This man must not sleep much. His label Easy Eye Sound has already released around twenty albums since 2017, including those of Yola, Robert Finley, as well as beautiful reissues of Son House and Tony Joe White.
Dan Auerbach’s new protege is named Britti. Born Brittany Guerin in Louisiana, the cradle of American music, the young woman has a phenomenal soul voice, coupled with an extraordinary temperament.
“I sang before I spoke, in our house, in the grocery store aisles, in the car,” she explains today. A true calling that led her to pursue a career after working in a music store for a long time.
It took a major heartbreak for her to write and compose the songs that adorn this debut album. Passionate, moving, or fierce, Britti is a highly expressive singer, who is not afraid to push the boundaries.
Sometimes reminiscent of Betty Davis, whose great records are currently being reissued. Soul, of course, rich in brass arrangements but also embellished with country and psychedelic vibes.
“I feel heard, seen, and felt,” she explains after years of perseverance. Solo since 1970, the former Beatle didn’t take long to embark on a new collective adventure, Wings, with his wife Linda and, here, the singer and guitarist Denny Laine, a former member of the Moody Blues.
This ideal lineup, which won’t last long, is also responsible for the best Wings album. Recorded under less than ideal conditions (at the EMI studio in Lagos, Nigeria), *Band on the Run* is a true miracle.
McCartney, the unstoppable tunesmith, then writes some of his most beautiful compositions, striking a delicate balance between rock songs (Jet, Let Me Roll It) and more delicate pieces (Mammunia or the exceptional Bluebird). Hindered by Fela who accuses him of coming to Lagos to plunder his music, McCartney delivers an album true to his style, which owes little to the sound of Lagos.
The album will be completed in the much more comfortable Air Studios in London, under the guidance of sound engineer Geoff Emerick, a regular at Beatles sessions. While *Band on the Run* has been reissued several times since the end of the last century, this new box set presents an unheard mix of the album.
Finalized in late 1973, it had never been released, as McCartney had entrusted last-minute orchestral arrangements to the American Tony Visconti. Therefore, it is in stripped-down versions that the album’s tracks appear here.
Paul McCartney had already proposed *Let it be Naked* 20 years ago. Now, here are the “underdubbed mixes” of one of his greatest albums.
It would take him many years to reach this level on an album again. So let’s celebrate *Band on the Run,* with or without the orchestra.