Marc Broussard - S.O.S.: Save Our Soul (2013)

Tracklist

01. You Met Your Match
02. If I Could Build My Whole World Around You
03. Harry Hippie
04. Let The Music Get Down In Your Soul
05. I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know
06. Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)
07. Love And Happiness
08. I've Been Loving You Too Long
09. Respect Yourself
10. Yes We Can, Can
11. Come In From The Cold

It might have come out in 2007, but S.O.S.: Save Our Soul is a record very much grounded in the soul music of the 1960s and 1970s, both in material and sound. To begin with, all but one of the songs is a cover of a '60s or '70s soul tune. The arrangements have a very vintage sound as well, singer Marc Broussard and multi-instrumentalist/background singer Calvin Turner being the only constant factors in a rotating cast of players. Give Broussard credit for not opting, for the most part, for overdone standards; there are covers of a few big hits here (Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues [Make Me Wanna Holler]," the Staple Singers' "Respect Yourself," the Pointer Sisters' "Yes We Can, Can"), but also interpretations of lesser-known songs associated with Stevie Wonder, Bobby Womack, Rance Allen, Al Green, and Blood, Sweat & Tears. On its own terms, it's an OK record; Broussard's a good (if not too distinctive) singer, and the musical grooves are solid. If you made a mixtape of the originals, though, it would blow this out of the water, making this an inessential tribute to vintage soul that's rather pointless except as a showcase of Broussard's skill in carrying on the tradition.

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