Memphis... Yes, I'm Ready

Memphis... Yes, I'm Ready
Studio album by Dee Dee Bridgewater
Released September 15, 2017
Recorded 5–11 September 2016
Studio Royal Studios, Memphis, TN
Genre Jazz
Length 1:02:03
Label OKeh
Producer Tulani Bridgewater Kowalski, Dee Dee Bridgewater
Dee Dee Bridgewater chronology
Dee Dee's Feathers
(2015)Dee Dee's Feathers2015		 Memphis... Yes, I'm Ready
(2017)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Record Collector[2]

Memphis... Yes, I'm Ready is a 2017 studio album by American jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater released via OKeh label.[3][4][5][6]

Reception

Mark Deming of Allmusic noted "Bridgewater recorded Memphis...Yes, I'm Ready at Royal Recorders, the Bluff City studio where producer Willie Mitchell cut a string of hits with Al Green in the '70s, and Willie's son Lawrence "Boo" Mitchell co-produced the sessions along with Dee Dee and her daughter Tulani Bridgewater. Mitchell pulled together a splendid studio band for this album, including a few members of the old Hi Rhythm Section, and they deliver a superb set of soulful grooves, at once swampy and emphatic, with John Stoddart's electric piano, Jackie Clark's bass, and James "Bishop" Sexton's drums generating just the right amount of funk. With a top-shelf soul band cooking behind her, Dee Dee Bridgewater steps up as a top-shelf soul singer, smooth when she should be, good and gritty when she wants to be, and sounding tough, passionate, and firmly in command at all times... Dee Dee Bridgewater strips off some of the polish from her style on Memphis...Yes, I'm Ready without betraying her talent or best musical instincts, and this detour into Soul City is a treat that should please her fans, as well as anyone who digs Southern soul.[7]

Mark McKergow of London Jazz News wrote "This CD features 13 solid-gold Memphis soul classics recorded at the famous Royal Studios, home of Hi Records, Willie Mitchell, the Reverend Al Green and many other soul and R&B stars. Much of the repertoire is instantly recognisable, with songs like Hound Dog, Try A Little Tenderness, I Can’t Get Next To You and I Can’t Stand The Rain being given the Dee Dee treatment. The band assembled for the sessions offers fine support, with the electric piano of John Stoddart a prominent feature. The album features a strong horn section led by Kirk Whalum on tenor and baritone saxophones, and the predominant sound is low-down, bassy and utterly solid".[8]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Yes, I'm Ready"Barbara Mason4:57
2."Giving Up"Van McCoy4:55
3."I Can't Get Next to You"Barrett Strong, Norman Whitfield5:16
4."Going Down Slow"St. Louis Jimmy Oden4:45
5."Why (Am I Treated So Bad)"Roebuck Staples4:36
6."B.A.B.Y."Isaac Hayes, David Porter4:04
7."The Thrill Is Gone"Rick Ravon Darnell, Roy Hawkins5:38
8."The Sweeter He Is"Isaac Hayes, David Porter6:45
9."I Can't Stand the Rain"Donald Maurice Bryant, Bernard Miller, Ann Peebles3:06
10."Don't Be Cruel"Otis Blackwell, Elvis Presley4:40
11."Hound Dog"Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller3:38
12."Try a Little Tenderness"James Campbell, Reginald Connelly, Harry Woods5:25
13."Take My Hand, Precious Lord"Thomas A. Dorsey, Sobie Frank Frazier, Jeff Majors4:18
Total length:1:02:03

Personnel

Band

  • Dee Dee Bridgewater – liner notes, producer, vocals
  • Jackie Clark – bass
  • Marc Franklin – trumpet
  • Garry Goin – guitar
  • Charles Hodges – organ (hammond)
  • Lannie McMillan – sax (tenor)
  • Lawrence Mitchell – cymbals, electric bongos, tambourine
  • Sharisse Norman – vocals (background)
  • Candise Rayborn-Marshall – vocals (background)
  • James Sexton – drums
  • Kirk Smothers – sax (tenor)
  • Stax Music Academy – vocals (background)
  • Kameron Whalum – trombone
  • Kevin Whalum – vocals (background)
  • Kirk Whalum – sax (baritone), sax (tenor), producer
  • John Stoddart – associate producer, keyboards, vocal arrangement

Production

  • Rachel Ashley – photography
  • Tulani Bridgewater Kowalski – art direction, cover art, photography, producer
  • Thomas Brodin – design
  • Ted Jensen – engineer

References

  1. ↑ "Dee Dee Bridgewater: Memphis... Yes, I'm Ready". Allmusic. allmusic.com. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  2. ↑ Waring, Charles. "Memphis…Yes, I'm Ready (*** OKeh)". Record Collector. recordcollectormag.com. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  3. ↑ "Dee Dee Bridgewater – Memphis... Yes, I'm Ready". Discogs. discogs.com. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  4. ↑ McKergow, Mark (November 23, 2017). "CD REVIEW: Dee Dee Bridgewater – Memphis… Yes, I'm Ready". London Jazz News. londonjazznews.com. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  5. ↑ Harris, George W. (September 28, 2017). "Dee Dee Bridgewater: Memphis…Yes, I'm Ready". jazzweekly.com. Jazz Weekly. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  6. ↑ Murph, John (22 August 2017). "Q&A with Dee Dee Bridgewater: Memories of Memphis". DownBeat. downbeat.com. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  7. ↑ "Dee Dee Bridgewater: Memphis... Yes, I'm Ready". Allmusic. allmusic.com. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  8. ↑ McKergow, Mark (23 November 2017). "CD REVIEW: Dee Dee Bridgewater – Memphis… Yes, I'm Ready". London Jazz News. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
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