Charles Brown Someone To Love CD

This 1992 album release continued Charles Brown's career resurgence. After being championed regularly by Bonnie Raitt (who also took him out on tour with her in the '90s), she joins him here for a duet on the title track and contributes slide guitar to an additional number. Brown's backed by a fine combo that features dual saxophones on some of the selections.

Notable songs on SOMEONE TO LOVE include "I Wonder How She Knows," which Brown co-wrote with Elvis Costello, and "I Don't Want to Get Adjusted." The latter closes the album, as Brown accompanies himself alone on the organ. A casual grace pervades all of the tracks, making this another fine album from a man who had been recording for nearly fifty years at the time of this collection's release.

Recorded at Hyde St. Studios, San Francisco, California and Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California.

Personnel: Charles Brown (vocals, piano, organ); Bonnie Raitt (vocals, slide guitar); Danny Caron (guitar); Clifford Solomon, Bobby Forte (tenor saxophone); Tommie McKenzie (acoustic bass); Gaylord Birch (drums).

Award Winner

Q (12/92, p.117) - 3 Stars - Good - "...this record cleaves the classical lines of its predecessor, with Brown's piano a delight throughout..."
Down Beat (12/92, p.38) - 4 Stars - Very Good - "...revels in the ache of [Brown's] slumbering hound voice and nimbleness of his creative fingers...utterly relaxed yet focused..."
Musician (3/93, p.94) - "...So what if Bonnie Rait appears on two tracks and Elvis Costello coauthored a song? The real story is that Charles Brown remains a master of the cool afterhours blues, more than four decades after his R&B hitmaking heyday..."
Living Blues (Jan/Feb 93, pp.59-60) - "...the band grooves with the authority of players who have been on the R&B scene for decades...nine, nice, long unhurried cuts that will soothe your mind and set your heart at ease..."
Vox (12/92, p.94) - 8 - Excellent - "...Impressive...Brown's music insinuates itself into the listener's approval..."