Search - Frankie Miller :: Frankie Miller's High Life

Frankie's Second best Album to date

10/02/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"After one or two earlier forays into the recording studio, Frankie Miller was yet to have his superb gravelly voice recorded to it's full potential. Choosing Allen Toussaint to produce, after hearing his work on one of Lee Dorsey's albums, they decided to share the songwriting credits and began recording in Atlanta Georgia. The recording process went very well and all were happy with the results, happy that is, until it was remixed without either's consent by Chrysalis records to keep in line with current trends. Frankie hated the remix and decided to have nothing further to do with the album. 'I still have the original mix,the good one' said Frankie. Despite these barriers the album was still critically well received, although sales were poorer than expected. Most tracks are still fresh today and Toussaint's production style lended itself well to the voice described as 'the best since Otis Redding' by none other than the great man's wife. Stand out tracks include the Stax sounding 'Shoo-rah shoo-rah' and the excellent 'Brickyard Blues' later a hit for Three Dog Night. Frankie's own composition 'The Devil Gun'is an edgy, gritty sounding track, while 'A fool' has a magnificent bass line and superb percussion work by Toussaint himself. This album was only bettered by Frankie on his next and arguably his greatest recording 'the Rock'. All in all, a great introduction to the vocal genius of Frankie Miller, but one can't help but wonder what the original mix sounded like."