Charles Bradley: No Time for Dreaming
Label: Dap-Tone
Charles Bradley is 62 years old, but this is his first album after a lifetime of tribulations. His singing is definitely James Brown-esque, but the accompaniment here -- by the Menehan Street Band -- is horn-drenched sweet Southern soul. The combination works beautifully. This is an album of catharsis; not only are there songs of suffering such as “The World (Is Going Up in Flames),” “Trouble in the Land,” “How Long,” “Why Is It So Hard?” and “Heartaches and Pain,” but even the love songs ooze desperate intensity. This is one powerful debut.
