The Best of the Hi Records Years

構成数 : 1枚
合計収録時間 : 00:43:31
Producers: Ray Harris, Lewis Willis. Compilation producers: Colin Escott, Tom Cartwright. Recorded between 1958 & 1971. Includes liner notes by Colin Escott. Digitally remastered by Bob Fisher (Pacific Multimedia). Liner Note Author: Colin Escott. Photographer: Colin Escott. On this 18-song best-of, the chronological and stylistic breadth is a little -- not much -- greater than you'd suspect, starting with his biggest single, 1961's "Tuff," and going all the way up to 1971. Most of the time, the saxophonist was content to grind out slow to medium shuffles with repetitive riffs and simple R&B-pop hooks, occasionally using organ, much in the style of his labelmates Bill Black's Combo (with whom Cannon sometimes played sax). Like Black, Cannon's singles were good jukebox fare, sometimes selling a lot to the specific jukebox market even when they didn't chart. (And often they didn't chart; only three singles besides "Tuff" made the Top 100, all of them included here.) The formula was simplistic and sometimes monotonous, especially when piled right after the other. However, his grooves were tight, and in the unavoidable Cannon-Black comparisons, Cannon comes out on top, simply because his instrumentals were more soulful and just a bit grittier. Toward the end of the 1960s, too, he unexpectedly got into a tougher bag that was explicitly derivative of fellow Memphians Booker T. & the MG's, but was actually pretty well done. It made for an improved sound, anyway, on cuts like "Funny (How Time Slips Away)," the downright funky "Soul for Sale," and "If I Had a Hammer" (yes, the old Peter, Paul & Mary folk hit). The 1971 cover of Joe Liggins' "Drunk" is, again unexpectedly, quite creditable funk, and only number here to feature vocals, done in a suitably phlegmy manner. ~ Richie Unterberger
録音 : モノラル／ステレオ (Studio)