Search - Duffy Power :: Just Stay Blue

Mixed bag from unheralded master of British R & B

Randall E. Adams | Los Angeles, CA United States | 01/24/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Duffy Power is unquestionably one of the very best of the British R & B artists, but he enjoyed no commercial success. Because of this very few of his recordings are available. This package combines a handful of his excellent recordings from the 1966-67 period with a shelved LP recorded with Rod Argent in the early 1970s. Power wrote a good deal of his own material and played guitar and harmonica; he was good on both instruments. His smokey voice employs phrasing suggestive of Ella Fitzgerald, an unusual influence for Power's generation of British singers. The best material here is the early stuff, featuring backing from the likes of Jack Bruce, Danny Thompson and John McLaughlin. The work with Argent contains some excellent Power originals, but the band really does not have the pedigree to match the man in front. If you can find it, buy Edsel's "Little Boy Blue" which brings together even more material from the 1964-67 period. If you appreciate the likes of Joe Cocker, I recommend Duffy Power. Unlike Cocker, he could write and play as well as sing, and he NEVER sold out."