A classic from Merry Clayton – and a record whose title follows from her big fame of singing on the original version of "Gimme Shelter" by the Rolling Stones! The sound here is a lot more soul-based, as you'd guess – arranged beautifully by Gene Page, with a really righteous feel that's perfect for Merry's deeply soulful vocal approach – and produced to perfection by Lou Adler, with some surprising help from Curtis Amy – one of our favorite saxophonists ever. Music is by a hip cast of top-shelf talents from the coast – including Billy Preston on organ, Joe Sample on piano, David T Walker on guitar, and Paul Humphrey on drums – all nice and tight, but totally right in the pocket with their grooves. Titles include Merry's classic version of "Gimme Shelter", plus "Tell All The People", "I've Got Life", "Here Come Those Heartaches Again", and "Good Girls". ~ Dusty Groove
Righteous and rocking soul from Merry Clayton! The set was done in LA with arrangements by insiders that include Jerry Peters, Carole King, and Billy Preston – and features some tight and sometimes funky backing from players that include David T Walker, Wilton Felder, Paul Humphrey, and Curtis Amy. Some of the tunes are a bit too rock-soul for our taste, but there are a few tasty bits on here that we really like – including a hip Leon Ware tune called "Whatever", a nice cover of Bill Withers' "Grandma's Hands", and Jerry Peters "Love Me Or Let Me Be Lonely". Other tracks include "Southern Man", "Same Old Story", "Walk On In", and "A Song For You". ~ Dusty Groove
A really cool collaboration between Merry Clayton and Eugene McDaniels – a producer who really takes her music into new territory here! As with other perfect productions by McDaniels in the 70s, Gene really grabs the whole thing up and makes it his own – adding a lot more funk to the mix than you might expect, and electrifying the instrumentation in ways that bump up Merry's vocals nicely. Even better, though – he wrote a number of tunes for the set – the kind of offbeat soul numbers that we love from Eugene's own work, which help Merry move into a hip range of themes and topics. There's a righteous mix of funky jazz and soul on the record – a bit like the sound of Marlena Shaw's Blue Note albums – and McDaniels titles include "Gold Fever", "If I Lose", "Do What You Know", "Gets Hard Sometimes", and "Sink Or Swim". Also includes a great version of Baretta's theme – "Keep Your Eye On The Sparrow" - plus "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" and "How'd I Know". ~ Dusty Groove
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