Little Milton - Me for You, You for Me: The Glades Masters

More elaborately produced than its predecessor, Little Milton's second and final album for TK Records' Glades imprint is a profoundly impressive release, chock-full of good and great songs and a sound that somehow effortlessly embraces both lean, bluesy guitar and string accompaniment (sometimes within the same song), and a very opulent overall sound. Opening with the title tune, which features a very elegant and tasteful string and brass embellishment, Milton straddles the soul and blues worlds across eight songs -- indeed, brevity may be the only weakness in this album, which moves from strength to strength, from hard blues like "Angel of Mercy" and "4:59 A.M." to smoothly flowing and funky soul ("Loving You [Is the Best Thing to Happen to Me]," "My Thing Is You"), and soaring ballads like "Just One Step" and "Me for You, You for Me" -- most of what's here are originals written or co-written by Milton, but the best song on the album is his rendition of Sam Cooke's "Sugar Dumpling," a rousing, spirited, sweaty reinterpretation of the song that could be the best cover of a Sam Cooke song that this reviewer has ever heard; at the least, it's in the running right alongside Otis Redding's "Shake" and "A Change Is Gonna Come," and makes the album worth finding just for this track. Read More