Melvin Taylor & The Slack Band

Special thanks to Dempsey for turning me on to this band.

As Dempsey mentioned, this guy does have a similar phrasing and style to Gibb Droll. But he retains more of a traditional blues sound. He does occasionally throw in a George Benson lick or a Wes Montgomery octave run. He has more of what I would call a traditional blues vocal. It sounds really good. What I like most about this album is that he does a lot of covers and they are not the average arrangements. He changes things up enough to make them interesting. I would love to see these guys live.
I’m really enjoying this album and it’s definitely a solid blues album. He does a great service to the T-Bone Shuffle. And All Your Love (I Miss Loving), which is a great blues song that I don’t think enough people cover. His version of Tin Pan Alley is just right. He doesn’t try to take over Stevie’s version but he retains that laid back groove that Stevie attributed to the song. I think I like Melvin’s vocals on this song more than Stevie’s, actually. Anyway, this is definitely my kind of album. Dempsey, you couldn’t have recommended a better album to suit my tastes.