Artist:     Johnny Rawls

Album:     I Miss Otis Clay

Label:     Third Street Cigar

Release Date:     10.18.2019

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The prolific soul man Johnny Rawls is back, as he is every year, with another release. We count on it. This writer has witnessed Rawls in performance from festivals to house concerts, and we can count on something else: as soon as Rawls takes the stage his infectious soul groove gets folks shaking, tapping their feet, or directly into dance mode. He could arguably be today’s best old-school soul singer. He’s certainly got the pedigree to back it up too. Rawls has worked with soul-blues giants such as O.V Wright, Otis Clay and a host of others in a career that now stretches back around half a century, with countless awards including most recently for his debut on Third Street Cigar Records, I’m Still Around, named Soul/Blues Album of the Year at the most recent BMAs, recorded on this same label. I Miss Otis Clay is the follow-up. To be sure, that title is just one song, not the entire album, in tribute to the late soul giant.

Third Cigar Records appears to be Rawls’ new home after many years on Catfood Records. John Henry, label president and former president of northwest Ohio’s Black Swamp Blues Society, is a longtime friend of Rawls, who is one of Mississippi’s own. As he did on its precursor, Rawls produced and wrote all ten songs on the album. The band remains intact too: guitarist Larry Gold, bassist Johnny “Hi-Fi” Newmark, keyboardist Dan Magers, drummer Scott Kretzer, trumpeter Ric Wolkins, saxophonist Mark Lemle, and guitarist John McGhee. Most are from the Toledo area.

The third and title track is indeed the album’s most heartfelt cut amongst the ten deep soul tracks. It’s the only one not recorded with the above band but in Copenhagen, during Rawls’ last tour of Europe, where he performers regularly. Rawls knew Clay for about 40 years, having met sometime in the ‘70s at a Chicago show that featured O.V. Wright and B.B. King. Rawls and Clay finally made an album together, 2014’s Soul Brothers and Rawls says, “I just want to keep his name alive.”

The album is not mournful. It’s full of hooks and Rawls’ signature soul grooves that make it impossible to sit still. It leads with the punchy Hi Records groove of “California Shaking Again,” a sequel to one of his most popular tunes, “California Shake,” from 2017’s Waiting for the Train. Equating rumbles of earth to those of the dancefloor would be a stretch for most artists but not Rawls. One of Rawls’ favorites is “I Can’t Let Nobody” a mid-tempo tune where Johnny stands up for a long, rewarding relationship. “Slow Roll It” is another that will be added to his live shows. The band is right in synch with Rawls throughout, pushing the grooves and delivering the horns. Two great tracks come toward the end of the disc too. “Motion of the Ocean” captures the swaying movement of his audiences. At festivals when he gazes out there, those crowds must resemble the rolling waves of the ocean. The closer, “The Wind,” has some of the best lyrics: “I wouldn’t want to be the sun/Cuz the sun got to go down/I wouldn’t want to be flower/Cuz they only bloom in the spring/I wouldn’t want to be a rainbow/Cuz it always fades away/Most of all I just want to be the wind.”

As usual, this is a comfortable deep soul album. Rawls says, “I do real traditional songs. And the whole world has gotten away from that. I make records…It’s a dying craft…I want people to know that Johnny Rawls is 68 now, and he ages like a fine wine.” Don’t be surprised to see this win a BMA too. It sounds every bit as good at it feels.

—Jim Hynes