Detroit hard-soul legend Andre Williams has gone through so many resurgences, resurrections and reinventions over the decades that it’s sorta beautiful to hear him just sit back and roll through a few breezy funk, blues and even country numbers here.
This isn’t the sex-drenched garage-punk motor-soul Williams of the 90s, or the amped-up wild-man R&B of his younger days. I Wanna Go Back To Detroit City is more in line with fellow octogenarian Leonard Cohen’s last couple of records, a masterclass in storytelling, told with a deep, soulful bellow that positively aches with decades of love, hate and everything in-between.
And while slow-burners like Mississippi Sue and Morning After Blues take a more laid-back approach, it’s not like ol’ Rutabaga’s going soft or anything. Times is full of raw honestly and biting social commentary, while Meet Me In The Graveyard is… well, he doesn’t wanna meet you there for dancing, that’s for sure. The funk is solid in this one.
