Sam Frazier Jr. - Take Me Back (2017) [Hi-Res]

Having grown up listening to blues legends such as Sonny Boy Williamson and Slim Harpo in his hometown a dozen miles west of Birmingham, Alabama, Sam Frazier Jr.'s musical output has always been eclectic, but it does maintain a firm connection to the guitar and harmonica melodies of the deep south. While his soul music period was relatively short-lived, occurring before he went on to make a career for himself as a blues and country man, the recordings presented here – made between 1969 and 1971– capture Frazier's power as a Southern soul vocalist.

The topics range widely, and the interracial harmony theme of "Black and White Love" seems particularly apropos given Frazier's comfort in the worlds of country and blues. The songs collected here demonstrate Frazier's ability to tackle a wide variety of soul styles, though a commonality to his approach is restraint.

"I'm not a shouter, you've got to sing with feeling", explains Frazier, who expresses his admiration for Joe Simon, Bobby Womack, Arthur Alexander and Bobby "Blue" Bland, whose 1959 hit "I'll Take Care of You" he covers here. All those artists recorded in the country-soul subgenre, which Frazier contributes to here via "Low Down and Loneliness", the dobro-flavored "Mama Said She Ain't Here," and "I Got to Tell Someone". Frazier says that he still enjoys the songs collected here, and hopes that this release will result in the attention they deserved the first time around.