Search - Shemekia Copeland :: Turn the Heat Up

Appropriately titled

Tyler Smith | Denver, CO United States | 05/02/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Imagine my surprise last summer in attending a free bluesfest in Denver and being confronted for the first time by the powerful voice of the teenage Ms. Copeland, who would have ripped the roof off the place, except it was an outdoor concert. "Turn the Heat Up" doesn't quite capture the power of her live show, but it gets pretty close.Her live show started with "Big Lovin' Woman," which I was happy to see on the CD. It's a big, brassy song with a huge sound: Shemekia relies on an amped-up, electrified blues attack, but not because she's trying to cover up a thin voice. Not by a long shot. In fact, she could probably carry an album on her voice alone. The good news is that in song after song (try "Your Mama's Talkin'" if you have trouble getting started some morning) the album has both: a blockbuster band that has to cook to keep up with its leader.The album holds up for 14 songs, but for me the set revolves around her rendition of her father Johnny Copeland's moving "Ghetto Child," a neglected classic. It's the kind of slow blues/soul shout that doesn't allow a singer to hide: either the chops are there to bring it off or they're not. Shemekia steps up to the plate and delivers one of the best vocal blues performances I've heard in a long time, doing homage to the music and to her father. When she sings, "This is the part that moves me so much," you believe her.This is the kind of contribution that is going to keep the blues alive. Hats off to Shemekia and her band. She's young, gifted and we want to hear a lot more from her."

This review needed so much stars!!!!

Tyler Smith | 10/25/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Only five stars don't represented what this great girl gave to the blues scenery with this masterpiece debut album.We needed much stars! Shemekia honored the bluesblood of your Dad Johnny Copeland,with this amazing album ,plus guests of Joe Louis Walker,and the excellent Michael Hill,with great performances in this cd,that i really recommend to bluesfans as one of essentials we must have,and hear loud times and times! We expected to see a performance of Shemekia at Brazilian stages.At track 12,"My kind of guy" she said that could "took a plane and enjoy a trip to Brazil"!We are waiting this visit,as a promise to all of brazilian fans! To the blues,you're not a promise but really the new "Diva" that we was waiting for!!! We are waiting you at BRAZIL,as soon as you can!"

Solid soul, blues and R&B

Docendo Discimus | Vita scholae | 07/31/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Not a blues record per se, Johnny "Clyde" Copeland's daughter's debut album is a tough 63 minutes of blues, blues-rock, R&B and swaggering soul stompers. Shemekia Copeland has a terrific voice for this kind of music, strong and versatile, and she is backed by a fine combo which includes keyboardist Brian Mitchell (piano and organ) and top-notch guitarist Jimmy Vivino.



"Turn The Heat Up" is a wonderfully accessible album; it draws from classic soul and blues but presents its material with a rock n' roll-like edge, and Shemekia Copeland delivers it in a delightfully bluesy no-frills fashion.

The Uptown Horns appear on a few songs, lending additional juice and texture to the already muscular title track, and everybody with a taste for soul and R&B should be able to find something to groove on here.



A couple of songs are a bit too long for their own good, and "Turn The Heat Up" is ultimately too predictable to be truly magnificent...you can't help but feel you've heard this music before. But it is a really, really solid debut album, and the most impressive thing about it is perhaps the consistently high quality of the material assembled here. There is not a single real clunker here, and that's a rare feat by any artist.



It took me a while to really appreciate this album; at first I thought it formulaic and repetitive, but it started to get to me around the third or fourth listen. Shemekia Copeland has plenty of talent, the songs she sings are very well-chosen, and she is fortunate enough to be working with a really great band.

The many highlights include the aforementioned title track, the soulful slow numbers "Married To The Blues", "Ghetto Child" and "Salt In My Wounds", the swinging R&B of "Suspicion" and "Big Lovin' Woman", and the grinding blues "Has Anybody Seen My Man". But everything is worth a listen, really, even if everything isn't equally memorable. Guitarist Vivino plays some terrific liquid guitar fills, and Brian Mitchell's piano playing is never less than excellent. The seven-minute slow blues "It Don't Hurt No More" could have easily overstayed its welcome, but it doesn't, thanks mainly to Shemekia's vocal prowess and Mitchell's piano. This is a really good album."