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Can crooners still croon past 80? Tommy McLain is determined to find out. Thanks to guitarist-raconteur-fellow Louisianan C.C. Adcock, swamp pop singer McLain—who had a lone hit in 1966 with Don Gibson's "Sweet Dreams," which charted higher than Patsy Cline's more famous earlier version—has a grandly produced new project to help with the answer. Producer Adcock (with whom McLain played together in Lil’ Band O’ Gold) has wisely corralled a number of high-profile guests (and McLain fans) like Elvis Costello, Ivan Nevile, Nick Lowe, Van Dyke Parks, and Augie Meyers to add buzz to his first solo album since 1979. All this high-quality support and creative arranging—the strings and castanets on "My Hidden Heart," for example—camouflage the fact that McLain's voice has, not surprisingly, lost more than a step. While he's still willing, the ability to spin out the smooth vocal ribbon of self-pity and heartbreak that was once his speciality is no longer there. Despite spacious production, ballads like a cover of Bobby Charles' "I Hope," or his original "If You Don't Love Me"—both of which McLain works hard vocally to put over—are thin and strained. He's more comfortable among the mid tempo fiddles, accordion and rubboard of "Livin' on The Losin' End." The same dynamic applies to the simple, effective "The Greatest Show on Hurt," his co-write with Lowe which features Neville on backing vocals. McLain also sings well in the elaborately arranged version of his original, "California," which features a pair of trumpets and Parks on accordion. This is an overdue, well-deserved labor of love tribute filled with a lot of heart from the object of all this affection. Aided by just the right tempo and Meyers' Vox Continental organ, "Somebody" is the album's most successful upbeat number. Near the end, "Before I Grow Too Old," a tune McLain has been singing since the '70s, is a fitting closer. © Robert Baird/Qobuz
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Mike Napolitano, Mixer - C.C. Adcock, Producer, Mixer - Tommy Mclain, Composer, MainArtist - Swamp Pop Pup Pub (BMI), MusicPublisher
2022 Yep Roc, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 1978 Swamp Pop Pup Pub (BMI)
Mike Napolitano, Mixer - ELVIS COSTELLO, Composer, FeaturedArtist - C.C. Adcock, Producer, Mixer - Tommy Mclain, Composer, MainArtist - BMG Gold Songs (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - Charles Clinton Adcock, Composer - Swamp Pop Pup Pub (BMI), MusicPublisher - Oui Oui Ours Music/Universal Publishing (BMI), MusicPublisher
2022 Yep Roc, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 2022 Oui Oui Ours Music/Universal Publishing (BMI), BMG Gold Songs (ASCAP), Swamp Pop Pup Pub (BMI)
Stanley Lewis, Composer - Mike Napolitano, Mixer - Robert Guidry, Composer - C.C. Adcock, Producer, Mixer - Tommy Mclain, MainArtist - Su-Ma Publishing Company (BMI), MusicPublisher
2022 Yep Roc, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 1964 Su-Ma Publishing Company (BMI)
Mike Napolitano, Mixer - C.C. Adcock, Producer, Mixer - Tommy Mclain, Composer, MainArtist - Swamp Pop Pup Pub (BMI), MusicPublisher
2022 Yep Roc, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 2022 Swamp Pop Pup Pub (BMI)
Nick Lowe, Composer - Mike Napolitano, Mixer - C.C. Adcock, Producer, Mixer - Tommy Mclain, Composer, MainArtist - Hipgnosis Notes (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - Swamp Pop Pup Pub (BMI), MusicPublisher
2022 Yep Roc, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 2022 Hipgnosis Notes (ASCAP), Swamp Pop Pup Pub (BMI)
Van Dyke Parks, Arranger - Mike Napolitano, Mixer - C.C. Adcock, Producer, Mixer - Tommy Mclain, Composer, MainArtist - Swamp Pop Pup Pub (BMI), MusicPublisher
2022 Yep Roc, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 2022 Swamp Pop Pup Pub (BMI)
Mike Napolitano, Mixer - C.C. Adcock, Producer, Mixer, Arranger - Tommy Mclain, Composer, MainArtist - Sam Broussard, Arranger - Charles Clinton Adcock, Composer - Swamp Pop Pup Pub (BMI), MusicPublisher - Oui Oui Ours Music/Universal Publishing (BMI), MusicPublisher
2022 Yep Roc, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 2022 Oui Oui Ours Music/Universal Publishing (BMI), Swamp Pop Pup Pub (BMI)
