Since playing with
the Mar-Keys on 1961's "Last Night" and
Booker T. & The MG's' "Green Onions" a year later (he co-wrote both),
Steve Cropper's influence on popular music is indelible. Since the 1960s, he has amassed literally thousands of credits as a guitarist, songwriter, producer, and arranger. An architect of the Stax sound, he co-founded the bands mentioned above and wrote dozens of hits including "In the Midnight Hour" with
Wilson Pickett, "Hold On, I'm Coming" with
Sam & Dave, and "(Sittin On) The Dock of the Bay" with
Otis Redding. He produced every major Stax artist and dozens of minor ones. As a guitarist he has played on recordings by
Ringo Starr,
John Lennon,
Eddie Floyd,
Carla Thomas,
Frank Black, and hundreds of others. He was a founding member of the Blues Brothers Band, and has released eight previous solo records.
Fire It Up was co-produced by
Cropper and multi-instrumentalist
Jon Tiven. During the COVID-19 quarantine, the pair revisited unused material from two albums recorded with
the Rascals'
Felix Cavaliere (his keys appear on two cuts) and decades-old vamps from the guitarist's workbook. Vocalist/lyricist Roger C. Reale joined him, and he had assistance from Nashville session drummer Nioshi Jackson and guest kitmen including
Chester Thompson,
Anton Fig, and
Omar Hakim. Setting the pace for this gritty hunk of groove is the brief instrumental "Bush Hog 1," with
Cropper's inimitable, circular blues vamps flying above a swirling organ, multi-tracked saxes, and mean snare breaks. The title track offers Reale's grainy baritone wringing maximum soul from the melody.
Cropper's playing comes right out of Stax; with his ringing double-string leads, the punchy Southern soul vamp is punctuated by staccato horns and a bumping bassline atop a hard-swinging blues shuffle. "One Good Turn" is a souled-out midtempo ballad. The loopy organ covers the vast terrain between
the MG's and early
Procol Harum!
Cropper's expressive six-string underscores Reale's sung lines with tasty fills. "I'm Not Having It" erupts with raw, greasy funk. Guitars and horns offer nasty call-and-response under the vocal.
Tiven and
Cropper take brief solos amid popping rim shots and a taut bassline. "Far Away" and "Out of Love" were crafted for the dancefloor. They bridge swashbuckling funk, soul, rock, and choogling blues. "Say You Don't Know Me" rides the roots rock & roll train with pumping upright piano, gospel horns, and
Chuck Berry's trademark I-IV-V progression. "Heartbreak Street" weds vintage R&B to Memphis showband blues. "She's So Fine" commences with one of
Cropper's trademark multi-string soul guitar vamps, but also channels swampy R&B and blues-rock as the horns, keys, and drums frame Reale's unruly vocal. The second part of "Bush Hog II" and full two-and-a-half-minute version of the instrumental close the set out the way it arrived: with
Cropper's reverbed guitars leading an army of grimy horns, piano, organ, and funky breaks in a nighttime bacchanal. Fire It Up showcases
Cropper's joyous brand of grit & groove with swagger aplenty. ~ Thom Jurek