Miss Emily – The Medicine
Some older music aficionados will find several songs that come across (“My Freedom”) as a reminder of the bluesy vocals of Lydia Pense (Cold Blood) & Genya Ravan (Ten Wheel Drive). Both ladies possessed the vocal roots application Miss Emily provides so well & remarkably pristinely. Not as gutsy & raw as Brenda Patterson, bluesy, forceful & gritty as Janis Joplin or energetic as Candy Givens (Zephyr), but she does have a wonderful tone & possesses significant range. Cued by her authenticity, soulfulness, & coupled with a gospel barometer (“Stand Together, Band Together”) supported passionately by the swift, sweet brushes on the snare of drummer Bryan Owings. This is already delivering the goods.
Produced by Colin Linden, The Medicine (Dropped Nov 7/Gypsy Soul Records/37:01) really opens impressively like a morning rose with the powerful “Maybe.” It starts with the pipe-chanteuse pop quality of Timi Yuro, Dusty Springfield & Brenda Lee, then slides comfortably into an even more soulful realm. Miss Emily lets loose with beautiful notes that soar faithfully. This will be a show-stopping song live.
Each organ & lead guitar passes with vintage soulful blues-hued sounds. The title track “The Medicine” is superb – Miss Emily has excellent vocalese & the bluesy ballad with R&B undercurrents, has just enough room for delicacy that exposes her range. An old-fashioned organ runs warm with the tune significantly, almost church-like. But Miss Emily’s voice is blues & spirituality infused. Peculiar since blues is supposed to be the devil’s music – not here.
The addition again of the warm church-organ lifts the song to rendezvous with Miss Emily’s voice in a heaven of fascinating vocals. Miss Emily (Emily Fennell) doesn’t bow out after this tune to cruise – instead, she strides confidently into a Muscle-Shoals style soulfulness on “You Make Believe.” Another jewel supported by some horns & her well-articulated vocals. Though not in vogue on the charts now, I believe she can give these songs the attention an Aretha Franklin would have.
With a sassiness once soulfully rendered by the late Eva Cassidy, Miss Emily ups the voltage a bit in a rockier gospel manner on “Running Again.” This is mainstream commercial cool. Catchy & danceable. Faithful groove. Soul lead guitarist Steve Cropper (Sam & Dave’s “Soul Man”) would be ideal to play temporarily on something like this to recapture that ‘60s sound he laid down so expertly.
But for now, Miss Emily is an expressive revelation.
Highlights – “My Freedom,” “Stand Together, Band Together,” “The Medicine,” “Maybe,” “You Make Believe,” “Running Again,” & “Solid Ground.”
Musicians – Colin (acoustic & electric guitars/bass/harmony vocals), David Santos & Johnny Dymond (bass), Michael Hicks (keyboards/B3/), Janice Powers (B3), Kevin McKendree (piano/organ), Jim Hoke (sax), Ann & Regina McCrary (bgv), George Receli (drums/percussion/acoustic guitar), & Gary Craig (drums).
CD photo courtesy of Celine Klein. CD @ https://themissemily.com/main/