Augie Meyers, MainArtist - C.C. Adcock, Producer, Mixer, MainArtist - Tony Daigle, Mixer - Tommy Mclain, Composer, MainArtist - Charles Clinton Adcock, Composer - Swamp Pop Pup Pub (BMI), MusicPublisher - Oui Oui Ours Music/Universal Publishing (BMI), MusicPublisher
2022 Yep Roc, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 2022 Oui Oui Ours Music/Universal Publishing (BMI), Swamp Pop Pup Pub (BMI)
Mike Napolitano, Mixer - ELVIS COSTELLO, Composer - C.C. Adcock, Producer, Mixer, Arranger - Tommy Mclain, MainArtist - BMG Gold Songs (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - Sam Broussard, Arranger - Charles Clinton Adcock, Composer - Oui Oui Ours Music/Universal Publishing (BMI), MusicPublisher
2022 Yep Roc, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 2022 Oui Oui Ours Music/Universal Publishing (BMI), BMG Gold Songs (ASCAP)
Mike Napolitano, Mixer - C.C. Adcock, Producer, Mixer - Tommy Mclain, Composer, MainArtist - Swamp Pop Pup Pub (BMI), MusicPublisher
2022 Yep Roc, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 2022 Swamp Pop Pup Pub (BMI)
Mike Napolitano, Mixer - C.C. Adcock, Producer, Mixer, Arranger - Tommy Mclain, Composer, MainArtist - Sam Broussard, Arranger - Swamp Pop Pup Pub (BMI), MusicPublisher
2022 Yep Roc, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 1977 Swamp Pop Pup Pub (BMI)
Antoine Domino, Composer - Dave Bartholomew, Composer - Mike Napolitano, Mixer - Robert Guidry, Composer - C.C. Adcock, Producer, Mixer - Tommy Mclain, MainArtist - EMI Unart Catalog Inc. (BMI), MusicPublisher
2022 Yep Roc, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 1960 EMI Unart Catalog Inc. (BMI)
C.C. Adcock, Producer, Mixer - Tony Daigle, Mixer - Tommy Mclain, Composer, MainArtist - Louis Eliot, Composer - The Wandering Hearts, Arranger - Charles Clinton Adcock, Composer - Swamp Pop Pup Pub (BMI), MusicPublisher - Oui Oui Ours Music/Universal Publishing (BMI), MusicPublisher - Louis Eliot (PRS), MusicPublisher
2022 Yep Roc, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 2022 Oui Oui Ours Music/Universal Publishing (BMI), David Platz Music Inc. (BMI), Swamp Pop Pup Pub (BMI)
Album review
Can crooners still croon past 80? Tommy McLain is determined to find out. Thanks to guitarist-raconteur-fellow Louisianan C.C. Adcock, swamp pop singer McLain—who had a lone hit in 1966 with Don Gibson's "Sweet Dreams," which charted higher than Patsy Cline's more famous earlier version—has a grandly produced new project to help with the answer. Producer Adcock (with whom McLain played together in Lil’ Band O’ Gold) has wisely corralled a number of high-profile guests (and McLain fans) like Elvis Costello, Ivan Nevile, Nick Lowe, Van Dyke Parks, and Augie Meyers to add buzz to his first solo album since 1979. All this high-quality support and creative arranging—the strings and castanets on "My Hidden Heart," for example—camouflage the fact that McLain's voice has, not surprisingly, lost more than a step. While he's still willing, the ability to spin out the smooth vocal ribbon of self-pity and heartbreak that was once his speciality is no longer there. Despite spacious production, ballads like a cover of Bobby Charles' "I Hope," or his original "If You Don't Love Me"—both of which McLain works hard vocally to put over—are thin and strained. He's more comfortable among the mid tempo fiddles, accordion and rubboard of "Livin' on The Losin' End." The same dynamic applies to the simple, effective "The Greatest Show on Hurt," his co-write with Lowe which features Neville on backing vocals. McLain also sings well in the elaborately arranged version of his original, "California," which features a pair of trumpets and Parks on accordion. This is an overdue, well-deserved labor of love tribute filled with a lot of heart from the object of all this affection. Aided by just the right tempo and Meyers' Vox Continental organ, "Somebody" is the album's most successful upbeat number. Near the end, "Before I Grow Too Old," a tune McLain has been singing since the '70s, is a fitting closer. © Robert Baird/Qobuz
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 13 track(s)
- Total length: 00:43:56
- Main artists: Tommy Mclain
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Yep Roc Records
- Genre: Blues
2022 Yep Roc, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 2022 Yep Roc, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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