Roy C: Hey Mista' Got Somethin' To Tell U (Three Gems)
Roy C: I'm In Too Deep (Three Gems)

 While blues music continues to thrive, the black audience that once made up the blues core audience has been replaced almost exclusively by a white audience. Southern soul, however, continues to thrive mostly down south and mostly marketed to black audiences through small radio stations and a small labels who specialize in the music. Often, though, the genre is filled with unimaginative songs filled with trite sexually oriented lyrics and predictable arrangements, often with programmed instruments. You don't here too much about Roy C these days but not only has he been doing his thing longer then just about everybody, he continues to release great sounding music that really has something to say. "Hey Mista' Got Somethin' To Tell U" is as good a Southern soul/R&B record you're likely to hear this year and the same goes for 2004's "I'm In Too Deep."

 Roy Hammond, known as Roy C, has been active since the late 50's getting his start in the vocal group The Genies who made some noise with "Who's That Knocking" in 1958. After his vocal group days Roy went solo cutting sides for a variety of labels including Smash, Black Hawk, Shout, Alaga, Mercury, and most recently for his own Three Gems imprint. He's also racked up 15 full length albums, although outside of the Genies hit he only charted one other time with "Shotgun Wedding" in 1965 on Black Hawk (#14 on the R&B charts). Chart success or not, Roy C continues to issue vibrant, soulful music and writes songs that really reach out and grab the listener.

 Roy C specializes in deep soul songs dealing with romance in all it's subtle shadings, he sings about heartaches, cheating and isn't afraid to deliver a pointed message or two along the way. Roy C delivers all these tales in a sweet and supple soul voice put across with plenty of grit and passion. Backed by an easygoing band and some nice horns Roy C delivers his tales with a decidedly old school flavor whether on the surging horn driven "Hey Mista' Got Something To Tell U" where he has to tell some poor guy that "your wife is cheating on us", sings his soulful plea for freedom in "Divorce Court" with echoes of his classic "Shotgun Wedding" and the sexy, slinky "Slow Roll It" which would be a surefire hit in a different era. On "Something Is Wrong With Us" Roy C takes to task President Bush, the media and his own black audience about the lack of a black perspective whether it be in the schools, church or the media. On 2004's "I'm Too Too Deep" he takes another jab at Bush on "Your Man Hooked On Another Man" blaming Bush directly for gay marriage! ("It's all happening under the watch of President Bush/Get out and vote for John Kerry/What We really need is a new President and a new direction"). Otherwise it's back to sweet old school soul on aching deep soul ballads like "If I Could Stop Loving You" and "Maybe I'm Too Serious" or classic cheating numbers like the bouncy, humorous "I Smell A Rat."

 Fans of good old southern soul and R&B will certainly want to investigate Roy C who remains at the absolute top of his game. Forty plus years after his first recording Roy C proves, as he sings in "Slow Roll It", that "age ain't nothin' but a number."

-Check out these related links:
Roya Records Website
Roy C Discography

(Jeff Harris)

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Charles (Big Daddy) Stallings: One Night Lover
(B-Town Records)  

 It's always a good feeling to hear a debut record by someone who really blows you away, like getting in on the ground floor of something special. Baltimore trucker-turned-bluesman, Charles (Big Daddy) Stallings, is certainly something special as he proves on "One Night Lover", a terrific set of contemporary blues brimming with strong songs and top drawer playing.

  Charles (Big Daddy) Stallings was born in Columbia, S.C. and raised on a farm in Hobbsville, N.C. with ten siblings, eventually migrating to Baltimore. I don't know much else about Stallings' background but he's obviously been honing his craft and paying his dues for some time. His debut, at the age of 44, was well worth the wait.

 Stallings plays urban contemporary blues with a strong grounding in tradition and has obviously listened well to the old masters like Muddy Waters and Jimmy Reed. Stallings is a fine, but never flashy guitarist, who delivers some tough sinewy guitar work and gritty soulful vocals. He's also a first rate songwriter having written twelve of the thirteen cuts. Backing Stallings is a tight little unit which includes Nighthawks’ harpist Mark Wenner on a few cuts, great pianist Deanna Bogart also lends a hand plus there's some strong female backing vocals and horns. The whole thing is superbly produced as Stallings romps through a varied set of good time blues like the loping horn propelled "One Night Lover" with some spot on female backing vocals, the humorous "Gettin' Old" ("They tell me I used to be a dog/I can't remember none of that at all/I lost my hair/My memory's gone/I can't remember where I buried my bone") while the jumping horn driven "Swing" is killer party tune. Stallings takes a tougher downhome approach on the "Mannish Boy" vamp of "I Got The Blue-Hoos" featuring some mighty blowing from Wenner who also sounds fine on the epic ten minute plus "Hobbsville Blues" as Stallings takes it way down in the alley on this greasy autobiographical tune. One of the best numbers is the low-down and soulful "4X4 Woman" filled with some vivid imagery about that woman of his who's four hundred pounds, four feet tall and wear glasses (four eyes)! Also worth noting are some strong instrumentals like "B-3 Blues" with some great interplay between organ and guitar and the blasting horn fueled "She Devil" that gives Bogart some room to really cut loose.

 "One Night Lover" is hands down one of the year's finest blues debuts and promises a bright future for Charles (Big Daddy) Stallings. Hopefully the word will get out as Stallings deserves a wide audience.

-Check out these related links:
Charles Stallings on CDBaby (with sound clips)

(Jeff Harris)