Bobby Patterson Second Coming

I have been slow on writing new material, so here is a review from 1997,

Bobby Patterson
Second Coming
Ultrax / Ichiban

Bobby Patterson, who made some recordings for Ronn some years ago, has a new album out on the Ichiban distributed Proud/Ultrax. A singer and guitarist, Patterson’s vocals bear some resemblance to those of Bobby Parker. Patterson has produced a first rate album of modern soul-blues.

He shows himself to be a terrific vocalist as he digs into these songs, most of which are originals dealing with typical lyrical themes of back door men and relationships falling apart. More than one song finds Bobby working and slaving for his woman while it is the other man who gets the thrills. As Bobby sings on the opening "If He's Gettin’ the Thrills", let him pay the bills. Patterson sounds like the relationship just broke-up on "Even a Dog" and "All We Have in Common," standing out.

He also ably handles the philosophical, soulful ballad, "You Can't Steal Something." "Right Place, Wrong Time," is not the familiar song associated with Otis Rush but a Patterson original where he tells the story about going to a party where he finds another man making love with his wife. While Patterson plays guitar, it is not heavily featured here - although there is some nice guitar on "Keep Your Hand to Yourself," which has a nice funky groove as Patterson tells his friend that he doesn’t mind him keeping his eyes on Patterson’s babe, but he better keep his hands to himself. It may be Butch Bonner that is prominent on guitar here. Patterson also is heard on a fine interpretation of the Bobby Bland classic "I'll Take Care of You".

The studio bands heard provide strong backing, and while there is some synthesized strings and vocal choruses employed, they are not employed in a heavy-handed manner, but enhance Patterson’s
fervent, soulful singing. This is one of the best soul-blues releases I've heard recently.

This review originally appeared in the October 1997 (Issue 225) of Jazz & Blues  Report although I have reformatted it into paragraphs. I likely received a review copy from Ichiban.