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AUSTRALIAN IMPORT
Condition: Brand New Factory Sealed
Blue-eyed soul crooner Michael McDonald led the Doobie Brothers to fame in the late '70s before embarking on a solo career, capturing fans with his endearingly gruff, R&B-tinged vocals. So it's only fitting that the St. Louis native joined the Motown Records family in 2003. Named after the legendary label, McDonald's first disc for them is an elegant collection of Motown covers. Produced by Simon Climie (B. B. King, Eric Clapton) and backed by Fourplay, McDonald pours himself into 14 classic cuts. Rather than cast too broad a net in selecting from Motown's enormous canon, the silver-haired singer leans heavily on the Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder songbooks. Traditional Gaye duets such as "Ain't Nothing like the Real Thing" and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" find McDonald flying solo with just a hint of background harmonies, while Wonder's "Signed Sealed Delivered" is given a pitch-perfect reading. By far the most effective interpretations are McDonald's yearning reading of Gaye's "I Want You" and a funky take on Wonder's "Too High," accented by bubbling bass lines from Fourplay's Nathan East and quick, snappy guitar solos from Larry Carlton. On a project that could have easily turned into boomer-fueled nostalgia, McDonald does a fine job of paying homage to the past while reaching for new heights as a solo artist.
TRACK LISTINGS
1. I Heard It Through the Grapevine
2. You Are Everything
3. Signed Sealed Delivered
4. I'm Gonna Make You Love Me
5. Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing
6. Reflections
7. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)
8. Ain't No Mountain High Enough
9. All in Love Is Fair
10. I Want You
11. Distant Lover
12. I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever)
13. Since I Lost My Baby
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