All in New England Music News

All New England Music News

New England Music News

Keep a knockin’

Mike Dinallo has been in and around R&B, roots, blues, and rock since I started writing this column, most notably with the Radio Kings a while back. Since then, in addition to banging out some damn good music, he’s begun producing — some country, some roots and, most recently, vintage R&B. In fact, Dinallo just completed a project for the resur-gent Stax label and their legendary artist Eddie Floyd. The disc is titled Eddie Loves You So. “Working with Eddie and getting to know him has been a complete joy,” says Dinallo. “Eddie’s energy and enthusiasm has been and continues to be incredibly inspiring.”

It’s soul man Floyd’s first new album in six years. You may remember that Floyd recorded the monster soul classic “Knock On Wood” back in 1967; the new Dinallo-co-produced al-bum finds Floyd returning to those feisty Southern roots. Floyd and Dinallo unearthed a bunch of interesting tracks for the project, including 10 originals Floyd wrote for other artists back in the day but never recorded: “’Til My Back Ain’t Got No Bone,” a hit for William Bell and later cut by Esther Phillips; “I Will Always Have Faith In You,” a #11 hit for Carla Tho-mas; and “You Don’t Know What You Mean To Me,” a co-write with Steve Cropper that labelmates Sam & Dave took to #20 on the R&B chart. Floyd was a member of the Falcons in the late ’50s, later of the Contours and 100 Proof Aged in Soul. From that era, Floyd has re-recorded a few choice cuts, including “You’re So Fine,” a 1959 hit, and “Never Get Enough of Your Love,” which he recorded on Al Bell’s Safice Records. There’s also a previously unreleased Falcons song, “Since You’ve Been Gone,” which was demoed but never recorded until now. “In choosing the songs for this record,” says Dinallo, “it hit me that I was surveying the history of soul. I had to dig through Eddie’s catalog of the past 50 years.”