Nudge It Up A Notch

You are a fan of both of these musicians. In fact you adore most of their work, right? So you'd think this would be a good match up and it is - at least with Felix, Steve and the rythym section. Felix is in great vocal shape and Cropper has plenty of his fine and tasty chops. It's what was done in the mastering job of this recording that makes it a 2 star not a 5. The cd's volume is the loudest I have every heard. Most songs are so "hot" that there is noticeable distortion. The upper mid range-treble on up is so jacked up that it is painful to listen to on a good hifi system.

Now - if you buy this - be sure to use a playback system where you can roll off the top end alot. "Notch" down your treble and volume controls from what you normaly listen at. In other words - you'll have to try and re-eq this cd to keep your ears from bleeding!

Too bad. The music is very good.

Why would both of these vetrans of the vinyl analog age approve such a digital butchering job of their beautiful music?

Funny that the cover of the cd has a record player. This is the least vinyl sounding cd I have ever heard.

When I first heard about "Nudge It Up A Notch" the thought of a collaboration between the legendary Stax guitar virtuoso Steve Cropper and one of the truly great voices in rock and roll history Felix Cavaliere really intrigued me. Although one can never be sure about these things I believed that this was an imaginative concept that offered a great deal of potential. Co-producer Jon Tiven was bound and determined to make this project happen and as a result after several stops and starts "Nudge It Up A Notch" was finally released in July 2008. I am very pleased to report that the album is even better than I would have expected.
Many of you might be thinking that "Nudge It Up A Notch" is just another album by and aging rock and rollers desperately trying to hang on. Let me reassure you in no uncertain terms that this is simply not the case. This album bears absolutely no resemblance to one of Rod Stewart's pathetic "Great American Songbook" discs. Instead the music is fresh and vibrant. This album is a fabulous opportunity for both Steve Cropper and Felix Cavaliere to reconnect with long-time fans and to introduce their considerable songwriting and musical prowess to a whole new generation of listeners. Those of you looking for tunes reminiscent of the Rascal's heyday will certainly enjoy the opening track "One of Those Days" as well as the funky sounds of "To Make It Right". A rather unusual feature of this album is that four of the twelve tracks turned out to be instrumentals. In Jon Tiven's superb liner notes he explains that this was definitely not by design. "Nobody started out thinking we'd do instrumentals, but some of the music we wrote felt better that way." The result is pure magic on all 4 of these tracks. It is quite apparent that as musicians both Steve and Felix are still on top of their game. I particularly enjoyed "Jamaica Delight" and "Love Appetite". See if you agree. Those who are partial to a more mellow sound will also find much to like on "Nudge It Up A Notch". My very favorite song on the disc is something called "Impossible". The backup vocals on this one are impeccable and in days gone by "Impossible" would definitely be a candidate to be a "Top 40" hit. The guys even dabble in a little rap with a tune called "Make The Time Go Faster" that I thought worked surprisingly well.
These days there really isn't a whole lot of new music for Baby Boomers to buy. I still enjoy looking but frankly more often than not I walk away empty handed. I found "Nudge It Up A Notch" to be the exception to the rule. This is an album I will definitely play every now and again. The idea for this album was sound and the results were extraordinary. I was quite surprised to discover that Steve and Felix had a hand in writing each one of the dozen songs on this album. Nice job guys! I would also be remiss if I failed to acknowledge background vocalists Mark Williams and N'nandi Bryant whose considerable abilities were in evidence on a number of the tracks on this disc. Outstanding work by everyone involved on this one! Very highly recommended!

I read that there was a new album by two of my all - time favorite musicians - no brainer - I bought it without so much as listening to samples. I don't regret my rash decision, but unfortunately the CD did not meet my expectations.

Cavaliere still has all the soul in his voice. Cropper still plays some of the tastiest licks that will ever hear emanate from a Telecaster. The problem is that the material is weak. The liner notes mention that they wrote the songs over the course of a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, that is the way the tunes sound, particularly the sophomoric lyrics.

