Pickett

You might think that Castro's first album recorded for mighty blues indie Alligator – and twelfth overall – would mark a departure for this longtime rocking soulman. Despite a fuller sound, fleshed out with Lenny Castro's percussion and boosted by an ever-present horn section led by longtime cohort Keith Crossan, this is another typically solid effort from the singer/guitarist. Perhaps it's unfair to expect that Castro would somehow break free of, expand, or alter the blue-collar persona he has cultivated over his solo career as he shifts to a higher-profile label affiliation.

20 original albums recorded beetween 1959 and 1975 on the legendary soul label Atlantic, including Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and Solomon Burke‘s masterpieces, the classic Stax/Volt recordings by Booker T. & The M.G.’s, Rufus Thomas, Sam and Dave, Eddie Floyd and Ben E. King, Percy Sledge, Don Covay and Donny Hathaway’s legendary LPs. Also includes material previously unreleased on CD, such as Sam Dee's classic The Show Must Go On.

Some key lineup changes: Lenny Pickett came on as first sax (replacing Skip Mesquite), Chester Thompson joined on keyboards, Lenny Williams replaced Stevens on vocals. (Bruce Conte replaced Willy Fulton on guitar, to less effect.) Not coincidentally, this was their first album to have a national impact. The tunes are split between top-notch propulsive funk ("What Is Hip?," "Soul Vaccination," "Get Yo' Feet Back On The Ground") and soppy pseudo-soul ballads ("Will I Ever Find A Love?," the Otis Redding homage "Both Sorry Over Nothin'"). The ballads get more album space, making the disc something of a wearying listen, and the horn section isn't nearly as inventive as the Horny Horns. But the funk tunes are so damn good nothing else matters.