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Mick Hayes - My Claim To FAME (Album Review)

September 04, 2020 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Blues, Soul, R&B

Back in the days of LP records (the first time, not the recent resurgence of interest) part of the joy of a 12” album jacket was the sleeve notes. You’d hope for a lyric sheet but if all else failed there was the absolute joy of digging into all that additional info (this was in the days when I didn’t need a magnifying glass to read the small print). Many hours would be spent pouring over the credits to ascertain who played what, the colour of the bass players socks and, most importantly, where was the album recorded? Various studios gained positive notoriety for sound and a feel that you couldn’t quite put your finger on that lay deep in the grooves. Abbey Road would instantly shout The Beatles, Rockfield conjured up visions of Ozzy in a barn with sheep watching the sessions while much further afield Compass Point painted glamourous pictures of lazing by the pool cocktail in hand. Then there was the FAME studio in Muscle Shoals Alabama…

Muscle Shoals first came to prominence for me via Bob Seger records. Bob would leave the Silver Bullet Band back in his hometown of Detroit and make his way to Muscle Shoals to record with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (The Swampers). These tracks would sit beside Silver Bullet tracks on his classic run of hit albums and became my introduction to Alabama. Like I said, the power of sleeve notes. Those Seger tracks were actually recorded at Muscle Shoals Sounds Studios just down the road as The Swampers had left FAME to do their own thing. Check out the excellent ‘Muscle Shoals’ documentary film for an in-depth history lesson. This obsession with sleeve notes and the Muscle Shoals Sound, a mixture of R&B, soul and country, would prove influential on a young Mick Hayes as he discovered Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Duane Allman, Wilson Pickett, Solomon Burke and so many more.

The only right thing to do when recording ‘My Claim To Fame’ was for Mick to travel from upstate New York to Alabama and record at the original FAME studio. A studio seemingly untouched by the ages (Mick and John used all the vintage equipment that could find for the recordings) and still exhibiting that vibe present on all those great recordings of the past. Mick self-produced and enlisted engineer John Gifford III (Gregg Allman, Shaun Amos) and some of the best session musicians in the area to record an album that would pay tribute to the greats and stand up to comparison. I’m pleased to report that he was successful ‘My Claim to FAME’ is a terrific record; beautifully produced and played that is guaranteed to put a smile on your face. As Mick puts it “Recording at FAME with those players was like being at the best potluck dinner ever. I didn’t have to do too much except get out the way!”

From the opening jazzy, Steely Dan style licks that usher in ‘Sweet To Me’ it’s obvious we’re in safe hands. Mick’s vocal is silky smooth with just a little edge on the corners to add depth and his guitar work is equally smooth as he peels off an effortlessly cool solo. The rhythm section of drummer Justin Holder (James Le Blanc) and bassist Bob Wray (Ray Charles, The Marshall Tucker Band) lay down a lovely groove with Wray’s bass bubbling away very nicely. Clayton Ivey (Bobby “Blue” Bland, Etta James, B.B. King) on electric piano and organ makes his presence felt from the get-go, and as I said, brings a welcome Steely Dan influence to the opening. Topping things off we’ve Vinnie Ciesielski (Gladys Knight, Lyle Lovett) and Brad Guin (Jason Isbell) adding tasteful horn flourishes. Next up ‘Hand Me Down 45’s’ is a joyous celebration of records and record collecting which highlights one of many occasions when Marie Lewey and Cindy Walker, aka The Muscle Shoals Singers come to the fore. The girls are perfect throughout the album adding style and on occasion mischievous humour with their vocal contributions. Huey Lewis would have been more than comfortable slipping this little gem onto ‘Sports’ and hitting the higher reaches of the charts.

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Throughout ‘My Claim To FAME’ Mick and the guys effortlessly mix things up. ‘My Romana’ - which features an unexpected slide guitar break and fun doo-wop vocal contributions from the band - to ‘Political Funk’ which lives up to the title via a neat little guitar lick, a smart solo and Ivey’s keyboard fills. That 70s influence is again to the fore on one of the album’s standout tracks ‘No Second Chances’ on which Mick freely admits he was going for a Curtis Mayfield feel and he nails a lovely wah-wah guitar solo. The record wouldn’t be complete without a slower number or two which Mick pulls off equally well. His bluesy playing comes to the fore on ‘Way Too Hard’ and ‘My Heart’ – the latter of which features a particularly fine emotive vocal - while the gorgeous ‘The Saddest Picture Of Me’ gently closes the record with a melancholy vibe and a really beautifully languid guitar solo.

Clocking in at a little under forty minutes ‘My Claim To Fame’ is filler-free and the perfect duration for audiophile fans in the know to check out the LP pressing by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering. Mick and the guys are to be complimented on an album that is beautifully played and produced. We review plenty of introspective singer-songwriter types here at RGM which is cool, but sometimes it’s just nice to kick back and go with the flow. Mick Hayes ably demonstrates that you don’t need to reinvent the wheel to make an enjoyable record that stays true to the roots of the Muscle Shoals sound and sounds fresh in 2020.

‘My Claim To FAME’ is out now on Move The Needle Music and comes highly recommended.

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Mick Hayes
Album Reviews, Blues, Soul, R&B
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