Blue-eyed and Memphis soul too smoothed-out to light sparks

Steve Cropper (ace guitarist for Booker T and the MG’s and Stax mainstay) and Felix Cavaliere (lead vocalist and organist for the Young Rascals) got together in 2008 for the tasty Nudge it up a Notch. Each showed some fire left in the tank, with  Cropper’s guitar playing instantly identifiable, and Cavaliere’s soulful voice still intact. This second outing still finds resonance between the two players, but its smoother sound doesn’t create the sparks of their previous outing. Key contributors to the previous album, including producer (and co-songwriter) Jon Tiven and drummer Chester Thompson are missed here. The opener, “You Give Me All I Need,” plays like a Hall & Oates song, and the title track’s galloping rhythm doesn’t generate the heat that it should. The production is generally too modern and the sound too clean to give this album the bite these players need. The songs, written by Cropper, Cavaliere and their producer/drummer Tom Hambridge, aren’t up to the level of their previous outing, neither evoking earlier glories nor offering anything startling new. The instrumental closer “Do it Like This” finds the album’s best groove, and a pair of covers, Ann Peeble’s “I Can’t Stand the Rain” and Jerry Butler and Betty Everett’s “I Can’t Stand It,” are more engaging than the original material. You can hear the musical talent, but neither the songs nor the production make the most of it. [©2010 hyperbolium dot com]