Caught in the Carousel

Mick Hucknall

Tribute To Bobby
Rhino

A couple of facts that most people don't know: a true Caesar salad has no anchovies, and for two years straight in the early 1990s, Simply Red's album Stars was the number one album in Europe. In fact, Stars still ranks in the top ten all-time sales in U.K. history. Much of the band's success can be attributed to lead singer Mick Hucknall, who for twenty years now has been rightfully on many a short list of really good pop singers. He has a new disc out, away from the band, and it's a tribute album to blues legend Bobby "Blue" Bland, and it may just be the vehicle to propel Hucknall onto a very small list of brilliant vocalists.

You're not mistaken if you've noticed a recent wave of blues-inspired work coming from the U.K. Amy Winehouse, Duffy and Adele owe a lot to American music of the '50s and '60s. What puts Hucknall's album in a different league, however, is the fact that Mick Hucknall is now approaching 50. His voice is a gruff symphony and he finally seems to know what to do with it at all times. This is rarely the case with singers who have great voices but are not great vocalists: Mariah Carey, Celine Dion are among many current singers who don't know how to harness their voices. One has to weave the voice through the tapestry of the lyrics. The pause must be respected. There also has to be strong material. (It's no surprise that Christina Aguilera's sole moment of vocal artistry was her astounding performance of "It's A Man's Man's Man's World" at the 2007 Grammy's tribute to James Brown.)

The landscape on this album is varied, and Hucknall has plenty of fun with the upbeat tracks here: "Farther Up The Road," and "Ain't That Lovin' You" move across the crowded bar that has been formed in your head as you listen along. "Cry, Cry, Cry" starts with a strange echoing voice that is more 1980's than 1960's, and it makes for a slow start. Midway through, however, there is an infusion of energy to the song that seems to come from that very important place in songs like these—believing the singer; the lyric.

There are, however, some miscues. On weaker tracks like "Poverty," "I Pity the Fool," "Stormy Monday Blues" and "Yolanda," one can't seem to shake the notion that the CD booklet may say Hucknall, but the disc is all late-in-career Rod Stewart. But by album's end Hucknall answers back with two truly moving numbers: "Chains of Love" and "Lead Me On." The vulnerability in his voice is a rich and beautiful faultline; his missteps are forgiven and you've decided that from this point on you will listen to everything this man records.

—Thomas Cooney