Joe Simon's best-of boasts a stack of hits that far outclasses its silly title. This largely uncelebrated baritone's career was artistically shaky at first, thanks to the hokey 1966 "Teenager's Prayer," but soon the Louisiana native was applying his rich baritone to classic midtempo ballads such as Nashville writer Harlan Howard's "Chokin' Kind" and the Gamble-Huff "Drowning in the Sea of Love." That cross of down-home and uptown sensibilities carried Simon through most of the '70s--and his own soundtrack single, "Theme from Cleopatra Jones"--before the chart action finally dried up. Simon's best tracks were as dramatic as anything the early '70s had to offer, with "Drowning" at the top of the stack. Pushing against the backing singers, the sheets of jazzy guitar licks, and the subtly driving orchestration, he conveys the sense of a man in love, in trouble, and not sure how to separate the two. There's uptempo, funkier stuff in Simon's bag, too; he even invokes the double bump in "Get Down, Get Down (Get on the Floor)." Though that disco nugget was ultimately his biggest pop breakthrough, it's the worried stuff that makes Music in My Bones such a strong testament. --Rickey Wright
Product details
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer
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No
Language
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English
Product Dimensions
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5.5 x 4.94 x 0.45 inches; 3.68 ounces
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I bought this cd for my mother. For the past 6/7 years, she's asked my siblings and I if we've seen any music by this guy. For years I checked with the different music clubs to no avail. But this year, when trying to find "the perfect gift" for her, I tried looking on amazon.com and sure enough there it was. She was so excited! I was just happy to have picked the right cd that had her favorite song on it. Now, she, better yet my dad, knows where to look to find more Joe Simon.
Purchased for a specific reason...needed one song in particular. Great music for that time. Not something I really listen to now. Gave to friend who loves that music.
Never a star on the order of Al Green or Marvin Gaye, Joe Simon was nevertheless a regular presence on r&b charts during the seventies, and even made the occasional dent in pop ones.
Possessing a dry alto much like the Chairmen of the Board's General Johnson, he hit with "The Chokin' Kind", "Drowning In the Sea Of Love", the theme from 'Cleopatra Jones' and the disco-era "Get Down Get Down (Get On The Floor)".
'Music In My Bones' is arranged chronologically, so it's easy to trace the evolution of Simon's career. And like Aretha before she arrived at Atlantic, it's obvious from the first nine tracks that Simon struggled to find the right setting for his voice.
But all that changed when he switched labels in the early-seventies. Beginning with "Drowning", 'Music In My Bones' becomes a river of righteous, rumbling funk. Beyond the hits listed earlier, "Pool of Bad Luck", "Trouble in My Home", "Carry Me" and the kinetic "Step By Step" reveal a Joe Simon I never knew existed.
While three stars may not seem very impressive, the second half of this disc easily rates four and-a-half. For anyone interested in seventies r&b, this is a treat. And done with Rhino's usual excellence, it becomes a must-have.
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