Album Mini-review: Charles Bradley — Changes
File next to: James Brown, Sharon Jones & the Dap-kings, Eli Paperboy Reed
On Charles Bradley‘s third full length, the “screaming eagle of soul” shows himself to be a fascinating interpreter of diverse material, as evidenced in his soulful reading of Black Sabbath‘s “Changes.” Bradley mines a sense of pathos that Ozzy’s vocal merely hinted at; he truly makes the song his own. A rare misstep is the disc opener: doubtless Bradley is sincere with his reading of “God Bless America,” but it comes off a bit maudlin. Throughout Changes, he’s ably backed by a Memphis-styled brass section; they dip into the Seals & Crofts playbook for “Nobody But You,” and the band chugs along sounding very much like the Jimi Hendrix Experience (plus horns) on the fiery “Ain’t it a Sin.” Changes shows that Fitzgerald was wrong about American lives; there actually can be second acts.
About the Author
Bill Kopp
With a background in marketing and advertising, Bill Kopp got his professional start writing for Trouser Press. After a stint as Editor-in-chief for a national music magazine, Bill launched Musoscribe in 2009, and has published new content every business day since then (and every single day since 2018). The interviews, essays, and reviews on Musoscribe reflect Bill's keen interest in American musical forms, most notably rock, jazz, and soul. His work features a special emphasis on reissues and vinyl. Bill's work also appears in many other outlets both online and in print. He also researches and authors liner notes for album reissues -- more than 30 to date -- and co-produced a reissue of jazz legend Julian "Cannonball" Adderley's final album. His first book, Reinventing Pink Floyd was published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2018, and in paperback in 2019. His second book, Disturbing the Peace: 415 Records and the Rise of New Wave, will be published in 2021 by HoZac Books.