March/April 2001

Since hooking up with JSP in 1996, veteran guitarist Johnny Rawls has become a key producer for the label, supervising successful sessions by Phil Guy, George Stancell and Johnnie Marshall, among others.  Not content to remain entirely in the background, Rawls has also cut a succession of rewarding albums of his own, of which Put Your Trust InMe is the fourth.

      This time out, Rawls headed to Connecticut and turned the production reigns over to his horn section leader, saxophonist Bruce Feiner.  The two also collaborated on all of the songwriting-as is typical for JSP, there are no covers.  With a generosity undoubtedly born of years in soul-circuit backing bands, Rawls offers cameos for labelmates Phil Guy and Eddie Kirkland and duets with his daughter, Destini Rawls, on the snappy Gonna Keep On.  Deep minor key blues grooves permeate Hit By A Truck, It Ain't Nothin' But The Truth, I Wanna Come Home, and the relentlessly driving Should Be At Work, with a strong contribution from Guy.  Kirkland's guitar anchors the steady-rolling Don't Lose Your Good Thing, while Rawls moves toward the soul side on the danceable Talk Is Cheap and the ballad Sometimes.  There's even a trace of reggae in the choppy rhythms of the title track and Don't Give Up On Your Dream.

      You can indeed put your trust in Johnny Rawls to deliver a worthwhile album every time out.

—Jim DEKOSTER