Pat Cooley - Talking To You

Daddy B. Nice's New CD Reviews

April 3, 2012:

PAT COOLEY: Talking To You (L & L) Four Stars **** Distinguished Effort. Should please old fans and gain new.
Fans of Pat Cooley and her classic single, "Older Woman, Younger Man" (from Bigg Robb's Blues, Soul & Old School LP) may be surprised to discover she has left her talented former composer/producer Frank McKinney to strike out into new musical territory. McKinney wrote "Be A Man" and "Get Out" (among others) from Cooley's most recent (and first-rate) album, Cougar.

Then fans will put on the first track of Pat's newest disc, Talking To You, and possibly do another double-take as Cooley lathers up a new version of B. B. King's "Paying The Cost To Be The Boss." It turns out that Pat Cooley's in a bluesy mood, and she's found another collaborator, Rob Harris, to enable her new direction.

Not only does "Paying The Cost" give notice that the eclectic Ms. Cooley won't take any "guff" from a man who's not paying the bills. It sets the tone for an entire set in which Cooley's bound and determined to give her fans a taste of something different: a hard-edged R&B descended not only from the Boss but the Queen.

Queen Ann Peeble's "I Didn't Take Your Man" hovers over this album like a patron saint, and writer/producer Harris furnishes Cooley with material that is both faithful to the Hi Records sound and freshly-minted.

Talking To You, the title cut, is arguably one of the weakest cuts, simply because it appears to be diluted for radio single air play under the rationale of "trying to please everybody," which more often than not ends up "pleasing no one especially." Which is not to say it isn't a radio-worthy track--just that it doesn't pack a visceral punch.

Most of the other tracks on the CD do. They are uncompromisingly potent, bluesy rockers that grab your attention like a river whose current and depth are powerful and dangerous enough to carry away the fragile and faint of heart.

Your Daddy B. Nice's favorite cut is "Dirt Road Double Wide." Harris and Cooley seem to like it, too, because they remix it for a second outing on the album's finale. Cooley is in great form, comfortable, tough and businesslike (the business of the blues, that is), and Harris provides a "Clean Up Lady"-like guitar riff and foot-stomping, horn-driven arrangement that hits the nail on the head with a sledgehammer....Daddy B. Nice

Bigg Robb - Blues Soul & Old School

OK, bloggers, time for something a little more contemporary - Bigg Robb!   This one is bound to get mixed reactions here.  But if you have never heard of Bigg Robb, bear with me for just a bit.  You may end up deleting these MP3s immediately after listening to them.  Or you may end up on the dance floor with a new perspective on modern Blues and Soul.  As for me, I've been on the dance floor with a new perspective from Bigg Robb for a number of years already.

I remember that, back in the 90s, they would sometimes refer to the blues/soul being played on the Chitlin' Circuit as music for the over-30 crowd.  Well, now it is usually more like over-50, if not over-60.   So what about the future?

Well, thankfully, there are some people making serious attempts to modernize the music for the new age, while still respecting the beautiful essence of classic blues and soul.   I would put Bigg Robb at the front of this movement.  In my mind, he has been suprisingly successful, artistically as well as commercially.    Check out some of the youtube videos of live performances by Carl Marshal of Good Love Will Make You Cry (Included on this album).   What a crowd of fans, a good number of which are decidedly under 50!

Bigg Robb has recently entered the over-50 crowd, himself.  He comes from Cincinnati, Ohio, and began his career as a radio DJ, where he came into contact with Bootsy Collins.  His primary mentor was Robert Troutman of Zapp.   Robb's early interests were primarily in the emerging Hip Hop scene and deep funk.  Gradually, he developed a major interest in old school blues, soul, and gospel, and has worked in recent years to produce a modern version of this music with the full palette of Hip Hop production techniques at his disposal.   In my mind, Bigg Robb uses this palette with taste in a manner that complements rather than obstructs the soulfulness of the music.  This is not a Hip Hop sampling of Blues & Soul.  Blues and Soul are at the core here. 

Blues Soul & Old School was a quite popular release in 2008, especially Good Love Will Make You Cry, which was the runaway #1 Southern Soul single in 2008.   Not every track here reaches that level.  But there are a number of other standouts, including  Keep on Swinging and Grown & Sexy (one mix featuring another younger sensation of the Circuit, Sir Charles Jones).