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Back to the 1990s again!!
Musically, the 1990s was far kinder to soul than it was to funk. After traditional 70s soul took a bit of a hit in the mid - late 80s, the 1990s felt a nostalgia and affinity towards the old soul groups of the 70s. The most prolific example of this was the legendary Barry White, whom completely resurged himself from this tide of old soul nostalgia. Because of this nostalgia, the traditional soul groups had slightly more license to be what they wanted to be, and not tow the line of the current musical trends. They were able to get away with more of a fusion of old and new.
That's exactly what The O'Jays went for in their 1991 album, "Emotionally Yours". This album did very will in the R&B charts at the time, getting up to #2 both as an album, and the single from the album called "Don't Let Me Down".
This album is a beautiful mix of everything in the black musical world, made ultra-fresh by the mighty O'Jays! A mix of old school 70s Philly soul, jazz, swingbeat and even funk! One of the main songwriters on this album was a man called Dwain Mitchell, who was very active on the indie funk tip in the 80s. When reading the liner credits for this album, many familiar names can be seen: Dunn Pearson (Of Dunn Street/Dunn & Bruce Street), Najee etc. Not to mention the fact that they recorded a gospel choir cover version of Bob Dylan's "Emotionally Yours" recruiting all kinds of legendary vocalists like Evelyn "Champagne" King, Keith Sweat, Fonzi Thornton, James "J.T." Taylor, Phyllis Hyman, Gerald Levert, Will Downing and others.
Basically, this is a very fine, fine soul recording that you really ought to check out, but there's four tracks on this album to date that absolutely blow me over:
"Something For Nothing" is the second cut on the track; a smooth blend of everything with some nice, righteous lyrical messages for post-Reagan America, condemning the "something for nothing" mentality of people in the modern world. A nice James Brownish feel to the lyrics, and the nice soul fusion with funk resembles The Pasadenas' style. (Unfortunately I don't think The Pasadenas broke through in the US, so the similarity is most likely unintentional!)
"Love And Trust" is the sixth song on the album, and combines beautiful string melodies with a nice swingbeat drum machine and some light New Jack Swing production. Written by the O'Jays with Dwain Mitchell, this song really brings out the best of both worlds and highlights the artistic freedom these cats had!
The third song I adore on this is a KILLER funk hit, "Don't You Know True Love", also written by the O'Jays and Dwain. Predictably, this one wasn't released as a single at the time but the bass on this one slams the hell out the speakers! The song structure on this one is pretty unusual as well, as the chorus shifts gear several times with some very seductive synth work in the background. A really well layered and structured masterpiece. Play this beauty whenever you can!!
And finally, a really, really beautiful song called "That's How Love Is" is the fourth song on this album that absolutely grabbed me. If there was such a thing as an uptempo slowjam, this song may be the nearest thing to such a contradiction! Again, written by the O'Jays & Dwain, and it somehow manages to perfectly blend smooth, laid back guitars, synths and smooth, seductive vocals with a quick drum machine rhythm. Absolutely stunning songwriting, and the O'Jays absolutely crack it with their gorgeous vocal harmonies on the chorus and verses.
