RAWLS & LUCKETT
Can't Sleep At Night
Rooster Blues R2630

Smooth, not slick. Reaching a comfortable groove immediately, this recording of “deep soul” is Johnny Rawls and L.C. Luckett’s second effort. (Their first record is long out of print.) Recorded in the heart of Mississippi Delta Country, this recording comes from Jim O’Neal and Patty Johnson’s Clarksdale-based Rooster Blues and is produced by the artists and Johnson.

Their style is completely straightforward and a natural progression from their roles as solid backing musicians to frontmen. The two have perennially backed up other artists in their past (Blues Boy Willie, Little Johnny Taylor, Z.Z. Hill, Willie Cobbs and many others.)

Eleven of the 14 tunes are co-penned by Rawls and Luckett and feature solid horn arrangements an pleasing tunes in a fairly straight R&B vein. The pair share lead and harmony vocals and are obviously quite at ease with one another, which make sense. They have been close friends and enjoy a comfortable partnership of music-making for 23-years. They are ten years apart in age, but completely in sync when they hit the studio and the bandstand.

“Have You Ever Played The Fool?” will please blues fans with it’s twelve-bar, up-tempo groove, Sam and Dave-like give-and-take between the vocalists and a cool guitar lead by Rawls. “Playboy” and “If You’re Not Home By Tomorrow” are two more blues tracks with determined beats and down and dirty menace. That’s about it for straight blues on this rhythm and blues and soul dominated album.

“Shake It, Shake It, Baby” has a “shotgun” feel and a wailing sax. “Can We Talk It Over?” is a heartfelt ballad standout. A taste of gospel comes near the end of the CD with “Who Made the Mountain.” A strong gospel feel runs deep in most of their tunes.

Rawls and Luckett have obviously put their hearts into this hybrid mixture of soul, R&B and blues to make sure the listener won’t be disappointed.

Blues Revue