Memphis-based Beale Street regular
Preston Shannon lays down a compelling blend of blues and soul on this outing. Recorded in Memphis and produced by
Willie Mitchell,
Shannon is backed by a crack staff of Memphis all-star session players, with bassist Leroy Hodges and songwriter session ace
Thomas Bingham contributing mightily to the proceedings.
Shannon has a rep as a people-pleasing live performer, so it's no surprise to hear him put his own spin to a club favorite like Prince's "Purple Rain," leaving the guitar pyrotechnics of the original on the back burner, investigating instead the soulful content of the song in a fine, stripped-down version. There are solid blues on board, too, in "Jail of Love" and "Welfare Woman." But he can lay down the soul groove on a tune like "That's the Way I Feel About Cha" and "Just Between Me and My Woman" with equal ability. In addition to his stellar and very soulful vocal chops,
Shannon also delivers some fine
B.B. King-approved stinging guitar fills throughout, particularly effectively on the closing instrumental, "Cold Beer Good Time." In another era, this album could have come out on Stax, and could stand nicely against
Albert King albums of that time frame. As it is in the here and now,
All In Time stands instead as a fine modern-day soul-blues album with a vintage pedigree a mile long. ~ Cub Koda