ROY ROBERTS
STRANGE LOVE
OCEAN BEACH RECORDS 01
MY LOVE BONE–I TRULY LOVE YOU–HEY BABY–STRANGE LOVE–I’M NEVER GONNA STOP–WAIT FOR ME–A WOMAN NEEDS LOVE–WE STILL TOGETHER–THE NEXT TIME–I CAN’T WAIT–
Growing up in Tennessee, a young Roy Roberts got hooked on the blues the same way we did–listening to the late night offerings from WLAC. After moving to North Carolina, Roy started his own band and has been performng and recording periodically since the late Sixties, and, after hearing Robert Cray during the Nineties, he re-dedicated himself to his career. His current release is entitled “Strange Love,” and finds Roy exploring literally every shade of the blues on ten fine and funky originals that run the gamut from deep Stax-era soul to gritty down-home blues.
Roy is an excellent guitarist and has a smooth vocal delivery. He also plays B-3 and keys on this set, and the whole thing is punctuated by a red-hot horn section that gives everything that extra kick. This one is a non-stop party groove from start to finish!
The set kicks off with the irresistible funk of “My Love Bone.” There’s a “message” tune for the fellows, too, reminding them that “A Woman Needs Love.” Also of note is the sweet tune about a relationship that outlasts the nay-sayers and the storms of life, “We Still Together.” The set closes as it began with a blistering slab of horn-and-guitar-driven rockin’ soul, “I Can’t Wait to get back home to you!”
We had two favorites, too. The slow-burn of “The Next Time” introduces us to the ultimate “back door man,” who “can be theere before the next teardrop falls!” And, “I’m Never Gonna Stop loving you” will conjure up memories of another of Roy’s heroes, Otis Redding.
Roy Roberts has crafted a sweet set of danceable groovers and soul-shakers with “Strange Love.’ This one is guaranteed to get you movin’ and groovin! Until nextbtime….Sheryl and Don Crow, Nashville Blues Society.
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