Richie and friends in a country mood

I am starting to believe what friends have been telling me these past months. While there are exceptions, the only way to get good music these days is to listen to the oldies. That does not mean just the songs but also the old guys, those artists from two or three decades ago who continue to create real, not-over-processed, computer dependent music. I felt that listening to Kisses, the new album by Paul McCartney a few weeks ago. I felt it again today when I got hold of Tuskegee, the new CD by Lionel Richie.

Tuskegee is Richie’s duet album. Unlike that of Tony Bennett’s though, this one is made up entirely of his own compositions. Also as a tribute to the town where he grew up, Tuskegee in Alabama, Richie has set aside his funk/soul identity for this project to go all out country and to record the songs with country artists. And wonder of wonders, not once was the original recording duplicated. Richie and his arrangers probably took the old songs apart to find the qualities that would bring out the country flavor. They found a lot and it is now all here for us to enjoy.

Tuskegee by Lionel Richie and guests has a star-studded line-up with not one bad cut. This shows the painstaking care that went into choosing the artists to sing with and the arrangements with which to present the songs. You know how it is with artists who choose to rework their hits, they go overboard most of the time. Get a symphony if there is the budget for it. Not Richie. Tuskegee is lean but soulful and beautiful. Best example is Deep River Woman his duet with Little Big Town. This one has him singing with the band’s guitar-focused arrangement and it sounds divine. It is actually one of the simplest but also one of the best cuts in the album.

Truth to tell, I have been trying to pick out my favorites from the CD while writing this and I am having a difficult time. No way that anybody will not like Dancing On The Ceiling with Rascal Flatts. Notice how Shania Twain did Endless Love? Brave girl, she was coming after the iconic vocals of Diana Ross who first sang the song with Richie but she nailed it. So glad to find You Are with Blake Shelton, because it is one of Richie’s best, but lesser known songs. And what does one say about Lady with Kenny Rodgers. Richie gave this song to Kenny and it became a huge hit many years ago. Now here they are singing it together.

I can go on and on as in how fantastic Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland sounds in Hello or how Easy with Willie Nelson is just that, a light, lazy and easy experience. There are also Say You, Say Me from the movie White Nights with Ramus Seebach; Stuck On You with Darius Rucker; My Love with Kenny Chesney; Sail On with Jill Johnson; Just For You with Billy Currington; All Night Long with Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band; and Angel with Pixie Lott.

I can complain. Why is Three Times A Lady not included. Also Still, Truly, Penny Lover, Just To Be Close To You, Ballerina Girl and other Richie hits. But why should I. The fact that these songs are not in the album could mean that there is the possibility of a Tuskegee Volume 2 in the near future.

Come to think of it, Tuskegee, Volume 2 or not, I believe that Richie should be heard more often. His singing sounds great, even better without the multi-tracking he used to do in the early days. Pared down and in a country mood, his tones are full and deep. Just goes to show what happens when an artist takes good care of the talent he was born with.

Kids today might think of Richie as Nicole’s cool dad, who sings but he is really a great songwriter, see the album line-up; hit recording artist, his Endless Love with Diana is the biggest-selling record in Motown history; and founding member of The Commodores, one of the most successful funk bands of all time. They had hits like Machine Gun, The Bump, I Feel Sanctified, Brickhouse, Young Girls Are My Weakness and the ballads like Easy and Three Times A Lady that paved the way for Richie’s solo career.