You Make Me Feel

If you want to learn something about love, you could do worse than to listen to the songs of Don Bryant. In 1971, he started writing tunes for Ann Peebles, then a star on the rise at the Memphis soul label Hi Records. One of those songs, I Cant Stand the Rain, would become a major hit in 1974, the year Bryant and Peebles were married, and since then, shes been his muse, the woman who inspired his best and most powerful work. Bryant was 78 years old when You Make Me Feel was released in 2020, and its only his third R&B album in a career thats been going for six decades, and if hes become the least bit blase about relationships over the years, you certainly cant hear it in these performances. Bryants vocals are miraculously strong for a man pushing 80, clear and just gritty enough to do the job, and his phrasing is every bit as impressive, sounding remarkably fresh and engaged, and this is unquestionably some of the best singing of his life. What makes this all the more special, though, is Bryants songwriting. He penned eight of the ten numbers here, and hes given himself words he can believe in. In 99 lbs. and Your Love Is to Blame, he makes it clear just how much he loves the woman who inspires him, and I Die a Little Each Day and Dont Turn Your Back on Me show us how lost he would be without her. Even though Your Love Is Too Late is a stinging portrait of betrayal, Cracked Up Over You is the sound of a man perfectly happy to be crazy about the woman in his life. The gospel number that closes the album, Walk All Over Gods Heaven, is a thematic shift that also keeps the album on point, as Bryant sounds just as grateful to the Lord as he is to his wife. Few veteran soul artists returning to duty have sounded as energetic and confident as Bryant did on 2017s Dont Give Up on Love, and You Make Me Feel is even more satisfying; its retro soul at its absolute best, and anyone who has a partner who makes them feel the way Bryant feels about Ann Peebles on this LP has plenty to be thankful for. ~ Mark Deming

48年ぶりの復活作として話題になった『Don't Give Up On Love』から3年、引き続きボーキーズの面々がバックを固めたニュー・アルバムがファット・ポッサムから到着。60年代のメンフィス魂を70年代以降のハイ感覚で再現したようなトーンも変わらずで、自身の"Don't Turn Back On Me"やアン・ピーブルズ、オーティス・クレイに提供した名曲のセルフ・カヴァーも交えながら深い名唱を聴かせる。静かに燃える姿に感動……。
bounce (C)轟ひろみ