnny sings “Precious, Precious” particularly well with excellent harmony vocals from The Iveys.

“Nickel And A Nail” is a very well-known song on which Otis Clay shares the vocals, both vocalists doing a great job. Less well known is “Poor Boy”, another song on which Don Robey had a writing credit. It is covered in a gentle style, the organ and plucked guitar providing the main backing and the horns sitting this one out. Earl Randle’s “I’ve Been Searching” is also very well done, the horns shouting out their riffs with gusto. “Don’t Let My Baby Ride” is a mid-paced, horn-driven tune with attractive backing vocals.

The three tracks which have appeared before on Johnny’s albums are reprised here in remixed versions. Deadric Malone’s “Eight Men, Four Women” appeared on the 2012 “Soul Survivor”, a stately ballad in which love is on trial before a jury, the backing vocalists playing a significant role behind Johnny’s impassioned vocal. “Blind, Crippled And Crazy” was on 2011’s “Soul Survivor” and has been covered many times. It may well be the best known song here but this version is as good as any, Johnny easily demonstrating his mastery of this style of singing, just a hint of grit in his generally smooth soul voice. “Ace Of Spades” was the title of Johnny’s 2009 BMA winning album and it’s a wonderful example of his soul/blues style, the horns being particularly effective.

Closing the album is the only original tune on the set, co-written by Johnny Rawls and Bob Trenchard as a tribute to O.V. Despite all the excellent and well-known songs on this tribute album “Blaze Of Glory” may be the highlight. The horns set the pace before Johnny opens the song with a recollection of his early touring days, including his presence at O.V.’s death: “even the great ones can’t cheat death”. Johnny publicly pledges that he will keep playing O.V.’s music as long as he performs. Otis Clay then reprises the verse but adapts the lines to his own experiences as a rising Memphis singer. With a rousing chorus shared by the two singers and The Iveys, this is a shot of high class Memphis soul." Blues Blast Magazine

Roy Roberts, Johnny Rawls, Barbara Carr - Three Pair

Now HERE is a completely delightful surprise and it comes under the heading of new music! Three of the foremost warhorses still traveling the chitlin circuit have joined forces and all three are the beneficiaries.

There is sooo much to like about this album. They sing in the 3 different duets available and all together at times, solo at others. The band is super tight, really nice arrangements, you are gonna find your feet moving! Boy I hope they take this show on the road!

Barbara Carr may benefit the most from this setting - she just shines as she trades with the fellahs. Her voice is particularly well suited to Roberts deeper gravel, but she sounds great next to Rawls Hi Records smooth as well.

This one gets the "ALL KILLER, NO FILLER" tag!

Johnny Rawls - Ace of Spades

Unky Cliff has been after me to post some Johnny Rawls for a week now and today you gets one each from Preslives and Cliff.

Johnny Rawls (born December 10, 1951) is an American soul blues singer, guitarist, arranger, songwriter and record producer. He was influenced by the deep soul music of the 1960s, as performed by O. V. Wright, James Carr, and Z. Z. Hill. Rawls was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, United States. He was taught the rudiments of guitar playing by his blind grandfather, and also played the saxophone and clarinet in high school in Purvis, Mississippi. Having mastered guitar playing by his mid teens, Rawls' schoolteacher arranged for him to back musicians who were touring through Mississippi, such as Z. Z. Hill and Joe Tex. In the mid 1970s, Rawls joined O. V. Wright's backing band, and played together with Wright until the latter's death in 1980. The band then continued billed as the O. V. Wright Band for another 13 years, and toured and performed with other musicians over this time span. These included B.B. King, Little Milton, Bobby Bland, Little Johnny Taylor, and Blues Boy Willie. The band included the guitarist L.C. Luckett, and he and Rawls jointly released the 1994 album, Can't Sleep At Night, on Rooster Blues.

His debut solo album, Here We Go, was released on JSP in 1996. The Allmusic journalist, Thom Owens, noted, "Rawls has a powerful, soulful voice which can make mediocre material sound convincing."Rawls also worked as an arranger and record producer for JSP. Further JSP releases included Louisiana Woman (1997), My Turn to Win (1999), and Put Your Trust in Me (2001), although by the time the latter was issued, Rawls had set up his own label, Deep South Soul. Rawls appeared on the cover of the Living Blues magazine in April 2002, where he was described as "a soul-blues renaissance man". The 2005 release No Boundaries, on Topcat Records increased his profile.

His 2006 album Heart & Soul, was nominated for a Blues Music Award for 'Best Soul Blues Album of the Year'. In the same year, the West Coast Blues Hall of Fame named him 'Best Vocalist'. Rawls has twice played at the Chicago Blues Festival, twice at the Long Beach Blues Festival, and at the Boundary Waters Blues Festival. Red Cadillac (2008) won the Critics Award for Best Album of the Year in Living Blues. He has also been honored, along with Little Milton and Tyrone Davis, with a Blues Trail Marker in Hattiesburg. The title song of Rawls 2009 album, Ace of Spades, was a tribute to his one time mentor, O. V. Wright. The album also garnered Rawls with his first Blues Music Award for 'Best Soul Blues Album of the Year'.

Rawls latest album Memphis Still Got Soul, was released in April 2011. With a further reference to Wright, the album's track listing included Rawls cover of the song "Blind, Crippled and Crazy", which was originally associated with Wright.

Johnny Rawls - Red Cadillac

Johnny Rawls has been delivering his own brand of Memphis blue soul (soul blues) for four decades now.  He is somebody who still lives and breathes the music.    Red Cadillac is my personal favorite Johnny Rawls album, which deservedly received the "Best Soul Blues Album" award from Living Blues in 2008

Johnny Rawls has deep credentials for blues and soul.  He was born and raised in Mississippi (Columbia, Pruvis, and Gulfport) and began his career as a professional musician while still a teenager in the late 60s.  His big break came in the mid-1970s, when O.V. Wright made him the leader and musical director of his band.   He stayed in that position until O.V.'s death.  He began his own solo career in the mid-1980s.

Johnny Rawls produced a string of solid albums for JSP records during 1996-2005, which began to showcase his multiple talents as singer, guitarist, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist.  Nevertheless, those JSP albums pale by comparison to what came later.   Rawls really hit his stride about 17 years ago, beginning with the No Boundaries album on Top Cat Records, which he then took to the next level on Heart and Soul. Red Cadillac was the killer follow up to that album.  Since then, Johnny Rawls has produced four more albums, all of which are very worthwhile and received critical praise.

The infectious and highly danceable title track on Red Cadillac is a perfect piece of Chitlin' Circuit pop, and was extremely popular on the Circuit at the time that it was released.   There are some other truly fine songs here as well.  I am particularly fond of "Wash Your Hands," "Get It While You Can (not to be confused with the Howard Tate song)," and "No One Gives A Damn."  All in all, Red Cadillac is a fine portrait of the talents of Johnny Rawls, somebody who can still deliver the whole package of 20th century blue soul sensibilities wrapped up in a 21st century package.