Re: Ronnie's solo albums
Date: January 9, 2005 20:02
1 Now Look - imo his best, Bobby Womack contributes great guitar (a la his work on Sly's 'Riot') & songs, & it's 50 minutes, w/great moments from Keith & Mick T - soulfully rocking, w/the debut of Breathe On Me (classic), & I Can Say She's All Right, I Got A Feeling, Cant Stand the Rain - not a weak cut really.
2 Mahoney's Last Stand - Wood/Lane, very listenable, great ambience, slides & dobros & fiddles, & Ian Stewart countrified boogie-woogie.
3 My Own Album - good allstar debut, could do w/out some of the female bv's, & the occasional synth, but mostly excellent - Cancel Everything, Far East Man, Act Together, I Can Feel The Fire (Ron, Mick, Rod singing), (as w/ IORR, the mix is slightly dull)
4 Not For Beginners - I prefer it to IGMOATD, but his voice is shot. Very un-slick, personal, haunting, vulnerable- lots of acoustics, standup bass, 4 or 5 songs stuck in my head after the 2nd play, I love 'R U Behaving Yourself', Whaddya Think,' 'Be Beautiful' (recalls Big Star's '3rd'), Bob D's on 2 inc a nice Dylan/Wood guitar duet, plus Scotty & DJ, Ian M, Willy W & Andy N.
5 Slide On This - Bernard is a good collaborator (RW works best with collaborators, be it Rod, Lane, Keith, Mick, Womack, Beck, etc) & "Testify" is a great funk cover - 4 or 5 other gems, but a few tracks miss the mark.
re 1,2,3,4 - when I first hear this I hated it - LA/rockstar/major-coke vibe, & his worst vocals. But it has a few gems, esp 'Redeyes' & 'Wind Howling Through' which is better than anything on Gimme Some Neck, which rocks despite some formulaic songs, overall ok but RT Baker is not the most sympathetic producer. The live one w/Bo is fun & inebriated, for fans only. The other 2 live ones (92-93 tour) are better, tighter.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-01-09 20:05 by john r.