The disc kicks off with “Nothing
Good Happens After Midnight,” and right away this music establishes a wonderful
groove. Paula Harris’ vocal approach is at first intimate, even conspiratorial,
pulling us in before she then begins to belt out the lyrics. Oh yes, she has us
in her hands straight away, and not a one of us wishes to escape. You can tell
from her delivery that a whole lot of good stuff is going to happen after
midnight. After, before, during, just so long as we stick with this woman. This
song was written by Paula Harris and Nate Ginsberg, and features some wonderful
stuff on piano by Nate. That’s followed by “I Wanna Hate Myself Tomorrow (For
Raising Hell Tonight),” also written by Paula Harris and Nate Ginsberg. A funky,
cool bass line gets this playful track off to a great start. “I’m gonna party with my friends/Like the
world ain’t going to end/And act like there ain’t no sorrow/Because, baby, that
can come tomorrow.”
Then Paula Harris delivers a
gorgeous and moving song titled “Haunted,” another original number. And
“haunted” is right; I am haunted by her vocal performance here. She is good. “And you’ll be haunted with thoughts of me/Haunted
by my memories/Haunted, haunted, haunted/Wait and see.” Yeah, she is sure
of herself here, and so she should be. Is there any question but that the man
will be thinking of her? And when she sings that she can make it on her own, I
have no doubt that that’s true. This is such a great song. “Soul-Sucking Man”
is a fun, lively number. And when Paula sings “I know what’s good for me and baby it ain’t you,” I want to
dedicate this song from the good people of America to Donald Trump and the
entire Republican Party. “And I’m hip
to your game/And I know temptation is your middle name.” Christopher “Kid”
Anderson plays bongos on this one. “A Mind Of Her Own” is another fun tune, this
one written by Scotty Wright. It features some cool stuff on keys. The line “You want to dislocate his head” made me
laugh out loud the first time I listened to this album. And these lines strike a
strong chord especially these days: “A
woman is not a possession/She acts by her free will/And she knows just what to
do/When she’s got a need to fill.” The line “Well, baby, those days are dead and gone” is not so certain anymore.
This country is taking giant leaps into the terrible past with regards to
women’s rights and equality.
There is something sexy and sly
about “Something Wicked,” particularly that horn. That’s Bill Ortiz on trumpet.
And of course Paula Harris’ vocals are fantastic, so seductive and wonderful. “Black hair and eyes of green/All my thoughts
turned obscene.” This song’s title and title line are references to Macbeth, so I love this track even more.
And suddenly in the middle, another vocalist comes in, Big Llou Johnson,
delivering a strange poetry section that feels like something to be played at
the sexiest of Halloween parties. And he ends that section with the line from Macbeth, “Something wicked this way comes.” Delicious! And that trumpet is so
bloody cool. This is one of the album’s best tracks. I just completely love it.
And they are clearly having a lot of fun with it. That’s followed by “Trouble
Maker,” a track that rocks and sways. It comes on strong and doesn’t let up,
the piano being the driving force. I love the way Paula delivers certain lines,
like “You can’t fall in love without
risking a heartbreak” and “Trouble
maker, irresistible to me.” Then there is even a bit of scat. Yup, it’s a
cool track from beginning to end.
“You Don’t Look A Day Over
Fabulous” is a delightful and playful tune. The lines “You don’t look a day over fabulous/And you’ll be beautiful until the
day you die” express just exactly the way I feel about my girlfriend.
Somehow as she gets older she is becoming even more beautiful. I don’t know how
she does it. This track features some delicious work on bass and some wonderful
touches on keys. This is a song that makes me smile every time I hear it. “He thinks I’m perfect/I think he’s sweet.”
Another delicious groove gets “Do Me Good” going. As bright and cheerful as the
sound is, in this one she expresses doubts about her man, about her
relationship. Well, based on the sound, which makes me feel optimistic, I think
it’s all going to work out just fine. After all, how can things go wrong when
you’re dancing and moving to this beat? There is a nice little jam toward the
end. The instruments sound like they’re smiling, don’t they? I feel like that
bass line is going to buy me a beer. And then Paula belts out some lines. Ah, so
nice.
The rest of the tracks on this
disc are listed as bonus tracks, apparently only available on the CD (so not
digitally?). It still strikes me as odd to label a track a “bonus track” on an
album’s initial release, but no matter. The first of these tracks is a cover of
Blood, Sweat & Tears’ “I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know.” Written by
Al Kooper, this song appeared on Blood, Sweat & Tears’ 1968 LP Child Is Father To The Man. Paula Harris
does an excellent job with it, and when she dips into her lower registers, I
get shivers. Her voice rises to some spectacular heights on this track too.
There is so much passion in her voice when she sings “I love you more than you’ll ever know,” leaving no doubt whatsoever
that what she says is true. That is followed by “Forever And A Day,” with Bill
Ortiz joining the group again on trumpet. Then “Scratches On Your Back” is a song
about an infidelity that is obvious, but the man still offers denial after
denial. I do, however, appreciate the man’s explanation for the unfamiliar
panties wrapped up in the woman’s sheets. “You
say it’s a secret that you keep/Because you get kinky all alone/And you put
those panties on.” The disc concludes with a delicious cover of Louis
Jordan’s “Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby,” featuring some wonderful stuff on
piano.
CD Track List
- Nothing Good Happens After Midnight
- I Wanna Hate Myself Tomorrow (For Raising Hell Tonight)
- Haunted
- Good Morning Heartache
- Soul-Sucking Man
- This Love Is Gonna Do Me In
- A Mind Of Her Own
- Something Wicked
- Trouble Maker
- ‘Round Midnight
- You Don’t Look A Day Over Fabulous
- Do Me Good
- I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know
- Forever And A Day
- Scratches On Your Back
- Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby
Speakeasy was released on May 1, 2019.
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