Eddie Hinton Very Extremely Dangerous CD

Eddie Hinton is the stuff of which music legends are made. A prolific session guitarist and part of the Muscle Shoals Swampers, he played on countless hit records, including those from legends Percy Sledge, Wilson Pickett, Joe Tex along with artists as v

Personnel: Eddie Hinton (vocals, guitar, piano); Jimmy Johnson (guitar); Harvey Thompson (tenor saxophone); Ronnie Eades (baritone saxophone); Harrison Calloway (trumpet); Dennis Good (trombone); Barry Beckett (piano, organ, Moog synthesizer); David Hood (bass); Roger Hawkins (drums).
Recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Recording Studio, Sheffield, Alabama in November 1977.
Digitally remastered by Fred Meyer (Polygram Studios).
Personnel: Eddie Hinton (vocals, guitar, piano); Jimmy Johnson (guitar); Harvey Thompson (tenor saxophone); Ronnie Eades (baritone saxophone); Harrison Calloway (trumpet); Dennis Good (trombone); Barry Beckett (piano, organ, Moog synthesizer); Roger Hawkins (drums).
Liner Note Author: John D. Wyker.
In his book Sweet Soul Music, Peter Guralnick described Eddie Hinton as "the last of the great white soul singers," and his debut album, 1978's Very Extremely Dangerous, sounds like a glorious throwback to the salad days of the Muscle Shoals, AL, R&B hit factory of the 1960s, where Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin cut some of their most memorable songs. Hinton had already earned an estimable reputation as a session guitarist by the time he finally got to step up to the mic as a solo artist, and Very Extremely Dangerous features him backed up by the always-expert Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, and Hinton's strong and wiry guitar runs fit the group's emphatic support like a glove. (Hinton and his friends also knew how to bring a solid rock drive to these songs without losing their soulful groove in the process.) As a singer, Hinton was never afraid to step on the gas, and if his vocals are sometimes a bit over the top, they're also consumed with a raw and sweaty joy; like Wilson Pickett, Hinton is able to bring a surprising musicality to a shouting style that can express the pleasures of a hard-partying Saturday night ("Shout Bamalama") as well as the tender agony of love ("I Got the Feeling"). It was Eddie Hinton's poor fortune to cut a great blue-eyed soul album just as disco and funk had bumped deep soul off the charts, but Very Extremely Dangerous still stands as a fine example of latter-day soul at its most accomplished. ~ Mark Deming
Eddie Hinton's 1978 debut came more than a decade after the kudos he received for his songwriting and his session work as a guitarist. He played guitar on countless sessions as the guitarist at the famed Muscle Shoals studio in northern Alabama and everyone from Bobby Womack to Aretha Franklin recorded his songs. When it came time to make an album of his own, he did so at the same studio, with other topflight players comprising the Muscle Shoals rhythm and horn sections.
Hinton sings nine originals here and one by his main influence, Otis Redding ("Shout Bamalama"). Hinton sought to imbue his singing with the same rich emotional presence as Redding's--but has a voice all his own, raspier than that of Otis. This is a remarkable first album. Sadly, it was mishandled on its release (the label folded) and follow-ups languished for nearly another decade. The curious should start with this or the posthumous HARD LUCK GUY (Hinton died at the age of 51 in 1995).