Eddie Loves You So (CD - 2008)

Personnel: Eddie Floyd (vocals); Michael Dinallo (guitar); Dana Price (violin); Larry Sudders (viola); Paul Ahlstrand (tenor saxophone); Scott Aruda (trumpet); Brother Cleve (piano); Ducky Carlisle (drums, percussion, background vocals); Tim Gearan, Kevin Connolly, Brian Templeton (background vocals).

Audio Mixers: Ducky Carlisle; Tremolo Twins; Michael Dinallo.

Recording information: Ice Station Zebra, Medford, MA; Rear Window Studios, Brookline, MA.

Photographer: Ronnie Booze.

One of Stax's most beloved male soul-singers, Eddie Floyd was a raw-throated belter with a vocal style that recalled the juke joint-shaking roar of `50s vocalists like Junior Parker and Little Willie John. Though Floyd cut a fair number of hits for Stax, including "Knock on Wood" and the gospel-steeped "Raise Your Hand," he also had a formidable reputation as a hit songwriter. EDDIE LOVES YOU SO finds the singer revisiting 10 of his finest compositions from decades past, including previously unrecorded numbers like the stirring "Since You've Been Gone." EDDIE LOVES YOU SO boasts an appropriately earthy, no-frills sound that retains the grit and drive of Floyd's classic Stax recordings without resorting to outright imitation. Floyd's voice has become grittier and more authoritative with the passage of time, and he carries numbers like the irrepressible "Till My Back Ain't Got No Bone" with the grace and assurance of an old master. minimize