Soulful reworkings (Bring It On Home... The Soul Classics - Aaron Neville)

Member Name: Lakerfanster

Product:	Bring It On Home... The Soul Classics - Aaron Neville
Date:	06/11/09 (74 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great voice, reworking

Disadvantages: A couple could have been less different

**Introduction**

Aaron Neville made his name in the R&B vocal group "The Neville Brothers" with his brothers Art, Charles, Cyril and Ivan. He also had a successful solo career which started in 1960 and his biggest singles include "Tell It Like It Is" and "When something is wrong with my baby" The New Orleans native is one of Soul's most unique vocalists with a very individual vocal which has bags of emotion. Here is my review of his 2006 release of Soul Classics.

**Bring It on Home... The Soul Classics**

This album sees Aaron Neville cover some of Soul's greatest songs from some of the Genres greatest artists including the likes of Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and Ben E King. This album was recorded and released in 2006 and features his brother Art as well as Chaka Khan, Chris Botti, Mavis Staples and David Sanborn. This is one of his most critically acclaimed albums and is a return to form of sorts.

1 Rainy Night In Georgia - Neville, Aaron & Chris Botti
2 Ain't No Sunshine
3 Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay
4 Stand By Me
5 You Send Me
6 Respect Yourself - Neville, Aaron & Mavis Staples
7 When A Man Loves A Woman
8 Let's Stay Together - Neville, Aaron & Chaka Khan
9 It's All Right
10 People Get Ready - Neville, Aaron & David Sanborn/Art Neville
11 My Girl
12 Ain't That Peculiar
13 Change Is Gonna Come

**My View**

Rainy Night in Georgia (Brook Benton 1970)

This track features Chris Botti and is a lovely soulful Jazzy track which features a deeper vocal from Neville than we are used to hearing. This song develops well and has real character. This track has a lovely soulful flow. This is a lovely cover.

Aint No Sunshine (Bill Withers 1971)

The original version is one of the most well known songs of all time and on this cover, Aaron Neville produces a stunning performance with his unique vocal. This is a really emotive track which needs an emotive performance and gets it from Neville. This is superb in every way.

(Sitting on') the dock of the bay (Otis Redding 1968)

This opens quite differently to the original with a catchy guitar part
that leads into the vocals. This is a strong performance from Neville but does not quite live up to the original due to the different format. It's still a worthwhile cover which has it's merits.

Stand by Me (Ben E King 1961)

This is another hugely popular original which gets a lovely reworking here. Neville's emotive voice is a great feature of this track as is the lovely string background and organ. This is very different to the original and really benefits from it. A brilliant track.

You Send Me (Sam Cooke 1957)

This is a brilliant reworking of this Sam Cooke classic. The tempo is very gentle throughout and this track just soothes you into a great relaxing state. This is a great tribute to the man who was arguably the Pioneer of Soul's early days.

Respect Yourself (Staple Singers 1971)

This is a reworking of Mavis Staples original with her Staples Singers. This mid tempo track gets a great reworking here and is a very flowing reworking that benefits from the original performer being included on the track. Good stuff.

When A Man Loves A Woman (Percy Sledge 1966)

This is one of the most covered songs of all time and is also one of the most popular. This is a great reworking that opens completely differently to the original. Aaron Neville brings his interpretation to this lovely song brilliantly and shows off his silky falsetto. Brilliant.

Let's Stay Together (Al Green 1972)

Again we have a classic soul song completely reworked, The Original from Al Green was an catchy mid tempo ballad but this version featuring Chaka Khan is a beautifully laid back soul ballad which has a great emotive feel and shows the ability of a great artist to completely change a track.

It's All Right (The Impressions 1963)

The first of two Curtis Mayfield tracks here and this is a flowing cover of this classic Impressions track, This is a nice reworking but I prefer the original to this one. This is still a very decent version which has a lot to offer. Still worth a load of listens.

People Get Ready (The Impressions 1964)

This is one of my favourite songs of all time and even though this is not quite up there with the original, It is is still a very fine reworking featuring Art Neville and David Sanborn. There have been many many versions of this song and this is one of the best covers I have heard.

My Girl (The Temptations 1964)

The original was a very flowing track with a great melody but this is a stripped down very soulful track which is a very strong reworking of this great old track, It might take a while for you to adjust to this version but once you do you should enjoy this one too. Very good.

Ain't that peculiar (Marvin Gaye 1965)

This is a smoky soul track which is a little different from the original. It's a decent track but As a massive fan of Marvin Gaye I would have to say that I prefer the original version. This is still very good though and is a worthy cover version which will have it's appeal.

A change is gonna come (Sam Cooke 1964)

This is also another hugely covered track over the years and there have been many great versions of this one. Add this one to the list as this is a lovely tender version which showcases the grace and emotion of Aaron Neville's voice. This is a great version.

**Overall**

There are some great songs on here that have been covered many times by very different artists but on nearly every track, Aaron Neville manages to bring something new to the table. This is a very strong effort indeed with only loses a star to some of the re-workings of the originals that don't quite work as well as some of the others on the album. Aaron Neville proves that he still has the voice and the drive. This is a great collection of some of the greatest songs in Soul History. Regarding the stars I would probably give this four and a half but as there are only full stars here I don't think it quite merits five stars.

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