Just Like You
Keb' Mo's 1995 Grammy-winning eponymousdebutfirmly lodged the Los Angeles-born singer-guitarist in the contemporary blues pantheon. His sophomore effort,Just Like You, is slick in comparison to the virtuosic, bare-bonesKeb' Mo', but it's nevertheless an irresistible and accomplished album. While songs such as "Perpetual Blues Machine" and "You Can Love Yourself" are classic Mo', with their canny lyrics and facile slide and acoustic guitar licks, the sapfest "Just Like You" (with guestsBonnie RaittandJackson Browne) and the clichéd "The Action" are hard to stomach. Toward the end of the disc, however, the gospel-laced "Hand It Over" and folksy "Momma, Where's My Daddy" restore the faith, displaying once again Mo's marvelous talent for wrenching the heartstrings with simply his voice and soulful steel-guitar manipulations.--Rebecca Robinson