Blues & Rhythm (U.K.), July 2000

by Paul Harris

Billy Price may not be the most photogenic of performers but his recordings are wonderful--r&b and blue-eyed soul of the highest order. On this occasion the recognisable hand of Jerry (Swamp Dogg) Williams in is control. He has produced the album, written eight of the ten tracks, played piano and keyboards, and sung background vocals. And what a great job he has done.

An impressive horn section is prominent throughout, notably on the excellent uptempo opener "Crack Crack." The slower "Mine All Mine" has guitar combining with the horns and a baritone sax riffing in the background while the slow burner "This Magic Hour" builds up, then drops back. Just listen to the horns again, the nice guitar and organ, and the beautiful arrangement. In fact these comments could be applied to a number of the tracks here, including the mid-paced "Indefinitely." The opening bars of "Pass the Sugar" tell you that this will be a great track--and it is, in a story about making love in a car, but not with "the wife." Read between the lines of lyrics such as "how come the sugar is never this sweet at home?" There are clever lines elsewhere that probably stem from real-life situations covering reminiscing with an ex ("I Know It's Your Party") and answers to the question "What Is Love?" (a slow ballad), with proposals of what he will do when he finds it. A non-Swamp Dogg song, the funky "Can I Change My Mind" is the type that Rober Cray might well perform, and Billy Price does emulate Cray's vocal style. The flute I could do without however.

I have reviewed Billy Price before. He is an excellent, authentic soul singer with good material, great backups and high quality production values. This album sounded good straight away--on second and subsequent hearings it sounded even better.

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