Review Written by - John Muller - Blue Notes and Conversations -        

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The Reverend Shawn Amos - Soul Brother No. 1 - Producer - James Saez - Immediate Family Records - shawnamos.com

 

 

"The Blues - and the best rock and roll - burns right through your heart into your soul....." - Shawn Amos

 

        The blues has no definitive color, but plenty of tints , shades , and hues . It has no borders and cannot be confined, boxed , or fenced . The blues belongs to all people because it reflects love and hate, struggles , dreams , hopes , conflicts , optimism , pessimism,uncertainty and the hope for a united brotherhood. The blues is the soundtrack  to our everyday lives . I write this because Shawn Amos has released a remarkable album titled , "Soul Brother No. 1" that is reflective of the black experience in our country . However, track for track , the music is incredible , the songs are amazing and the musicians are electrifying , a project that speaks to everyone willing to listen and enjoy every single moment . 

           "I hope that people will sit down with it and actually let it sink in", Rev. Amos has said. "I hope it opens up something in themselves . It's coming from a Black artist, and by and large , it's about a Black experience. But it clearly is like I say, it's a metaphor for anyone who just wants to have an honest talk with themselves.....and just share love."

         In 2022 Shawn Amos published "Cookies and Milk" which became a NAACP Image Award-winning youth novel . This semi-autobiographical tale was based on his latchkey years as the son of cookie entrepreneur Wally "Famous Amos" and nightclub chanteuse Shirley "Shirl-ee May" Ellis , who later committed suicide in 2003.The protagonist in the novel , Ellis Johnson , was a Black kid of divorce , with mostly white friends , trying to find his identity in the wildly chaotic , but frantically colorful , 70's Hollywood . 

         "After writing my first novel,Cookies and Milk , I got stuck in the 70's. Once the book was done , there was still more explaining to do. I wanted to see how the 1970's world I wrote about in the book would translate to my own music . In many respects , Soul Brother No. 1 is the soundtrack for Milk and Cookies."    

          The entire album is reflective of the Black power era soul artists who encapsulated the struggles,triumphs, and indomitable spirit of African American culture . Kicking things off is "Revelation" , a hard-driving blues-rock track that echoes the work of Rick James , Jim Hendrix , and Ernie Isley. At the heart of the album is the intensely emotional ballad,"What It Is To Be Black", featuring the vocals of Nashville's W. Crimm Singers (AKA WakandaChorale) - Shawn Amos - "That's the key to the whole album: we all deserve a hearing. We owe it to each other to hear each other's pain. There's a lot of pain on this album, but there's also a lot of joy and hope."

            There is a totally ferocious cover of Sly and the Family Stone classic ,"Don't Call Me Nigger Whitey" , that features Grammy-nominated Denise Carite -"It's the first time I've recorded a duet live. We were going for a Donny Hathaway/Roberta Flack vibe."

           Echoing the powerful thrust of the funked up 70's, the music reflecting the pulsating rhythms and irresistible grooves of such bands as Earth,Wind and Fire , the Isley Brothers, Parliament Funkadelic, Ohio Players, Bar-Keys, Bootsy's Rubber Band, and Brick , to name a few , Shaw Amos has created music that is hypnotic and certainly danceable.

           "I've spent so much of my life partially dimming my own light . No more . With this album, I am uncovering every last fucking root, undoing my own programming. I was brought up to think I was whitey, cut off from my own roots. No more. I spent weeks trying to figure out who this version of Black Pride is for me. Now I know "Soul Brother No. 1 " is who I am."

             Producer James Saez brought in multi-instrumentalist Dapo Torimiro, whose co-songwriting credits include work with John Legend and Justin Bieber , to help put the songs over the finish line - "I wasn't singing straight blues.It was more soul . I realized I was out of my depth, musically , as a songwriter. I didn't have the musical capabilities to bring some of the songs to fruition - they needed chord changes I couldn't quite execute." 

              "Dapo Torimiro is Nigerian. He understood spiritually what I was trying to do. We finally got the songs across the finish line."

               Reverend Shawn Amos - Singer, songwriter , harmonica player , award-winning author , record producer , former A &R man , digital marketing entrepreneur , multimedia storyteller , has masterfully created an album filled with soul-stirring ballads , defiant blues-rock , and block-party anthems ready to raise hell , lift spirits , and get your butt thumpin' . Unafraid to thrust a raised finger skyward , Shawn Amos unapologetically raises social issues , poking society in the eye with a good kick in the ass .  "Soul Brother No. 1"  is musically adventurous , hugely entertaining , and totally funked up . Can you dig it? You jivin' yet? Get your groove on and boogie down with "Soul Brother No. 1" . You'll be stoked with this outstanding new release !

 

          "The blues has changed my life . Performing it is the quickest connection I can make to my heart and my spirit. Blues and soul music remind me every day of the strength , resilience and joy in black culture. The world needs this music to return us to our humanity . We need to share our blues and touch each other's souls. You dig?" - Shawn Amos

 

And the band gets thunderous applause.....

           Drummer - Steve Ferrone (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers , Average White Band , Chaka Khan) ; Bassist Jerry "Wyzard" Seay (Stevie Nicks , Keb Mo' , Mothers Finest) ; Keyboardist - Songwriter - Dapo Torimiro (Lauryn Hill, Earth,Wind , Fire) ; Chris "Doctor" Roberts , longtime Shawn Amos Guitarist ; Vocals - Jinny Cho ; Vocals - The McCray Sisters ; Saxophone-Scott Mayo ; Trumpet - Javier Gonzalez; Electric Guitar - Noah Bellamy........All Vocals and Harmonica- The Rev. Amos,

 

Many Thanks - and PLEASE Check Out - missingpiece.com - Reverend Shawn Amos / Michael Limnios Blues Network-Reverend Shawn Amos:Soul Power,Blues Power, Black Power!