Arista is firing up the PR machine for next week’s release of Taylor Hicks’ debut album. From an Arista press release:
“Taylor Hicks digs deep into the blues-drenched roots of Birmingham, Alabama’s favorite son, a singer and songwriter whose song choices every week never strayed from the soul music he holds so dear. Virtually every new song on the album was ‘Taylor-made’ for the artist, starting with “Dream Myself Awake,” written by Rob Thomas, and “Give Me Tonight,” which Taylor and Serletic co-wrote with Matt’s friend Kevin Kadish and hit songwriter Kara Dioguardi. Hitmaker supreme Diane Warren contributed “Places I’ve Been”; while “The Maze” was written by the same duo who penned Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn.” And Taylor’s fans will be delighted to hear that he has re-recorded new versions of self penned “Soul Thing” and “The Deal,” two songs that previously appeared on his second indie album Under the Radar.”
I just LOVE that two of his previously released songs made it! Taylor is breaking new ground all over the place for future Idol winners. Kelly Clarkson had to fight just to name her CD ‘Thankful’. Times they are a changin’…
“The new album was produced by two-time Grammy Award-winner Matt Serletic, whose multi-platinum track record with matchbox twenty & Rob Thomas, Santana, Willie Nelson, Collective Soul and Aerosmith made him the perfect choice for the project. That chemistry is evident throughout, from the opening feel-good up-tempo groove of “The Runaround,” the dramatic ballad “Just To Feel That Way,” and the heartfelt closing number, “The Right Place,” which was originally written by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance for Ray Charles to record before his death. Taylor considers it an honor to have had the opportunity to make this song his own.”
‘Runaround’ is already my favorite song of the bunch. I don’t dance to any song sober except ‘You Dropped A Bomb On Me’ - but I was a dancing fool during Taylor’s incredible ‘Tonight Show’ performance (I still can’t find the cat). Good grief! When that guy lets loose, he really lets loose! I can’t even imagine what kind of carbo loading must go on before a performance like that! He was insane! I just loved how the entire band was smiling - they were having as much fun as the audience watching Taylor do his thang.
“Along with Taylor’s heroes, Otis Redding, James Brown, and Sam Cooke, the memory of Ray Charles is always centerstage — and can be heard on “Heaven Knows,” whose riffs pays homage to Ray’s “What’d I Say” and Marvin Gaye’s “Ain’t That Peculiar,” the Motown classic written by Smokey Robinson. The album’s next track, “Gonna Move,” comes from another personal favorite of Taylor’s, revered singer-songwriter Paul Pena (composer of Steve Miller’s “Jet Airliner”). It is followed by an early Marvin Gaye composition, “Wherever I Lay My Hat” (a hit for Paul Young in the ’80s).”
While there was some moaning, groaning, and worrying going on when the first songs were leaked off the album, I think we will hear the Soul Patrol’s collective sigh of relief on December 12th. Taylor is the first fully-developed musician Idol has ever had - or at least the first one who wasn’t shackled for two years. I wonder what would have happened to Ruben, Fantasia, and Clay if they had been allowed to have as much input and control of their first albums as Taylor has had? They say hindsight is 20/20 - maybe it was Kelly Clarkson’s 6x platinum, Grammy-and-every-other-award-known-to-mankind-winning, internationally acclaimed ‘Breakaway’ that made the producers toss their cookie cutters.