Sad Street is the 25th studio album by the American R&B musician Bobby "Blue" Bland.[3] It was released in 1995.[4]
| Sad Street | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1995 | |||
| Studio | Muscle Shoals Sound Studios | |||
| Genre | R&B, blues | |||
| Label | Malaco Records[1] | |||
| Producer | Wolf Stephenson, Tommy Couch[2] | |||
| Bobby "Blue" Bland chronology | ||||
| ||||
The album was nominated for a Grammy Award, in the "Best Contemporary Blues Album" category.[5] It peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Blues Albums chart.[6]
Production
The album was recorded with the Muscle Shoals house band; string arrangements were done in Miami, Florida.[7][8] The title song was written by George Jackson, with many others provided by the songwriting partnership of Sam Mosley and Robert Johnson.[9]
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [10] |
| The Commercial Appeal |  [11] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [12] |
| MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide | [2] |
| (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide | [13] |
The Commercial Appeal opined that "Bland gets deep into the blues," writing that "'Double Trouble' deals with the age-old blues dilemma of dealing with a troublesome wife and girlfriend."[11] The Tampa Tribune thought that the album "perfectly captures his wistful romanticism and raspy-smooth vocals."[14]
Texas Monthly concluded that Malaco's "synthesizer-and-strings approach has kept him contemporary without making him sound foolish."[4] The San Antonio Express-News noted that "Sad Street find Bland still working a smooth, sophisticated, but unmistakably blues-driven, groove."[15]
AllMusic wrote that "Malaco's well-oiled, violin-enriched studio sound fit Bland's laid-back contemporary approach just fine (even if his voice admittedly wasn't what it used to be)."[10] MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide agreed that Bland's voice was "a ravaged hulk by this point."[2] The Sunday Times deemed it a "gritty" album that proved Bland's "Southern blues credentials."[16]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Double Trouble" | |
| 2. | "Sad Street" | |
| 3. | "God Bless the Child That's Got His Own" | |
| 4. | "Tonight's the Night (It's Gonna Be Alright)" | |
| 5. | "My Heart's Been Broken Again" | |
| 6. | "I've Got a Twenty Room House" | |
| 7. | "Mind Your Own Business" | |
| 8. | "I Wanna Tell You About the Blues" | |
| 9. | "I Had a Dream Last Night" | |
| 10. | "Let's Have Some Fun" |
References
- ^ "Sounding Off". Ebony. 51 (4): 23. Feb 1996.
- ^ a b c MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1998. p. 56.
- ^ D'Addono, Beth (May 3, 1996). "Smooth blues from Bobby Bland". Delaware County Daily Times. News.
- ^ a b Morthland, John (Aug 1997). "Royal blue". Texas Monthly. 25 (8): 58.
- ^ "Bobby "Blue" Bland". GRAMMY.com. November 19, 2019.
- ^ "Bobby "Blue" Bland". Billboard.
- ^ Farley, Charles (February 7, 2011). "Soul of the Man: Bobby "Blue" Bland". Univ. Press of Mississippi – via Google Books.
- ^ Reilly, Terry (February 9, 1996). "(Red, Hot & Blue)". The Sunday Age. News. p. 8.
- ^ Kelley, Michael (April 9, 1996). "LONG TIME COMING, BEALE NOTE TO GO TO BLAND". The Commercial Appeal. p. C1.
- ^ a b "Sad Street - Bobby "Blue" Bland | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
- ^ a b Nager, Larry (November 11, 1995). "Recordings". The Commercial Appeal. p. C2.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 1. MUZE. p. 666.
- ^ (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. 2004. p. 82.
- ^ Dunn, Michael (January 14, 1996). "From Beale Street to 'Sad Street'". The Tampa Tribune. FLORIDA/METRO. p. 6.
- ^ Beal Jr., Jim (January 31, 1997). "Blues we can still use - Bobby Bland shows no signs of slowing down". San Antonio Express-News. p. 12H.
- ^ Sexton, Paul (6 Mar 2011). "Squalling the blues". The Sunday Times. Culture. p. 30.