Two For The Price Of One

The title of this collaboration inferred that you'd get music twice as good as what either of these esteemed rock/soul/R&B veterans might have come up with on his own. That's not quite true, and in fact both Larry Williams and Johnny "Guitar" Watson did their best work elsewhere, working on their own, in styles somewhat different than the mainstream mid-'60s soul heard on this album. But if it's not quite an example of two solid talents combining forces for a result greater than the sum of the parts, it's a decent enough, though not wonderful, record showing each of them growing with the times to produce some capable straightforward soul music. Largely comprised of original material, it's mostly upbeat danceable soul, though Watson's guitar isn't much of a presence compared to some of his other noted recordings. The wistful ballad "Ask Me," one of the few tunes that neither of the pair had a hand in composing, makes for a nice change of pace from the usual midtempo to uptempo arrangements dominating the album. The 2009 reissue on Righteous Psalm adds considerable value with ten bonus tracks, including both sides of the non-LP single "Nobody"/"Find Yourself Someone to Love," the A-side of which is actually the most interesting track here, as the duo is given exotic psychedelic soul backing by noted California group Kaleidoscope. Less impressive, though still of likely interest to anyone who picks the CD up, are six instrumental tracks from Watson's 1967 album The Fantastic Piano and Guitar of Johnny Watson that give him much more space to showcase his skills as a player, though all but two of these are covers of well-known R&B/jazz/pop tunes. Rounding out the disc are two covers from another 1967 album, In a Fats Bag -- The Johnny Guitar Watson Trio Plays Fats Waller. ~ Richie Unterberger|