Stormy Monday

Performer: Lou Rawls
Engineer: Malcolm Addey
Producer: Nik Venet
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Lou Rawls has had a long and commercially successful career mostly singing soul, R&B, and pop music. Originally a gospel singer, Rawls' first album as a leader features him performing soulful standards backed by the Les McCann Trio. Few of the songs have been under-recorded through the years, but they sound fresh and lively when sung by Rawls; highlights include "Stormy Monday," "In the Evening," and "I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water." Pianist McCann gets a generous amount of solo space, and the reissue has three bonus tracks. This is still Rawls' definitive recording in the jazz idiom, cut before he went on to more lucrative areas. ~ Scott Yanow Lou Rawls' first album, and still one of his best, finds him backed by jazz pianist Les McCann's trio in a program of blues, pop, and jazz standards. This is all rather urbane stuff; the sonic template is the elegant funk made popular in the late '40s and early '50s by Nat "King" Cole and Charles Brown. Rawls does it all extremely well, even allowing himself a rare foray into gospel-derived falsetto on Percy Mayfield's classic "I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town." He also contributes two songs of his own, at least one of which--"Blues Is a Woman"--deserves to be much better known.

Chicago-born soulster Lou Rawls was one of the most popular and versatile singers in pop music during the 1960s and '70s. His distinctive baritone, as well-suited to pop and jazz as it was to straight soul, formed a seductive blend of silk and gravel, and made a fan out of, among others, Frank Sinatra. Rawls lent his unique style to some of the biggest names in the music business, including David Axelrod and Gamble & Huff. His later career was marked by occasional acting gigs as well his work with the United Negro College Fund. When Rawls died of lung cancer in early 2006, the music world lost a genuine treasure.

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