Album Mini-review: Charlie Faye & the Fayettes
File next to: Nancy Sinatra, Dusty Springfield, Burt Bacharach
Though she’s previously released two albums and an EP under her own name, Austin’s Charlie Faye has engaged in a radical makeover for her latest project. Gone are the alt-country trappings of those earlier discs, replaced by a sound that focuses squarely on sixties pop of the Stax and Brill Building varieties. Ably abetted by two excellent singers (BettySoo and Akina Adderley, the latter a scion of jazz royalty) and a superb group of musicians that includes Pete Thomas, Roger Manning (Jellyfish, Moog Cookbook) and Lyle Workman. Faye’s songs never fail to evoke the sound and aesthetic of classic girl-group and southern soul. Yet somehow the album never feels like an overt pastiche; when they sing about giving a guy the go-ahead (“Green Light”) or love in general (”Sweet Little Messages”), Charlie Faye & the Fayettes sound like they mean it.
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.