Taylor Hicks CD

Personnel: Greg Leisz (lap steel guitar, pedal steel guitar); Jamie Muhoberac (piano, organ); Matt Serletic (keyboards); Leland Sklar (bass instrument); Curt Bisquera (drums); Lenny Castro (percussion).
For the legion of adoring fans (dubbed the "Soul Patrol") that singer Taylor Hicks won over on the fifth season of AMERICAN IDOL, the months that went by between his May 2006 victory and this album's December release must have seemed like an eternity. The Alabama-born vocalist's self-titled major-label debut, however, proved to be worth the wait, with Hicks confidently presenting a well-crafted and pleasantly varied set of blues/soul-tinged pop tunes.
From its rousing, horn-laden opener, "The Runaround," to the slow, pensive closer, "The Right Place," the record showcases Hicks's smoky, impassioned Everyman voice, occasionally pointing to his notable Michael McDonald influence but never overstating that case. In addition to self-penned songs, the disc features writing contributions by Diane Warren, Bryan Adams, and Rob Thomas, the latter being responsible for the soaring anthem (and album high point) "Dream Myself Awake." Although TAYLOR HICKS was issued within weeks of offerings by other IDOL alumni, including Chris Daughtry and Fantasia Barrino, with its energetic and dynamic performances, it easily stands apart from the crowd.
Out of all the millions of words that have been written about American Idol, one topic that's never fully addressed is how the show winds up finding and filling America's forgotten pop music needs. Genres that have been banished from the airwaves for one reason or another -- usually because they didn't fit within the strictly regimented confines of corporate radio -- have resurfaced on the show, whether it's unabashedly square middle of the road pop, old-fashioned deep soul, Southern rock or blue-eyed soul. This may not have been true of the show's first season when the two finalists, Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini pretty much fit the bill for TV-produced pop stars -- clean and cute, singing dance-pop designed for the teenagers everyone assumed were AmIdol's core audience -- but things started to veer off track in the show's second season when squeaky-clean Clay Aiken and soul crooner Ruben Studdard constituted the top two. Instead of being a fluke, this was the beginning of American Idol's celebration of neglected styles, leading to the barnstorming soul of Fantasia Barrino in season three, the Southern rock of Bo Bice in season four, and then the white-haired, blue-eyed soul belter Taylor Hicks, who unexpectedly took the top honors in season five.
At first glance Hicks sure didn't seem like an American Idol: with that prematurely white hair and his slightly hefty frame, he seemed like somebody's dad trying to pass as an AmIdol contestant, which was part of his charm. But charm alone doesn't win a singing competition, and Hicks had real power as a singer, blessed with a husky, soulful growl that displayed a clear Ray Charles' influence but an even heavier debt to Joe Cocker and Michael McDonald, two singers raised on Motown and R&B who still retained a soulful edge when they eased into soft rock later in their careers. Hicks picked up on this trick of Cocker and McDonald's, how they could still sound passionate while singing schmaltz, and that helped propel him toward the American Idol championship, but even though he took the crown, there was a huge question looming over the release of his debut album: would 19 Entertainment, Clive Davis and all the powers that be behind the scenes at American Idol let Hicks stay true to the gifts he displayed on the show, or would they shoehorn him into a sound that doesn't suit him, the way they did with Bice on his debut The Real Thing? Bice served as a cautionary tale for Hicks and his producers, since he was another Alabama boy who shined on AmIdol because he was bringing back a Southern sound not heard on the radio, but when it came time for his