CD Review: Kenny Smith - One More Day

One More Day is a compilation by a fellow out of Cincinnati named Kenny Smith. These songs are dated from 1964 - 1975 and it's classic era soul music. I'm not sure the origin of the description, but the re-issue label describes him as "a one man Brill Building," writing, playing, and producing most of it himself.

He's got some stylistic range, but the closest thing to my ear would be Otis Redding. Broadly, I say Mr. Smith was a strong second tier soul artist. If you're a young kid with no record collection, you should definitely get some James Brown, Motown, Aretha Franklin, and Wilson Pickett first. He's not going to make you forget Otis Redding or Marvin Gaye, but you could be a little below that and make a hell of a good record. This guy did.

If you love that vintage, funky old school soul, but you've heard "Clean Up Woman", "Skinny Legs and All", and "Get on the Good Foot" a thousand times, you should definitely get up on "Go For Your Self" for something fresh. Brother Smith is getting some "like a fat rat in a cheese factory with no cats around." There are three slightly different versions of this credited to Kenny Smith, Kenny Smith & the Loveliters, and Kenny & the Sole Selection. It's all good, but I might lean toward "Go for Your Bad Self."

"Nightbeat" is almost as good and has some particularly tasty little guitar figures dressing it up. The near-instrumental "Skunkie" started kicking in pretty good after a few listens as well, with the tight wah-wah on the guitar added to the piano and horns and just enough of the Donald Duck vocals to be fun without running the gimmick into the ground.

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Article Author: Al Barger

Unreformed hawkish Hoosier hillbilly Al Barger runs the still squeezin' down the psychodelic Kentucky moonshine at More Things. What with the paranoid religious visions, the Pentecostal music, visions of God and anarchy running amok and such, somebody …

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