Steve Cropper & Felix Cavaliere, Nudge It Up a Notch

Few musicians, regardless of color, claim the kind of R&B street cred as blue-eyed soul men Steve Cropper and Felix Cavaliere. Throughout much of the 1960s, the two were often side by side on the charts — Cropper as guitarist on innumerable Stax/Volt/Atlantic recordings by the likes of Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave and his own group, Stax house band Booker T & The MGs, and Cavaliere as chief lead vocalist and keyboard player for the "Good Lovin," "Groovin'," "People Got To Be Free" Rascals. Nearly four decades later, these two Rock & Roll Hall of Famers are not only still at it but, as this first-ever writing/recording collaboration between them amply demonstrates, still darned good at it, too.

Nudge It Up A Notch plays to precisely the main strengths one would hope for in this kind of project: Cavaliere's rich, emotive vocal style and Cropper's compact, angular guitar lines. On groove-driven tracks such as "One of Those Days," "To Make It Right," and "Without You," Cropper and Cavaliere (ably accompanied by bassist Shake Anderson and drummer Chester Thompson) bob and weave around each other with nonchalant, instinctive ease. Toss in a few instrumentals like "Full Moon Tonight" and "Cuttin 'It Loose" to show off those signature Cropper guitar riffs and Cavaliere organ swells, and you've got, as they say, some sweet soul music indeed.