In his book Sweet Soul Music, Peter Guralnick described Eddie Hinton as "the last of the great white soul singers," and his debut album, 1978's Very Extremely Dangerous, sounds like a glorious throwback to the salad days of the Muscle Shoals, AL, R&B hit factory of the 1960s, where Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin cut some of their most memorable songs. Hinton had already earned an estimable reputation as a session guitarist by the time he finally got to step up to the mic as a solo artist, and Very Extremely Dangerous features him backed up by the always-expert Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, and Hinton's strong and wiry guitar runs fit the group's emphatic support like a glove. (Hinton and his friends also knew how to bring a solid rock drive to these songs without losing their soulful groove in the process.)
As a singer, Hinton was never afraid to step on the gas, and if his vocals are sometimes a bit over the top, they're also consumed with a raw and sweaty joy; like Wilson Pickett, Hinton is able to bring a surprising musicality to a shouting style that can express the pleasures of a hard-partying Saturday night ("Shout Bamalama") as well as the tender agony of love ("I Got the Feeling"). It was Eddie Hinton's poor fortune to cut a great blue-eyed soul album just as disco and funk had bumped deep soul off the charts, but Very Extremely Dangerous still stands as a fine example of latter-day soul at its most accomplished.
by Mark Deming
Tracks
1. You Got Me Singing (Eddie Hinton) - 2:59
2. Concept World (Alvin Howard, Eddie Hinton) - 4:04
3. I Got The Feeling (Eddie Hinton) - 5:06
4. Shout Bamalama (Otis Redding) - 4:13
5. Get Off In It (Alvin Howard, Donnie Fritts, Eddie Hinton) - 3:17
6. Brand New Man (Alvin Howard, Eddie Hinton) - 3:39
7. Shoot The Moon (Dan Penn, Eddie Hinton) - 4:57
8. We Got It (Eddie Hinton) - 5:19
9. Yeah Man (Eddie Hinton) - 3:46
10.I Want It All (Alvin Howard, Eddie Hinton, Sandra Hinton) - 4:34
Personnel
*Eddie Hinton - Guitar, Horn Arrangements, Piano, Vocals
*Barry Beckett - Keyboards, Moog Synthesizer, Organ, Piano, Synthesizer
*David Hood - Bass
*Dennis Good - Trombone
*Harrison Calloway, Jr.- Horn Arrangements, Trumpet
*Harvey Thompson - Tenor Saxophone
*Jimmy Johnson - Guitar
*Roger Hawkins - Drums
*Ronnie Eades - Baritone Saxophone
*Muscle Shoals Horns - Horn
