Gwen McCrae – Rockin Chair, CAT 2605 (TK. Mrs. George McCrae comes up witha vibrant mix of straight soul, disco material, bluesy material, and oldies here, with the emphasis on her powerfully expressive blues oriented vocals. Backup is, for the most part, simple guitar/keyboard/bass/drums/horn arrangements with strings added on from time to time but not in overabundance which is the tendency on many soul sets today. Most effective material counts in the extremes of ballads and shouters, both of which offer the artist maximum opportunity to showcase her versatile voice. Most of the TK roster appears in some capacity here, including George McCrae, George Perry, Rick Finch, Latimore, H.W. Casey, Little Beaver, and Betty Wright. Probably the most sophisticated of the TK efforts yet.

Best Cuts: “Rockin Chair” (With same underlying riff as George’s “Rock Your Baby”), “He Keeps Something Groovy Going On,” “For Your Love,” “It’s Worth The Hurt,” “It Keeps On Raining.”

Dealers: Ms. McCrae is on her way to crossover hit with title cut.