These 22 tracks contain all of
Aaron Neville
's solo A-sides, recorded apart from his membership in
the Neville Brothers
band. His recordings of the songs of
Allen Toussaint
-- who was also his producer during these years -- are the stuff of legend, mainly because they feature all the different aspects of that signature voice -- no matter what he's singing. While it's true that the
Toussaint
material stands head and shoulders over most of what's here, there are moments where he covers absolute dreck and transforms it into killer
soul
. An example? How about his cover of
David Gates
' schlock-pop standard
"Baby I'm-A Want You?"
OK; thankfully, the other 21 cuts here are big-time tunes, including
"Tell It Like It Is,"
his original reading of
"Cry Me a River,"
that was later reprised on
A&M
in a lesser version, a seriously bluesy reading of
Gerry Goffin
's and
Carole King
's
"One Fine Day,"
Leo Nocentelli
"She's on My Mind,"
and a
calypso
-cum-
ska
version of
Kris Kristofferson
"For the Good Times,"
that blows every other version out of the water. Add this to the ten
tracks (each one a gem in its own right), and you have a collection that is way easy on the wallet and way deep in the gold. ~ Thom Jurek