I am not saying don't buy this album, but don't expect much from it if you do. If these guys tour together I will be the first in line for tickets. They are both amazing talents and compliment each other very well. Maybe they just needed a little more time locked in the room writing songs. A little extra time in the studio wouldn't have hurt either. I would still throw my luke warm feelings about the album out the window if I had the opportunity to see them together on a stage.

This is one of those cds that I will end up championing to all my friends. It won't be given top 40 airplay or even reviewed in the major circles. But, if this had come out in 1965-70 when Felix was in his hit days, this would be looked on as a classic must have. His voice is in such good form that as I listen to it now, I hear no difference between 2008 and 1965. "If It Wasn't For Loving You," has all the trappings of that perfect 1960's summer top 10 hit. It's cd's like this that make me miss top 40 radio.

felix's voice seems to get better with age and cropper's guitar, not as detailed as others, always fits his surrounding.

Felix sounds great and Steve Cropper guiter work is sharp. Sure would like
to hear this music on the radio. I listen to the CD all the time.

every fan of great soul music should own this cd. i did a two hour radio show using this cd as the core. around it i played booker t & the mg's, otis, sam & dave, & the rascals. it all fit seamlessly because steve cropper and felix cavaliere were the originators of that music (along with others). this cd has the chops and the grooves. it clearly is in the running for best album of the year and should win some sort of grammy.

I wa a huge blues brothers fan so I remember cropper from that. I have watched that movie since I was only enough to remeber watching tv, now my kids love Blues brothers. This cd is not real bluesy. It is more jazzy. It is a good album especially for background music. I play it at work.

I'm a huge Rascals/Felix Cavaliere fan but this one missed the point for me.
It has its moments (like the groove on Jamaica Delight) but overall it sounds a lot like Felix's Dreams In Motion CD which remains my least favorite of his solo stuff.
He's a killer B-3 player and didn't Cropper play in a B-3 band?
Seems like there could have been a lot more interplay and maybe some more spontaneity and just plain "fun" on this one; a bit more Love Appetite stuff, perhaps; a bit more B-3, to be sure!
Only 3 stars here for a couple of 5-star musicians!

This is a great CD.. Two of the absolute greatest performers from 40 years ago have lost nothing, no reduction in playing and singing. Great rock, smooth ballads, more great rock

I was always a fan of Felix Cavalliere of the Rascals and the Young Rascals. Certainly one of the first blue-eyed soul groups. On the radio, every 15 minutes a rascals song played on every station. Thats why I bought the CD. I thought that I could re-capture that sound and that free-wheelin feeling with a modern day twist. Here he was, Felix C. The voice was not even close to the same or on key at many points. A lot of repetitive oh Yeah, Oh Yeah, Oh yeah utterings at the beggining of most tracks before the words would start. Artificial. I think that I will discard it. I don't think that I can find someone who might like it.

I swear Felix and Steve are getting better with age! So glad to hear these guys together - what a treat for the ears and soul. I'm turning on my friends to this and they think it's fab. Turn it up a notch and enjoy!!

WHAT A GREAT CD. A LITTLE STAX SOUL, AND A LITTLE RASCALS. GARY SCHWARTZ

Well, I am truly torn on this album. Such wonderful Musicianship, instrumental players, vocal prowess. So unfortunately rare these days.
Makes me WANT to love this album more than any other recent release.
Unfortunately the recording quality is so poor it is difficult for me to enjoy the listening experience. Whoever was at the controls of the board during the sessions and mastering needs an immediate hearing test, or at the least a eye exam, because most of the tracks are so horribly saturated. especially bad is the 3rd track "Without You" where the vocals are grainy, the bass is saturated, the sound of the drums makes one cringe. The background vocals are all recorded too hot, and the organ and Fender Rhodes, oh my. Then to make it much worse, the tracks are then so obviously compresssed so the distortion is made much more obvious.
I checked the mp3's on iTunes and they also suffer from the same ugliness (yeah, mp3's are supposed to sound ugly!) just to check if I received a bad pressing. No such luck.
Perhaps this was done as a production choice in an effort to make the track levels as high as possible for the iPod generation, but the results very nearly ruin the otherwise fantastic album.
What a disappointment!