Tia
Carroll
You Gotta Have It
Little Village
Foundation
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The name Tia Carroll was a new one to me when I
received a download of her new album, You Gotta Have It (Little
Village Foundation). My first assumption was that she was a Chicago
singer, after which I found out that she is actually from the Bay Area
of California. I also noticed a different sound than your standard blues
recording, thanks to the fact that it was recorded at the Greaseland
Studios, which is producing many of the best albums of the last several
years. Not surprising that Ms. Carroll has released one of the best
albums of the year so far.
We get some of the usual Greaseland all-stars backing
her in the sessions leading to 11 high-quality numbers, straddling
the blues / soul fence quite aptly. Greaseland head genius Kid Andersen
plays guitar, and keyboard wizard Jim Pugh is also on board. If you've
been paying attention to other recent hit albums, those names pop up
quite regularly in the liner notes. Long-time San Francisco deejay Noel
Hayes was the mastermind behind the project and is credited as the
executive producer. Lots of star power here, folks.
The opening cut, "Ain't Nobody Worryin'," is one of the
top songs, lots of contemporary flavor packed into this catchy
soul/blues with references to what's happening in our world today.
Charlie Hunter is the guest guitarist on this opening number and he
plays the heck out of his instrument. Carroll slows down the tempo for
the soulful "Even When I'm Not Alone," telling us with plenty of power
and just a touch of rasp in her vocals as to what she's looking for in a
lover.
"Our Last Time" is the killer cut of the album, with
Andersen laying down incredible Magic Sam guitar licks while Carroll
shows range and power on her vocals as she sings about the end of a
relationship. If there was such a thing as a Blues Guitar Hall of Fame,
I'd nominate Andersen for his licks on this number. Wow! The tempo picks
up on "Don't Put Your Hands On Me," with a wall of horns coming in
behind Carroll's sassy vocals. The mood and tempo does a total 180 on
the slow, jazzy soul ballad, "Never Let Me Go," with Pugh's piano
playing the highlight here while Carroll's voice soars through the
octaves.
Everything gets funky on the slow number, "Leaving
Again," a Carroll original with sparser instrumentation as our star
tells us how she's getting out of the relationship, singing, "...your
loving was delightful, too bad you give it to somebody else, I thought
you had it for me, but now I'm sitting here all by myself..." Andersen
again steps to the front with more Magic Sam-style guitar on the blues
number, "Mama Told Me," while Pugh contributes tasty Chicago blues
piano. We also get plenty of raw emotion from Carroll as she sings that
her mother was right in telling her to stay away from that man.
"Ready To Love Again" is an up-tempo stomper with
Carroll singing about how she's getting back into the game, asking the
conductor to let her back on the love train. The energy here comes in
part from the big sound of the horn section and intermittent sax solos
from Sax Gordon Beadle. The tempo slows again on Z.Z Hill's soul ballad,
"I Need Someone," with a real ol' timey gospel sound augmented by Pugh's
organ playing. The guitar intro gives "Move On" kind of a Mississippi
hill country sound reminiscent of R.L. Burnside before the horns blast
away and the band, with guest guitarist Igor Prado, lays down a funky
beat.
Wrapping up this exquisite album is a slower Staples
Singers blues, "Why Am I Treated So Bad," with Carroll's voice dripping
with pain and regret, helped by soulful background vocals from The Sons
of Soul Revivers and Andersen adding plenty of effects on his guitar
solo.
The You Gotta Have It title of this album sums up
my recommendation perfectly. You gotta have this one in your collection
now. Hooray for Tia Carroll, Noel Hayes, Kid Andersen, and everyone else
that put together this collection of great songs. One of the year's
best.
--- Bill Mitchell