Gene McDaniels - Hundred Pounds of Clay/Tower of Strength (Music CD)
Release Date: 14 July 2017
£9.39
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This Gene McDaniels collection combines his two early-'60s albums A Hundred Pounds of Clay (1961) and Tower of Strength (1962) onto one CD. The two albums actually offer a bit of a split personality, musically speaking: A Hundred Pounds of Clay was a relatively tame pop-oriented album with three tracks on it (including the title song) that could be regarded as soul, while Tower of Strength was more definitively a soul album, albeit laced with a few relatively tame selections that were mostly covers of pop music of the period. Together, they present the two stylistic modes that constituted McDaniels' early-'60s success, which was initially on the very pop side of the emerging soul boom (not too far from the conflicts that characterized Sam Cooke's and Ben E. King's early-'60s albums). McDaniels' rich, expressive vocals add a depth and dignity to songs like "Take Good Care of Her" and "Angels in the Sky" that other singers may not have been able to provide, but unfortunately, much of the material still ends up sounding rather stuffy. Covers of "It's All in the Game," "'Till There Was You," "You Belong to Me," and (especially) Dee Clark's "Raindrops" seem like they should be a perfect fit for McDaniels, but the overwrought arrangements and sleepy tempos render them nearly as stultifying as the rest of the collection. On the bright side, "Send for Me" is one of the catchiest of the lesser-known songs here, while "Make Me a Present of You"'s sly sultriness helps it stand out. And, of course, "A Hundred Pounds of Clay," "Tower of Strength," "A Little Bit of Soap," "(There Was A) Tall Oak Tree," and "I Don't Want to Cry" still have all of their playful, often bittersweet charm, and arguably stand out even more compared to some of the duller songs here. Frustratingly, this collection features more of McDaniels' best-known songs than the more entertaining Collectables retrospective A Hundred Pounds of Clay: The Best of Gene McDaniels, which doesn't have as many hits but is more in keeping with the sound that won him fans. The true McDaniels fan will need both collections, but someone looking for just his definitive singles will have to wade through the boring stretches of A Hundred Pounds of Clay/Tower of Strength to hear them. ~ Bruce Eder & Heather PharesDelivery Information
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SKU: 600906