EARL GAINES "Lovin' Blues" (The Starday/King Years 1967-1973)

The years covered on WestSide's 1999 compilation Lovin' Blues: The Starday-King Years 1967-1973 are not necessarily among Earl Gaines' best-known or most-celebrated sides. The singles he cut in the late '50s and early '60s, primarily for Excello, form the core of his legacy, but this music is high-grade Southern soul all the same. It's in a similar vein as the Excello recordings, but it's clear that this is post-Stax material with the punchy horns and gritty rhythm section. The first part of the compilation is devoted to the 1969 album Lovin' Blues, which is a tight, passionate, unheralded minor gem of soul-blues, and then the rest of the compilation is devoted to singles and unreleased tracks. Some of this material is a little generic and faceless, while others are simply serviceable covers of R&B standards like "Sixty Minute Man," but it's all listenable and its completeness is certainly a boon to collectors. But the real reason to get this compilation (once you've already absorbed the Excello recordings, that is) is that Lovin' Blues is a fine Southern soul-blues record, worth seeking out by aficionados. by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Allmusictrax:
01 My Woman 02 The Things I Used To Do 03 Three Wishes For A Fool 04 Fruit From Another Man's Tree 05 From Warm To Cool To Cold 06 It's Love Baby (24 Hours A Day) 07 My Pillow Stays Wet 08 The Door Is Still Open 09 The Meaning Of A Sad Song (Medley) 10 Don't Deceive Me (Please Don't Go) 11 Everyday I Have The Blues 12 Have Faith (In Me) 13 Tell Me Tonight 14 You Belong To Me 15 Good Good Lovin' 16 Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go (Thrill On The Hill) 17 What In The World (Can I Call My Own) 18 Don't Deceive Me (Please Don't Go) (Overdubbed Version) 19 I'm The One You Need 20 House Full Of Rooms 21 Sixty Minute Man 22 Little Boy Blue 23 Finger Lickin' (Instrumental)
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