Huston/Feel The Spirits

構成数 : 2枚
合計収録時間 : 01:07:17
This is an excellent double-CD set, presenting Leroy Hutson's first and fourth albums, and is highly preferable to Charly Records' earlier CD reissues of Hutson's catalog. In contrast to Charly's discs, which were mastered fairly early, and from production sources, Castle (working with Rhino Records' Bill Inglot) got access to the Curtom Records vaults, and utilizes sources so good that on "All Because of You" it's possible to discern the individual horn parts "All Because of You," incidentally, sounds so good as an opener that it's worth the price of the release by itself -- seven minutes of gorgeous, lush, full strings and horns, driving piano and percussion (embellished with some spiky guitar), and some of the most impassioned, sensuous singing of Hutson's whole career -- how it got no higher than number 31 on the pop charts is a mystery, but on this CD you get to hear it properly, and the rest of the album as well. That includes the bluesier soul of "Cool Out," the seductive "Can't Stay Away," and the upbeat, idealistic "So Much Love," which is strongly reminiscent of Curtis Mayfield's most socially conscious work of the same period. Feel the Spirit is similarly elevated here, to audiophile levels of fidelity and crispness, so that its extensively layered percussion and backing vocals sound like they're right in your face. The only flaw is that the annotation isn't very deep or thorough, but otherwise, this is about as good a presentation of this corner of the Curtom catalog as we're ever likely to see. ~ Bruce Eder|