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Reviews are starting to come in for CHANGE OUR WAYSBUY CD HERE
http://www.big-o-records.com/catalog/index.php"...I really like it [Change Our Ways]. The musical setting is really tasty and better than just solid, a sweet churchy/bluesy R & B sound. I especially like the title tune...It's an excellent CD..."
Dick Shurman
Producer and Historian
(Albert Collins, Johnny Winter, Robert Cray, etc..)"Root Doctor cuts loose with a string of original songs .. our Ways'Trying to break new ground in a well-populated genre like the blues can be a dead end. But to inhabit a well-established style and really, really get it right - you can go a long way down that road, if you're up to the task.This is how a band like Lansing's Root Doctor, despite the rural Southern world its name conjures up, finds itself moving forward in the 21st century and northward into a more citified, soulful and - especially with "Change Our Ways," just released - funk-laden sound.Singer Freddie Cunningham and bassist James Williams are charter members of this long-lived outfit. But with drummer Rick Bole, a lean, in-the-pocket guitar stylist like Greg Nagy, and especially with the world-class Jim Alfredson on Hammond organ - turbo-charging the band's rhythm and melody chops - Root Doctor is like a new band.They've got an airtight, punchy ensemble sound that's simply never been there before, and with "Change" - just as in their breakout "Long Time Coming" from last year - there's a new band's excited urgency.Six of the album's 10 tracks were penned by band members, the first time originals have dominated a Root Doctor album. The propulsive "Blues Will Take Care of You" has become their set opener and something of a theme song; "Keep Our Business Off the Streets" is brightened by the Motor City Horns and a surprisingly churchy bit of vocal harmony.The covers are choice, too: from the affable lechery of Roy Hytower's "Root Doctor" (a second theme song?) to the 180-proof funk of the Meters' "People Say," the luscious, sanctified vibe of Warren Haynes' "Soul Shine" to the CD's final cut - the Temptation's "I Wish It Would Rain," hushed down with twin cellos and Alfredson's switch to piano.Alfredson's penetrating keyboard tone is like a high- voltage current running through "Change," reminiscent of the streak of street funk in Organissimo, his jazz trio. Cunningham sings as if somebody's cut him loose - whether he's exhorting us in the title track, winking in "Big Blue Cadillac" or simply singing his heart out in "Rain," you can almost hear the smile in his eyes."
Chris Rietz, LSJChange Our Ways, the new CD from Root Doctor showed up in my mailbox yesterday afternoon. I've had a chance to listen to it twice, and I'm knocked out.On paper, Root Doctor shouldn't really flip my switch. I prefer down home blues, and these guys are clearly more "uptown." My taste in R&B leans toward southern soul, while these guys clearly draw a lot from their Michigan predecessors. When it comes to jazz, I prefer the kind that borders on avant garde, while Root Doctor clearly has a fondness for the smoky, blues-based jazz of Jimmy Smith and Big John Patton.So why do I like this record so much? Because it absolutely bristles with energy and intelligence. The band clearly has huge chops, and they're not afraid to show them off – but never at the expense of the music. The songwriting is strong and varied and the performances are polished but never sterile. There are hints of Albert King and the aforementioned Jimmy Smith, but also Solomon Burke, Percy Sledge and even Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels!Highlights abound on this beautifully produced and brilliantly programmed record. I'm particularly fond of "Give Me Love," which plays like a rousing R&B barnburner, but has a huge dose of country swagger to it. It's not hard to imagine Willie Nelson and his classic seventies band tackling this one. Another favorite is "Lucky One," co-written by our own Greg Nagy. This beautiful, gospel-drenched ballad would fit perfectly on one of Solomon Burke's recent comeback records. "Big Blue Cadillac" is a slab of deep funk featuring Greg's searing, Funkadelic-inspired guitar work and bruising horn work from the Motor City Horns.Six of the ten tracks .. Our Ways are originals, but the four covers are no mere filler. Warren Haynes' beautiful "Soul Shine" is given an anthemic arrangement, complete with an Allman-esque intro by Greg. You can practically see the lighters waving in the dark during this one. But to me, the most stunning cover on the record is Root Doctor's goose bump-inducing take on the Temptations classic "I Wish It Would Rain." Its spare, piano-led arrangement is tastefully augmented by mournful cello and violin, while lead singer Freddie Cunningham delivers one of the most soulful vocals this side of Muscle Shoals. Absolutely stunning.Very highly recommended. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna give this thing a third spin . . .Jeff Konkel, Broke & Hungry Records Living Blues Producer Of The Year 2007Root Doctor
Change Our Ways
Big O Records 2407Root Doctor has it down cold. Name it: blues, funk, soul, they have it locked down tight with their latest release, Change Our Ways.
The Lansing, Michigan-based quintet has been knocking around the blues circuit for the better part of 15 years and has gone through
several incarnations, but the driving force remains the group's two founding members, vocalist Freddie Cunningham and James Williams
on bass. The band may have its strongest lineup for this outing, especially with Jim Alfredson's keyboard mastery driving nearly
every track.From the opening cut, Blues Will Take Care Of You, a funky, hip-shaking nod to the blues masters (invoking greats like Muddy Waters
and Freddy King), Alfredson's keyboard work melds flawlessly with the band's tight rhythm, while guitarist Greg Nagy knows when to fly with
a solo and when to kick back.Change Our Ways features six originals among its ten cuts, and the band shifts gears easily from the dangerous undertones of
Roy Hytower's Root Doctor to the punchy, beat laden original cut, Keep out Business Off The Streets (which is punctuated by the swinging
contribution of the Motor City Horns). Even the band's version of the oft-covered Soul Shine get fresh life from the Root Doctor.Add [Rick Bole's] understated drum work--check out the original cut Big Blue Cadillac and the album's cover track--and Change Our Ways stands
out as the best recording to date from Root Doctor."Lansing, Michigan-based Root Doctor recently made an excellent showing on the Living Blues radio charts with this record, and deservedly so: Been A Long Time Coming is a beautifully executed project, from the performances to the repertoire and production. Balancing traditional blues with soul and even prewar country blues material (Greg Nagy's John Hammond–inspired reading of Willie Brown's Mississippi Blues), Root Doctor emerges here as the consummate working band, worthy of any festival or club audiences' attention.Freddie Cunningham is an authoritative blues singer whose voice wavers and perforates like a hard-nosed version of Bobby Bland. This is delightfully apparent during straight soul numbers like the Brook Benton hit Rainy Night In Georgia and a powerhouse read-through of Leo Graham's Turning Point, a strong composition made popular in 1975 by Tyrone Davis. On the latter track, as with most of the R&B material, the Sofa King Horns form a brass stronghold as robust as any performing traditional soul today.Memorable original songs bookend the album, and the first two tracks are at once instrumentally savvy and lyrically inventive. Me And My Wife shuffles through a blues that celebrates marriage (rather than being heartbroken by it), and Michigan Roads cites new and unlikely blues highways over sly funk. "
EH, Living Blues Magazine, June/July 2006For more info and additional audio tracks please visit:
www.rootdoctorband.com
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