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Album Details |
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| Peas and Rice - Freddie McCoy - 1967 |
Label: Prestige 7487 (USA)
Format: LP
From: USA
My rating: 8/10
Entered: 09/07/2002
Last updated: 01/20/2004
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Search on GEMM |  | I have special affection for this record because it was my first Freddie McCoy album. I'm pretty funny about music really - I'll listen to any number of different things, but just a few artists and performers catch my imagination sometimes. There are probably about four or five new ones added to my list each year. Some time last year or the year before I heard Freddie's version of 'Summer in the City' in a bar, and his cool poppy vibes sound was very appealing to me.
I was happy to find this album in a store later that week, and listening to it now, it's still excellent. The title track is a groovy yet relaxing, handclap-style number (does that make sense?) rather like Ramsey Lewis's work from the same period (such as 'Do what you wanna'). Prestige is obviously a high-quality label, and the musicians playing with Freddie are excellent. In particular, Joanne Brackeen (piano and organ) sounds great in the upbeat cover of 'Summer in the City'.
One thing that the album isn't really is jazzy, which is odd when you consider what label it's on. Still, poppiness is rarely something that I complain about, and it sounds great to me. There's something about the mix of vibes and nicely arranged, slightly soulful rock/pop backings that works very well. While a lot of this is groovy mid-sixties style music, '1-2-3' is done in more of a Latin Jazz style, while standards like 'My funny valentine' and 'You stepped out of a dream' are more laid-back and slow. |
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