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Weak songs hinder solid album

So Good
So Good
By Barbara Lynn

Bullseye / Rounder Records: 1994

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This review first appeared in the Fall 1994 edition of Blues Revue magazine.

Barbara Lynn sings and plays (guitar) a Southern, Stax-style rhythm and blues. She's joined by the seemingly omnipresent Memphis Horns, and Ron Levy on organ, adding to the Stax sound.

While Lynn is best known for her smokey vocals (somewhere between Ann Peebles and Aretha Franklin), she's also a better than fair guitarist – a lefty to boot. The backing band is tight and funky, giving her plenty of room to stretch vocally.

The songs are solid, but none of them really reaches out and hooks you. The title track comes close, but still isn't anywhere near as good as the explosive "I'm a Good Woman" from the 1992 compilation "Antone's Women."

It's too bad (and makes you wonder why Rounder didn't license that track from Antone's) because Lynn is an outstanding singer who just doesn't have the material on this release to fully show off her pipes.