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Frank Bey passed away five years ago. Winner of a posthumous Grammy Award nomination (Best Traditional Blues Album) for 2020\u2019s All My Dues Are Paid<\/i>, Bey was the subject of a loving documentary film of the same name. That film charted Bey\u2019s rise, voluntary departure from the music world, and triumphant resurgence. A new compilation, Peace<\/i> brings together 11 tracks that showcase the brilliance of the Millen, Georgia native.<\/p>\n
The album opens with \u201cThat\u2019s What Love Will Make You Do,\u201d a shuffling, funky number with a strong and assertive Bey lead vocal, tight rhythm section and spirited horn section. The soulful \u201cOne Thing Every Day\u201d is reminiscent of Rita Coolidge\u2019s classic \u201870s reading of Jackie Wilson\u2019s \u201cHigher and Higher.\u201d Bey\u2019s version underscores the ease with which he could deliver a wide range of styles with total authenticity.<\/p>\n
\u201cMidnight and Day\u201d is smoky, down and dirty blues, with the musicians digging deep into the pocket; its spare arrangement places the spotlight on Bey\u2019s vocals. The contemplative acoustic textures \u2013 one guitar and a harmonica solo \u2013 of \u201cCity Boy\u201d couch Bey\u2019s heartfelt vocal in just the right context.<\/p>\n
The uptempo Chicago-flavored \u201cBlues Comes Knockin\u2019\u201d delivers the sound and feel of a live performance. The well-worn melody is applied to a sassy lyric, and Bey communicates it in style. The tune\u2019s harp solo is a delight. There\u2019s a subtly New Orleans character to the jaunty \u201cWalk With Me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Guitarist Jeff Monjack \u2013 who\u2019s all over the album \u2013 provides steel guitar and insistent foot stomping on \u201cBed for My Soul\u201d; thanks to his work and Bey\u2019s assured vocal, the tune feels like a superbly-recorded busking performance. A testament to Bey\u2019s versatility and textural range, \u201cIf You Want Me\u201d sounds like a showcase for a different \u2013 yet very good \u2013 singer.<\/p>\n
The loose, live-feeling \u201cBlues in the Pocket\u201d is Frank Bey at his funkiest. Featuring an extended spoken (shouted, really) intro, the song shows that Bey learned a few tricks from his former musical associate James Brown. The song\u2019s sly and humorous lyrics are punctuated by tasty sax flourishes.<\/p>\n
A reverent and sincere reading of Sam Cooke\u2019s \u201cChange is Gonna Come\u201d reminds listeners yet again just how easily Bey could switch from blues to another style (in this case, gospel). The collection concludes with a meditative and original reading of John Lennon\u2019s \u201cImagine.\u201d In Bey\u2019s capable hands, the song receives a completely new melody, but the sentiments of the original shine through.<\/p>\n
Peace<\/i> is drawn from various sessions, but the high production values and top-flight musicianship belie its compiled nature; the collection feels like a cohesive set of songs put together with an album in mind. If \u2013 as seems likely \u2013 it represents the last musical statement from the late singer \u2013 Peace<\/i> represents a fine farewell.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Frank Bey passed away five years ago. Winner of a posthumous Grammy Award nomination (Best Traditional Blues Album) for 2020\u2019s All My Dues Are Paid, Bey was the subject of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29351,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,49,65],"tags":[5676],"class_list":["post-29350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blues","category-new-release","category-review","tag-frank-bey","cat-9-id","cat-49-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29350"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29352,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29350\/revisions\/29352"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}