Search - Chris Kenner :: I Like It Like That

Let Me Show You Where It's At

leeleedee | Lexington, KentuckyCincinnati | 11/27/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"First off, this is a truncated version of the great Charly compilation that appeared in 1990. That collection (Charly 230), sported 24 tracks. Chris Kenner has not been well served by history and the Charly compilation is the only really good one I know about. I quite enjoy Chris Kenner; he was a great songwriter. Stuff like "I Like It Like That" and "Land of 1000 Dances" everyone knows, but he also wrote some weird and enduring classics, like "They Took My Money" and the awe-inspiring "Packing Up" with its great line "She iron my clothes/And burn them up/I'm telling you, people, I've had enough" (and the way Kenner pronounces "burn" as "boin" is so New Orleans...). In the great "They Took My Money" he sings "I got a rifle I got in the war/A butcher knife, a axe and a saw/I tell you now they took my money/Now they gone." A really neglected artist, and a man who made a quite a bit of money from songwriting royalties and could often be found sleeping in the bus station. I wish that, in this age of rampant reissues of every half-baked rock and soul artist from the past, we could enjoy everything he ever recorded. So come on, Collectables, get it together and do something for history for a change!"

The original

Phil S. | 09/17/1998

(3 out of 5 stars)

"For all you "Musicians" out there who argue that Cannibal and the headhunters originated "Land of a thousand dances" Get this CD, and listen to the man who penned it."

Great New Orleans R & B/Pop

Phil S. | USA | 12/04/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"No Rock and Roll here: just uptempo R & B with a "Churchy" touch. No overproduction - instead of the bells and whistles even prevalent in 1961, we get a heartful chorus to support the minimalist, piano driven arrangement. The finale tune, "(I Found) Peace" is a great example of this, a slow but measured Inspirational statement - you'll be replaying this sound for years to come.

The CD opener is the monster hit, "I Like It Like That", complete with studio chat up front. One of those grooves you could listen to into the night. Of course, it became a Mersey Beat Era staple, but the original has the funk and the Soul.

I mentioned up top "o Rock and roll", but "Come Back And See" just might be a tribute to another New Orleans exponent, Little Richard Penniman, with it's "Lucille" approach. Speaking of the Quasar Of Rock, there's a *near*-Gospel song included called "Never Reach Perfection", which incorportaes some lyrics reported to be on the unreleased James Gang - Little Richard opus called "But I Try".

Another Crescent City buddy, Antoine "Fats" Domino, also figures in the proceedings. We have *three* compositions here, "Something You Got", "Land Of A 1000 Dances" (from 1963!), and "Packing Up", all co-credited to FD and also showing up in his ABC-Paramount catalogue. The song "Shoo Rah"(track three), might inspire a mental reference to "Shu Ra" but it's suffficiently different. Both rockin' good R & B.

No liners as to year of release, or artist bio., but I still "Like it like that" - a notable Collectables label entry."