Checker, one time ‘King of the Twist’, here shows himself as an excellent singer of blues and ballads. The voice is warm, the control excellent, and he phrases well. The accompaniment by a band led by Sy Oliver is powerful and swings gently on every track. The colourful arrangements are also by Sy, with assistance from Marty Manning. Side 2 is the better side to sample, containing as it does the better songs. Checker really gets bawling on All Right and Yes, Indeed, and on this form he could provide competition for Joe Williams.
Discography
Absurd Bird; Rockin’ Chair; Little Wheel A Turning; Sweet And Heavenly; Time After Time; It’s Good Enough For Me (14 min) – Fever; Georgia; Everything’s Gonna Be Alright; Yes, Indeed; On Broadway; I’m On My Way (13½ min)
Sy Oliver (arr/con) with Joe Newman, Clark Terry, Snooky Young (tpts); Budd Johnson, Phil Bodner. Seldon Powell (reeds): Herb Covell, Panama Francis (d); Major Holley, Milt Hinton (bs): Mundell Lowe (g); plus strings and others.
(Cameo-Parkway P 7036 12inLP 33s. 9d.)
