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| My True Story 2013 |
687 Miles To Go
Aaron Neville decided to look back for his first record on Blue Note Records and the Rolling Stones' Keith Richards came along and not just for the ride.On My True Story, the 72-year-old Neville and the 69-year-old Richards recorded a 12-song love letter to the Doo-Wop era of the 1950s and 1960s.
Neville's signature falsetto is as immediately recognizable as any voice in music history and infinitely suited to the familiar hits on My True Story.
Richards plays and co-produces the album with Blue Note President Don Was who discovered the guitarist's affection for Doo-Wop during their work on a Stones project.
The Stones legend also tipped his hand with the '50s feel and harmonies on I Should Have Stood You Up from his solo debut Talk Is Cheap.
In addition to Richards, the backing band includes Tom Petty henchman Benmont Tench on keyboards, Greg Leisz on guitar, Tony Scherr on bass, George G. Receli on drums and Lenny Pickett on saxophone.
Neville's vocals remain in the forefront throughout and the band stays understated and slow dance subtle, save for a few sock hop raves on The Drifters' Money Honey and Ruby Baby, and Hank Ballard & The Midnighters' Work With Me Annie, which includes Aaron's brother Art on Hammond B-3.
Bobby Jay, Eugene Pitt, Joel Katz, Earl Smith Jr., David Johnson and Dickie Harmon rotate on the perfectly paired backing vocals.
Every entry in the collection is a classic memory in an American Graffiti kind of way, even if you don't know the original performers as intimately as the songs.
The Impressions' Gypsy Woman, The Ronettes' Be My Baby, Little Anthony & The Imperials' Tears On My Pillow and The Drifters' Under The Boardwalk rate among the highlights. (I can't quit singing Gypsy Woman in my head or aloud - "She was a gypsy woman/She was a gypsy woman.")
Fittingly, it ends with Goodnight My Love (Pleasant Dreams).
Whether My True Story serves as an introduction to the originals or as a standalone tribute, a second verse feels fittingly inevitable.
Song For The Soundtrack: Ruby Baby
Running Data For Tuesday, April 30:
3.44 Miles
38:12
Mileage In The Change Jar: 0.73 Miles
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