Call On Me / That's The Way Love Is

Chronique

Although the sticker on the album's package refers to Call on Me as a blues album, it's really more of a soul-blues hybrid. Elements of blues certainly pervade the album, especially on "The Feeling Is Gone," a hybrid of B.B. King's "The Thrill Is Gone" and Bland's cover of "Stormy Monday Blues" from 1962. The introductory horn calls certainly aren't telling of the slow-burning blues that follow. With some smoky guitar work and 12-bar blues piano that trickle in occasionally, Bland floats effortlessly on the track, thanks in part to some of his earlier blues work in the '50s. However, the blues isn't the sole pair of legs that the album stands on. That can mostly be attributed to the label's A&R Joe Scott, whose musical skills were perfectly complemented with his skills in training the impressionable singer. Bland certainly had the raw talent vocally, but it was Scott's hand which polished his skills from bluesman to balladeer. The title track showcases that transition perfectly. Over a rhumba drum beat provided by none other than the legendary Jabo Starks, Bland has a lighter, sweeter voice throughout the verse before giving you a guttural exhortation right before the closing of the chorus. Scott, a noted bandleader, also gives way to big-band soul of sorts with a thick set of charts in "Ain't It a Good Thing" and "Honky Tonk." The full sound is the perfect extension for Bland, who can really belt loose when needed, but who can also sing in a more hushed tone, creating a greater dynamic sound. "Ain't It a Good Thing" has all the makings of a lost Ray Charles-performed tune with Bland's well-timed growls exiting a chorus as well as a small, but important, part by an unknown female singer. Bland may be more famous for songs that don't appear on this album including "Turn on Your Love Light" from 1961 or the Kanye West-sampled "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City" from nearly a dozen years later, but Call on Me is a sure-fire success of an album, especially from an era that wasn't album-centric, and doesn't get nearly the recognition it should.

© Eric Luecking /TiVo