Search - Johnny Rawls :: Red Cadillac

Good Ol' Fashioned, Down Home Blues

The Lunar Staff | Hee Haw Land, KS | 08/30/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Johnny Rawls is and will always be one of the greatest musicians of good ol' fashioned, down home blues. Co-written with Bob Trenchard, "Red Cadillac" keeps true to traditional southern style Rhythm & Blues and goes a little further by adding a slight touch of Jazz and a dash of Zydeco flare.



Much of "Red Cadillac" is reminiscent of 70's and 80's style: Marvin Sease, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Artie "Blue Boy" White, Z.Z. Hill, Bobby Womack, etc... with a more simplistic and mundane vibe.



Although I enjoy this album very much, it seems to me, this seasoned veteran was playing it just a little on the cautious side. There isn't any real hooks here on "Red Cadillac". But overall... this is a very good album to relax and chill with... great for any true fan.



"

Great Blues

scesq | New Milford, New Jersey USA | 09/03/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I enjoyed this cd. I want to make it clear I am not a blues or soul aficionado. I have listened to some blues but I don't pretend to be an expert on either Johnny Rawls or blues and soul music. That being saidI like good music and I plan to purchase more Johnny Rawls and blues cds thanks to this album.



The Songs on this cd can be broken up into three categories: songs that did not seem like blues music; songs that had blues like lyrics but the music seemed more upbeat; and songs whose lyrics and music were what I expected blues music to be.



Four songs on the album surprised me because I found the music and lyrics to be upbeat and almost rock like and not what I expected on a blues album.



Red Cadillac is about driving in a red Cadillac and would be perfect to listen to while driving on a summers day; Mississippi Barbeque is literally about having a great barbeque in Mississippi; Can I get it is about wondering what will happen in a relationship and I Want to Thank You is about Rawls thanking a woman for believing in him. The songs are all great especially the first two.



Three songs on the album had blues like lyrics but upbeat music. Sure Miss Your Love is about missing a former love; Looking For Trouble is about dating a woman who is a heartbreaker and knowing it and Cheatin Woman is about a woman who gets gifts and leaves to find a richer man. If I didn't listen to the lyrics I would never have associated the music with blues. These are also great songs.



Finally, seven songs on the album are what I associate with blues.



Four of the songs deal with life in general and touch on a sense of hopelessness people feel at times. American Blues is about no one caring about the working man; Hard Times is about the world being a hard place; Get It While You Can is about the need to live life one day at a time because you don't know what's waiting down the line and No One Gives A Damn is how the world has changed and no one give a damn.



Three of the songs deal with love and the lyrics are the saddest on the cd. Falling for You is about falling in love without hope of it being returned; Wash Your Hands is about trying to wash away guilt and sin because of way you acted in a relationship; Moment of Weakness is about making and impulsive mistake and cheating in a relationship. If this is what blues sounds like I will have a big blues collections soon.



I enjoyed the album. This cd is great to listen to while sitting at home, driving in a car or at a party. The variation in the lyrics and music make the album even more enjoyable.

"

Stax and motown sound for the new millenium

N-Chap | Texas | 08/31/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you think Poppa Chubby is a bluesman then this cd is not for you. If you are looking for a blues cd with songs that mostly sound like something Willie Dixon wrote 50 years ago only with predictable, lame lyrics, this is not your type of blues either. This cd has that Memphis sound I love. It has well-crafted songs with good lyrics, nice chord changes and great hooks like we used to hear from Motown. No overblown guitar solos but some real nice sax solos and horn arrangements that work with the song. The guitar solos and fills are tasty but restrained. The keyboard work on the Texas sessions are stellar ranging from New Orleans piano to Booker T organ to funky Billy Preston clavinet. The entire 14 song cd is very well produced with the type of performances you would expect from the top studio musicians backing Rawls, including the Texas group, The Rays.

Johnny Rawls ranks with Solomon Burke and Al Green as the top three living soul singers in my book. His voice turns any song into a soul song.

That is not to say all these songs sound like 60s or 70s soul--they just have that feel. Mississippi Barbeque is New Orleans, Meters inspired. Looking For Trouble is James Brown funk. Falling For You could be a Van Morrison song with its smooth, jazzy horn chart. There are songs that hit today's problems like the hard shuffle American Blues, the Albert Collins style blues of Hard Times and the ballad Nobody Gives A Damn. Moment of Weakness is old school soul but with Johnny ad libbing over a drums and bass break at the outro leading into a smoking sax solo. Wash Your Hands reminds me of Dark End Of The Street. From Red Cadillac, the title song that has one of those hooks that stays with you, until the end of this classic, this is a cd I cannot get enough of. I bet I have played it 20 times already."