Soul Express CD Review

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If you bought The Temptations' "For Lovers Only" and Isley meets Bacharach "Here I Am" then this album MUST join your collection.   Believe me, this surmounts to a most heavenly troika that you will ever muster in one CD collection.  This album is sheer KNOCKOUT.  It was, much to my shame, a CD that I had known about and ignored for well over a year.  This was available via the Internet only via the great man himself entitled "An American Original" and I was not inspired at all by what I considered an album of cover versions.  Regular and long-time readers will know my feelings, generally, of cover versions!  Yet again I was proved wrong and I am not afraid to admit it.  Ignoring this CD would be a mistake of serious proportions and would have left my collection much poorer as a result. 
So, what has Lamont done here?  Fans of Motown and the great man will be aware that many of the hits started out as ballads, but were sped up for the singers and for release.  Lamont Dozier has recorded these timeless Motown classics as they should be done, and has enlisted the assistance of Gerald Albright, Harry Corzo, Paulinho Da Costa, Paul Jackson, Jr, Hense Powell and Freddie Washington to lay down some stunning material.  My problem initially was in de-programming my mind from trying to compare these with the original versions.  Really, you cannot do this as Lamont has turned the melodies and arrangements on their heads and re-moulded them into what are as good as brand new songs.  It is difficult, though!  Once you do this, you realise that you are in the presence of a CD of immense magnitude. 
The next time I played it, having this dawn on me, I felt quite awe-struck at what I was listening to.  This is testament to the writing skills of Holland-Dozier-Holland, the longevity of the Motown sound and  Lamont's sheer genius to take something so popular, so untouchable, so ingrained into pop psyche and twist it around and refashion it beyond boundaries of musical style and time.  The only song that I cannot play is the dance mix of "I Hear A Symphony" which is a rap version and, for my own taste, completely unnecessary and not in keeping with the higher standards of the rest of the work on the CD. 
The rest of the CD, though, is mind-blowing and certain tracks in particular seriously affect me - and it is something special that does that.  The prime track which hits the old throat is his version of "My World Is Empty Without You".  Fans of the man's SUPERB solo albums on ABC/Dunhill in the 70s will scream for more once they hear this.  Every nuance and flair is Dozier through and through; the chord changes in the piano is as synonymous with Lamont Dozier as it is with another Master, Leon Ware. 
If Lamont's spine-tingling vocals were removed thus rendering it an instrumental we would KNOW who recorded this.  This song is a towering, towering monster song and it gets me every time I play it. 
If you want a radical reworking of an old classic none will come close to "(Love Is Like A) Heatwave".  This barnstorming 1963 classic is regenerated into a jazzy slow jam of such quality and style that it will blow your socks off.  If they are still on, of course.   This is track 4, after all!  "Reflections" had, originally, a fantastic psychedelic Doctor Who flange-like electronic effect at the start but now has a wonderful and dramatic piano and Spanish guitar intro that lasts well over a minute.  Astonishing. 
Another song that grabs me is the melancholic "Where Did Our Love Go" and "I Hear A Symphony" which are rather mournful and are, as such, intriguing as much as they are beautiful.  To be honest, I could carry on this narrative ad infinitum, as I love this CD, Motown, and Lamont Dozier in all his musical incarnations so much.  But I think you already know what I think.  Needless to say that I recommend this as high as the two great works I mentioned at the start of this review. 
What I will say is that this release is on Lamont's own new label, Jam Right that is distributed via Zebra.  I am very happy and excited that the man is back in action and will be developing new artists on this imprint.  Personally I would have thought Motown would have wanted to pick this up much earlier, at least as a mark of respect and gratitude to this great, great man. 
Especially, also, as Michael McDonald has gone double platinum in the US with his "Motown" collection.  This CD reminds us, sadly, that today in 2004 there is no new artist as talented as Lamont Dozier who will be able to craft such beautiful songs what would enchant music lovers today and in the years ahead. Thank god for Lamont Dozier, this CD and the dedication of Zebra.

- Barry Towler