Feel It
Were there a definitive blues thesaurus, Little Milton Campbell would have at least two quotes listed: "Hey, hey, the blues is all right!" and "If I don't feel it, I don't do it!" Taking its title from the latter, Milton's 14th album for Malaco since 1983 shows why he belongs in the highest echelon of soul-blues singers and guitarists. He's especially expressive on ballads, showing the value of ardent devotion in "The Love of a Woman" and taking stock of betrayal in "You're Givin' Me the Blues." Milton shines on medium-tempo numbers, too, cutting to the emotional quick of the cheating cautionary tale "Born Yesterday," to name one. He knows what songs from his record label's stable of writers suit him to a tee, picking wrong just once with the cliché-ridden "Baby, Let Me Rock You."--Frank-John Hadley