Description
This latest album by Massachusetts singer and guitarist Albert Cummings was recorded in Muscle Shoals, with the legendary Jim Gaines in the producer’s chair, so there’s little surprise that when it kicks off with a horn-laden cover of the Sam and Dave hit “Hold On (I’m Coming)” the resulting sound is big and rich and soulful, and Cummings does justice to the Sixties soul men in the vocal stakes. It’s the first of several enjoyable songs of a soul-blues bent on Believe.
This collection of originals and covers features cracking stuff like the catchy “Queen Of Mean”, with its “Take Me To The River”-like horn riff and stinging guitar from Cummings, and the bluesy dig of ‘Call Me Crazy’,. As covers go though check out his take on “Red Rooster”, a slow-grinding chunk of R’n’B with Cummings’ booming voice nodding towards the Howlin’ Wolf original and his guitar kicking in with an impressive solo that’s full of tension, release and dynamics.
