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Tampa Bay Musician

7/10/03

Our Review:

You can sum up Charlie Morris' Blues CD "Still Got 'Em" in a single four letter word... REAL. Real drums, real guitar plugged into a real amp, real horns, real B3... and "real" good!

While so many people go to seeming endless lengths to get that "classic" sound, Charlie shows us how on this CD. You get some good players together in a studio that understands what your doing, and capture it. Everything on this CD sounds wonderful. One very small nit-pick thing -- and it's probably just a personal preference -- but the drums seem to have a lot of "room" in the mix yet the snare is a little hidden. My brain finds this somewhat disconcerting, as when standing in a room with a drummer the snare tends to be more prominent. It doesn't sound bad or anything... perhaps it's just me. A lot of the production on this CD reminds me of Joe Jackson's "Body and Soul" album in the sound of a lot of the instruments.

Some high points for me were the first two songs on this CD, the title tune, "Still Got 'em," "Cain't Hep M'sef," and the seventh of the nine tunes, "Not Much Glory, Not Much Gold." Track eight, "That Word," is just guitar and vocal but it includes some very cool feel changes that I really liked.

Although lyrically I just wasn't "blown away," this album demonstrates some good song-writing and contains some very nice arrangements. Charlie's vocal has a very nice familiar tone to it like you've heard it for years, and you will feel at home with it right away. All of the various instruments heard on the CD are masterfully played.

Notably, Dean Germain turns in great job on the B3 organ. Especially on track six "The First One," Dean clearly demonstrates why he is "the guy to get" when you need an organ player. I've heard him play in the past and have always been impressed with the man's ear for a tune and amazed at his ability. His performance throughout this CD is no exception.

Charlie's guitar work, both electric and acoustic is very well done, not to flashy -- just perfect for the blues. Charlie also plays a mean slide guitar throughout the entire disc.

The packaging rounds out this release as top-notch. Professionally pressed with bar code.