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Album Details

• Artist: Nathaniel Mayer
• Album: Why Don't You Give It To Me?
• Label: Alive
• Year of Release: 2007
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2007-11-21

Any critic who does not put Why Don't You Give It To Me on their year’s best list has no hope. Soul Legend Nathaniel Mayer, who had a hit in 1962 and then drifted off into the netherworld of nondescript local gigs in Detroit and worse, was cajoled into coming into the studio where, backed by a killer young band, has cranked out one of the true monsters of 2007.“Why Don’t You Give It To Me?” is a gritty, dirty slab of funk, soul and garage psychedelia, with testifying lyrics about sex and loss, delivered by Mayer as if his life depended on it.Guitarists Matthew Smith and Dan Auerbach hammer away at each tune with inspired riffs and raw takes on all the styles showcased; they seem to energize Mayer too, whose raspy vocals, choking somewhere between Howlin’ Wolf and Curtis Mayfield, are as believable and human as you are likely to hear outside of happy hour or the therapist’s office. This is almost a Plastic Ono Band with hope, a What’s Goin On where the desire and protest is internal. Get this record, find someone from Alive records and kiss their ass, and welcome back Nathaniel Mayer, heart and balls on his sleeve, and as real as it gets.

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