Give this New Orleans master enough studio time, and he'll redo the entire history of postwar R&B his own way. Here he lays his mind to
Joe Simon's powerhouse soul ballad "Nine Pound Steel,"
the Midnighters' "Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go," even
Bill Haley & the Comets' "Skinny Minnie," and
the Five Keys' loopy "Ling Ting Tong," giving each the same singular treatment that he's always brought to his recordings.
George Porter and Herman Ernest return to lay down their immaculate grooves, and Fred Kemp blows sturdy sax on
Eaglin's parade-beat "I Went to the Mardi Gras." ~ Bill Dahl